Forget the seeding, now the division is in jeopardy
Brace yourselves, The Seattle Seahawks are in first place in the NFC West.
Now that you’ve cleaned up the vomit on your screens, we can continue to just how this happened.
First, let’s look at overall seeding. The San Francisco 49ers dropped another game, this time to the Cincinnati Bengals. A game where a lot of the cracks are beginning to show. After watching the 49ers drop their third straight loss, it’s probably best to forget about playoff seeding at this point and focus on the division. And right now, the 49ers are second in that race.
The 2023 San Francisco 49ers are staring at a wild card spot while the Seattle Seahawks get their divisional win. If the season ended today and this was the result, if the 49ers get out of the Wild Card round is anyone’s guess. The product displayed on Sunday was subpar and there are a lot of answers the team will need.
Los Angeles Rams (3-5)
While we all feel dirty being happy with a Cowboys win, it at least was to the Rams. This at keeps them behind the 49ers in this divisional race.
The interesting thing about the Cowboys-Rams was first game to ever finish with the 43-20 final. So…there’s some random trivia for you.
Dallas came out swinging with 17 points and 16 points in the first and second quarters respectively and never looked back. The Rams managed a measly 8 points in the 3rd quarter, and then it was mostly all over.
The Rams are still in things, but this will make it mighty difficult to come back from. At least they were a part of history.
The big takeaway is the status of quarterback Matthew Stafford. He injured his thumb during the third quarter and went the locker room. The timetable has not yet been disclosed.
Seattle Seahawks (5-2)
As I said last week, trying to rate how someone does against one team vs another in the NFL is a bad thing to do.
That said, dammit Cleveland. The Seahawks got off to a fast start in the first quarter, making it 17-7, but the Browns slowly started clawing back into it, with the Seahawks even blowing their lead to make it 20-17, Browns. Of course, you knew what was going to happen in this situation in Seattle. The Seahawks ran in the final seconds to give the Seahawks the win.
So now the Seahawks are first in the division and making things very tight for the 49ers. The 49ers will be going into a bye, so they can’t drop any other games, but with any luck, the Seahawks can start losing, so there isn’t any ground gained.
Arizona Cardinals(1-6)
Well, the Cardinals certainly tried to get back into this. The Baltimore Ravens managed a touchdown in each of the first three quarters and then called upon another touchdown and the services of Justin Tucker to put the game out of reach. Meanwhile, the Cardinals tried a comeback, but there wasn’t enough time left on the clock to ever make it worthwhile.
A Cardinals’ loss to the Ravens isn’t surprising, but there is something about all of it that is: Quarterback Kyler Murray will not be starting against the Cleveland Browns next week. Looks like another week of Josh Dobbs while Murray continues to get healthy.
Or maybe not since they are now saying Dobbs may sit. This is something to keep an eye on.
Into Week 9
The 49ers will be heading to a bye week.
The Seahawks will be heading cross-country to take on the Baltimore Ravens. 49ers fans should have no trouble rooting for Lamar Jackson and co in this one. I do not see the Seahawks winning this one, especially with the dreaded 10:00 AM start time. We can only hope they lose. The 49ers need some help in all of this.
The Cardinals head to Cleveland to take on the Browns. At first, it was going to be the return of Kyler Murray, but it sounds like Joshua Dobbs will be getting another game.
The Rams will be going to pay a visit to the Green Bay Packers. The Packers just got shellacked by the Minnesota Vikings, but it wasn’t without casualties: Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins hobbled off with what many fear is a torn Achilles tendon (an MRI is scheduled as of this writing to confirm).
1st: San Francisco 49ers; Next: Bye
2nd: Seattle Seahawks; Next: at Baltimore Ravens
3rd: Los Angeles Rams; Next: at Green Bay Packers
4th: Arizona Cardinals; Next: at Cleveland Browns
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