The Seahawks lost. The #49ers are alone in first place heading to Seattle on Thursday night.
The 49ers will enter Thursday’s game against the Seahawks with sole possession of first place in the division.
Seattle lost to the Rams in SoFi Stadium when kicker Jason Myers pushed a 55-yard potential game winner wide right to give Los Angeles a 17-16 victory.
The loss pushed the Seahawks to 6-4 on the season and into second place behind the 49ers, who held the tiebreaker. However, now San Francisco won’t need a tiebreak to be in first.
While this does give the 49ers a little wiggle room in the division, they still have to notch wins over the Seahawks if they want to wrap up the NFC West on their own terms.
The 49ers are at Lumen Field to face the Seahawks for the first time this season on Thursday night. Kickoff is slated for 5:20pm Pacific Time on Thanksgiving.
The NFC West standings stayed the same after the Seahawks snuck past the Commanders. The #49ers still hold the tiebreaker:
The 49ers and Seahawks both won Sunday to stay in a dead heat atop the NFC West.
San Francisco briefly conceded the division lead to Seattle heading into Week 9, but the Seahawks’ loss to the Ravens put them in a tie with the 49ers for the division lead. Both teams won Sunday with Seattle sneaking past the Commanders on a last-second field goal to win it.
The Cardinals also got a victory in Kyler Murray’s return. They beat the Falcons on a last-second field goal as well.
San Francisco holds the lead on the strength of their superior record in the division. However, that’s mostly meaningless at the Week 10 mark.
The 49ers and Seahawks still face each other twice in the next few weeks. Given that neither team can gain separation, those two games will likely determine the division winner.
The #49ers didn’t play, but moved back into 1st in the NFC West.
The 49ers got a little help during their bye week and are back atop the NFC West thanks to the Baltimore Ravens.
The Ravens throttled the Seahawks 37-3 in Baltimore to drop Seattle to 5-3 on the season. That ties them with the 49ers who sit at 5-3 during their week off after losing three straight heading into the bye.
Thanks to the division tiebreakers San Francisco will be considered the NFC West leader when they return to action in Week 10. The Rams and Cardinals also lost, leaving the division looking like this after Week 9:
Head-to-head record is the first tiebreaker, but the 49ers and Seahawks haven’t played yet. That moves the tiebreaker to division record where San Francisco is 2-0 and Seattle is 1-1.
The 49ers and Seahawks play twice in Weeks 12 and 14 in two games that could ultimately decide the division.
While the winner is up in the air after Week 9, it’s clear the NFC West is a two-horse race that will likely come down to the wire much like it did in 2019.
The #49ers can’t shake the Seahawks in the NFC West:
The 49ers could’ve gotten help from the Steelers and Cardinals in their quest to repeat as NFC West champions, but only Pittsburgh came through.
At SoFi Stadium the Steelers, backed by a huge number of their own fans, knocked off the Rams 24-17 to give the 49ers some additional breathing room from their Southern California rivals.
In the Pacific Northwest the 49ers couldn’t get any help from the basement-dwelling Cardinals. They fell to the Seahawks 20-10 after taking a 10-7 lead in the middle of the second quarter.
Here’s what the NFC West standings look like heading into Monday Night Football where the 49ers will face off against the Vikings:
A win in Week 7 isn’t necessarily vital for the division since they’d still be a half game up on Seattle with a loss, but staying as clear as possible of the rest of the division just opens up some wiggle room as the season progresses.
The good news is the Cardinals are way out of it now and the Rams are 2.5 games behind the 49ers with San Francisco also holding the tiebreaker.
It appears coming out of Week 7 the NFC West will be a two-team race.
The NFC West could get wild if the #49ers slip up next week vs. the Cardinals.
The NFC West had an overall good third week of the 2023 NFL season.
San Francisco got things started with a 30-12 win over the Giants on Thursday Night Football that moved them to 3-0 for the year. Then Sunday afternoon it was Seattle taking care of business at home against the Panthers with a 37-20 victory to jump to 2-1 on the season. Arizona around the same time wrapped up a 28-16 upset of the Cowboys to snag their first victory of the year.
What would’ve been a perfect week for the division, albeit imperfect from the 49ers’ perspective, fell flat Monday night when the upstart Rams sputtered against the Bengals with a 19-16 loss that dropped them to 1-2.
Here’s an updated look at the NFC West standings after three weeks:
The Rams stay ahead of the Cardinals for now thanks to their division win. Arizona has yet to play a division game.
Meanwhile, Seattle got a game up on the other two teams while staying one game back of the 49ers.
Next week the Seahawks visit the Giants for Monday Night Football, and the Rams visit the Colts for a Sunday morning kickoff.
San Francisco and Arizona will square off in a big matchup for both teams. They play each other at Levi’s Stadium where the 49ers will be vying for a 4-0 start and a 2-0 division record. Arizona, on the other hand, will be looking for its first division win of the year while pulling to within a game back of San Francisco. Kickoff for that one is slated for 1:25pm Pacific Time.
The 49ers, Seahawks and Cardinals all lost their Week 9 games and kept San Francisco’s slim division hopes alive.
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Any glimmer of hope for a 49ers miracle comeback in the NFC West stayed alive in Week 9 with the entire division going winless.
San Francisco fell to the Packers 34-17 on Thursday Night Football. The Seahawks dropped a road game in Buffalo 44-34, and the Cardinals lost a heartbreaker at home 34-31 to the Dolphins. The Rams were idle on their Bye week.
Here’s what the NFC West standings look like after Week 9:
This race is going to be fascinating whether San Francisco is in it or not, but losses across the board yesterday does keep hope alive for those who believe it isn’t over until it’s over.
A 49ers upset win over the Saints in Week 10 would put them in a great spot heading into their Week 11 Bye. Then they get the Rams coming off the Bye week in Week 12 where they’ll probably be healthier. If they can also knock off the Rams and get more help with a couple losses above them in those three weeks, they’re right back in the thick of it.
It’s a long shot, but Week 9’s results didn’t do anything to push San Francisco further away from retaining their division crown.
Arizona’s Kyler Murray and Seattle’s Russell Wilson are early favorites to take home the NFL MVP award. Who, if either, will end up taking home the award?
Through two weeks of the season, NFL fans and analysts are already making their MVP award predictions. While there are quite a few right now, it’ll narrow down to about two or three candidates by midseason. Two of the very popular picks to this point are division rivals — Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
For the Cardinals, Murray has been often compared to Wilson. Their similar playing style and stature on the field make them an easy comparison. Coming out of the draft, Murray’s pro comparison was Wilson himself.
Both Murray and Wilson are trying to lead their teams to the top of the gauntlet that is the NFC West. Heading into week 3, three teams are 2-0, with the last place team being the defending NFC Champion 49ers. Should the division crown fall to Murray’s Cardinals, or Wilson’s Seahawks, MVP votes will come rolling in. To this point, the West is the consensus best division in the game.
Comparing Murray and Wilson’s supporting casts:
It’s no secret that the young & rapidly ascending quarterback has won the MVP award the last two seasons in Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, While Mahomes won the award seemingly by midseason in his year, Jackson was very much going toe-to-toe with Russell Wilson on a weekly basis at one point. Despite Wilson and Jackson’s similar 2019 campaigns, Wilson did not receive a single MVP vote. The takeaway here — the voters of the Associated Press love the young & new stars.
Big-name players do two things for a football team. They help a team win games and they create media attention. Arizona and Seattle both have their share of these players.
Wilson’s Seahawks are no stranger to household names. Seattle’s offensive supporting cast currently consists of D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Chris Carson and Greg Olsen.
Murray’s supporting group is highlighted by DeAndre Hopkins, Larry Fitzgerald, Christian Kirk and Kenyan Drake.
Both quarterbacks obviously have their fair share of talent and players that receive plenty of media coverage. Arizona and Seattle each made a blockbuster trade this offseason in DeAndre Hopkins and Jamal Adams. Those moves already made them two of the most talked-about teams in the offseason. That has carried over into the season.
To conclude here, Arizona and Seattle have both been talked about heavily and are receiving the sort of attention a team with an MVP-candidate needs, so that their player may take home the award.
Two Elite Dual-Threat Quarterbacks:
The NFL loves their mobile quarterbacks, with Wilson and Murray being two of the best. To this point, Murray has been better with the rushing attack, with Wilson being the better passer.
The MVP winner needs highlight-reel plays. Being a part of a good football team is not enough. Both quarterbacks have given plenty of those in just two games.
Russell Wilson makes a perfect throw to DK Metcalf for the 54-yard TD! #Seahawks
Here, Russell Wilson drops a perfect 54-yard bomb right over the head of the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, Stephon Gilmore. In terms of highlight-reel plays, that will certainly do.
Through two weeks, Kyler Murray has the following stats:
66.7% completion percentage
516 passing yards
2 passing touchdowns/2 interceptions
158 rushing yards
3 rushing touchdowns
Meanwhile, Russell Wilson’s passing statistics are ridiculous:
82.5% completion percentage
610 passing yards
9 touchdown passes/1 interception
68 rushing yards.
Murray’s passing touchdown numbers will need to improve to compete with Wilson’s on paper. Both teams have had similar games to this point. They each handled a mediocre team(ATL for Wilson, WAS for Murray). Wilson and Murray also each embarrassed an elite defense(NE for Wilson, SF for Murray).
Media Hype & Conclusion:
Both the Cardinals and the Seahawks have had a promising start to the 2020 season. With the way the NFC West is going down, it may be the Arizona-Seattle matchups themselves that have the most impact on the MVP award, as well as division standings.
NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger has selected Murray as his MVP choice in 2020. More and more analysts are beginning to believe in Arizona’s second-year quarterback.
Former NFL Pro Bowl punter and talk show host Pat McAfee also calls Murray the “Next Great QB.”
If Wilson’s current pace continues and Murray continues to improve each game, there may very well by an MVP race in the NFC West.
