The Seattle Seahawks sit alone as kings of the mountain through the first two weeks of the 2024 NFL season. Seattle’s 23-20 victory over the New England Patriots wasn’t just a win, of which all are important, but it had the added bonus of helping to create some separation from the rest of the division.
As it stands, the Seahawks are in sole possession of first place in the NFC West at 2-0. The rest of the division, aside from the Arizona Cardinals, had a weekend to forget.
The San Francisco 49ers shared the early window with the Seahawks, as they traveled to Minneapolis to play the Minnesota Vikings. San Francisco lost 22-17 to the Vikings in Week 7 on Monday Night Football last season, and their return to the Land of 10,000 Lakes did not yield better results.
In their second game without superstar running back Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco found themselves down 20-7 headed into the fourth quarter. Jordan Mason had another 100 yards on the ground, and quarterback Brock Purdy had 319 yards through the air, but could not recover the onside kick, and fell 23-17 to the Vikings.
Thanks to San Francisco’s loss to Minnesota, Seattle beating New England locked up their first place spot before the afternoon games. The other two teams in the division, the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals, both 0-1 entering Sunday, played each other.
The Cardinals, who could not pull off the road upset of the Buffalo Bills, clearly played with a vengeance against their division rivals. Last week, the Rams loss a narrow game in overtime 26-20 to the Detroit Lions, but Week 2 was nowhere near as competitive.
Arizona obliterated Los Angeles to the tune of 41-10. The Cardinals had built up a 24-3 lead at halftime, which blossomed into a 34-3 lead towards the end of the third quarter. The Rams were gashed on the ground by Arizona’s 231 rushing yards. This was just an old fashioned butt-kicking from start to finish.
The Seahawks are seeking their first NFC West crown since 2020. There is obviously quite a ways to go for Seattle, as the season is still young. But having a 2-0 start is an exceptional first step.