Cardinals, Rams separate themselves in NFC West from 49ers, Seahawks
The NFC West was featured in the Sunday night and Monday night games of Week 7. Neither had a good showing. With seven weeks in the books now, the NFC West is a two-team race. The Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams both continue to win, while the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers are both fading quickly.
The standings in the NFC West currently look like this:
Arizona Cardinals, 7-0
Los Angeles Rams, 6-1
San Francisco 49ers, 2-4
Seattle Seahawks, 2-5
Let’s take a look at each team, what happened in Week 7 and what is coming in up this week.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
Latest show:
Previous shows:
and
Arizona Cardinals
Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic
The Cardinals won their seventh straight game to start the season, defeating the Houston Texans 31-5 at home on Sunday. After a shaky start, falling behind 5-0, the Cardinals rattled off 31 unanswered points, giving receiver DeAndre Hopkins and defensive end J.J. Watt a win over their former team.
The 7-0 start matches the best start in franchise history, when they started 7-0 in 1974, three years before the author was even born.
They are No. 4 in the league in scoring and are No. 1 in points allowed.
They kick off Week 8 with a home game Thursday night against the 6-1 Green Bay Packers, who have won six in a row but will likely be without WR Davante Adams after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams kept pace with the Cardinals with a 28-19 win over the Detroit Lions. QB Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes against his former team, while Lions QB Jared Goff was intercepted twice by his former team.
The Lions started with a 10-0 lead but couldn’t hold on.
WR Cooper Kupp added 10 catches for 156 yards and two scores and is pacing to set the NFL record for receiving yards in a season.
The Rams are on the road in Week 8 to face the Texans team the Cardinals just beat.
Sam Francisco 49ers
QB Jimmy Garoppolo returned to the starting lineup after the 49ers’ bye week, but he threw two interceptions in a 30-18 home loss to the Indianapolis Colts in prime time on Sunday night.
It was the 49ers’ fourth straight loss.
They converted on third down only 1-of-11 attempts.
They are on the road in Week 8, taking on the 3-4 Chicago Bears. It does not sound like it will be a showdown of rookie quarterbacks Justin Fields and Trey Lance. Lance is still injured and Garoppolo will be the starter, at least until the 49ers are eliminated from playoff contention.
Seattle Seahawks
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
The Seahawks lost their third game in a row, dropping a home game to the New Orleans Saints 13-10 on Monday night.
The defense played well, holding the Saints to 2-of-13 on third down, but they only mustered 219 total yards on offense. Geno Smith threw a touchdown pass on their first possession of the game and then didn’t do really anything after that.
They had the chance to tie or take the lead in their final possession but Smith was sacked twice and turned the ball over on downs.
They will be without starting quarterback Russell Wilson at least one more week.
Luckily for the Seahawks, they will host the 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 8.
1
1
