The NFC West had an eventful Week 11, with the Seattle Seahawks defeating the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Angeles Rams beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the San Francisco 49ers having their bye week. The Rams and Seahawks sit atop the division with 7-3 records with the former holding the lead due to holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Cardinals are just behind at 6-4, and the 49ers are looking up at their rivals at 4-6. For specifics, let’s delve into the games themselves.
Seattle Seahawks 28 – Arizona Cardinals 21
The Cardinals failed to sweep the Seahawks this season, falling by a score of 28-21 in the Emerald City to drop behind Seattle in the NFC West standings. Arizona was the unfortunate recipient of a bounceback game from Russell Wilson and a surprisingly solid defensive effort from Ken Norton Jr.’s unit that resulted in their worst offensive performance of the season thus far. The Cardinals could never get their running game going, while Seattle had an efficient day with theirs. Their offensive line was undisciplined with penalties and couldn’t protect Kyler Murray consistently, while their defense couldn’t make the most critical plays. This may be because the Cardinals are dealing with significant injuries at the moment, but their margin for error has been reduced regardless. They have some ground to make up, but the division crown is still anyone’s at this point.
Los Angeles Rams 27 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24
The Rams eked out a win over Tampa Bay to grab the NFC West lead for the time being. Both teams fought for the lead throughout and had some big plays on both sides of the ball, but Los Angeles prevailed in the end. The Rams offense dominated the Bucs’ defense in the passing game, with Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods stuffing the stat sheet with 11 receptions for 145 yards and 12 receptions for 130 yards, respectively. Both Jared Goff and Tom Brady had two interceptions, but Goff had three touchdowns to Brady’s two. Former Tampa Bay kicker Matt Gay kicked the deciding field goal with under three minutes remaining. The Rams are now in the driver’s seat in the division race, but their lead is precarious with the Seahawks and Cardinals right behind them.
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