Well, the 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons. This was a not just a pallet cleanser for that ho-hum showing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it also gave some legitimacy to the 2025 49ers. They were able to hold one of the better offenses in the NFL (well, at this point, anyways) to 10 points, without their two best defensive players. Their offense didn’t look to shabby either.
Unfortunately, the two NFC West opponents they are neck and neck with, the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, won also.
The Cardinals? They lost again. Not in embarassing fashion, or as embarassing as some losses have been, but they still lost.
Los Angeles Rams (5-2)
The 49ers were the ones who gave the Jaguars life for a couple weeks. First the Niners, then Jacksonville beats the Kansas City Chiefs. Then they run into the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams. Of course both of those teams would beat the Jaguars.
This game was one of those NFL London games. So weirdness can be exepcted, I just didn’t expect it to be on Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford’s statline.
How weird? Well, just over halfway into the first quarter, Mathew Stafford threw his first touchdown pass. Then it was like that on repeat the rest of the game. The Jaguars didn’t get their first points until nine minutes remained in the fourth quarter. The Rams were already up 28 points. You want to say the Jaguars could come back, but that storyline was saved for the Denver Broncos later in the day.
Final score, 35-7, Rams.
So that statline. Well, take a look at this: Stafford went 21-33 (63 percent completion), for…182 yards and five touchdowns? I don’t know, when I hear a quarterback has five touchdowns you at least think they’d have 300 yards.
Speaking of those touchdowns, Rams wide receiver Davante Adams had three of them and just 35 yards. There were no interceptions from either team either. It just seemed weird. What do you think?
In any case, the Rams took care of business and still tie with the 49ers for another week.
Seattle Seahawks (5-2)
Another weird game. The Seahawks closed out a Monday Night Football double header, hosting the Houston Texans. Despite losing the turnover battle by three, the Seahawks still won. Let’s put this further into perspective: The Seahawks committed four turnovers and still won.
How does that happen? Well, look at the Texans quarterback: C.J. Stroud went 23-49 (46.9 completion percentage) and notched both a touchdown and interception. Ouch. That’s just scraping the surface; Stroud treated us to another episode of “Is it a safety?” and this time the Seahawks had to watch what was a pretty good play not get the the two points.
That’s not the last time we’d play that game either:
That’s why Houston was losing this game. If it weren’t for the defense, you wouldn’t think they’d have a chance at winning. The Seahawks are up 14-0 for most of the first half, and the defense would have none of it. They single handidly kept the Texans in the game with plays like this:
They notched two fumbles and two interceptions, one of those turnovers led to six points. That’s going to keep you in a game. Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t get it going. Yes, Stroud was a key player in that circus act we saw, but the offensive playcalling didn’t exactly help him.
On the Seahawks side of things, Sam Darnold had a pretty pedestrian game going 17-31 (54.8 percent completion), 213 yards, and like Stroud also finished with both a touchdown and interception. There’s also that aformentioned fumble shown above. The Seahawks would win 27-19.
The win keeps them in the three-way “tie” with the 49ers and Rams. The 49ers have the tiebreaker since they haven’t lost in the division. Yet.
Arizona Cardinals (2-5)
The Cardinals continued building on thier loss against the Colts last week by doing the same thing against the Packers this week. Namely getting a lead and then blowing it in the fourth quarter. The progress is they didn’t really do anything ridiculous to let the Packers back into it. The Packers just scratched and clawed until they got the lead with a minute and a half left in the fourht quarter—something they didn’t have all game.
The Cardinals were up 23-20 and Packers running back Josh Jacobs decided he about had enough of his team playing from behind and scored a touchdown.
And with a minute left, Jacoby Brissett took the Cardinals down the field. With seconds left on fourth down he threw a pass into the end zone that was caught. Unfortunately there’s a bit more to this story:
He caught it, but he caught it out of bounds. Game over, 27-23, Packers.
Brissett went 25-36 (69.4 completion percentage), 279 yards passing, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. That was enough to give him a 110.8 quarterback rating against what they say is a good Green Bay defense. Cardinals starting quarterback Kyler Murray hasn’t gotten over 100 in a passer rating except when he played the Saints. Outside of running the ball (which is Murray’s bread and butter) Brissett has made a case to have the Cardinals stick with him once Murray returns. That’s not saying he’s lights out the best option, but he’s definitely made a good case for himself.
Onto Week 8
Whether it was a simple oversight or a scheduling joke, anyone wanting to watch NFC West action for Week 8 has just one team to watch: The 49ers. The 49ers will be traveling to face the Houston Texans. Houston didn’t look too hot on Monday Night Football against the Seahawks, but the Seahawks defense is much much better than the 49ers. On paper anyways. I do think the 49ers can get a win here, but don’t expect the same type of game as we saw on Monday Night.
And that’s it. The Seahawks have a bye. So, bye.
The Rams? They have a bye. So, bye.
And the Cardinals? They too have a bye. So, bye.
That’s right, everyone in the NFC West has a bye this weekend except the 49ers. Theirs comes in Week 14. Anyone remember back to when their bye was in Week 3 in 2019?
We’ll of course look at the rankings next week in a more brief version of the recap but the only NFC West action you’re going to see is 49ers-Texans
1st: San Francisco 49ers; Next: at Houston Texans
2nd: Seattle Seahawks; Next: BYE
3rd: Los Angeles Rams; Next: BYE
4th: Arizona Cardinals; Next: BYE
About the Author: Insidethe49
