Sunday was a costly one for the Seattle Seahawks. They didn’t just suffer their worst home loss since 2017 (although, that by itself is pretty dismal), they also lost their perch atop the NFC West as well. What is more shocking is the team who is in first place…
…which would be the Arizona Cardinals of all organizations. The magic of the NFL is teams who finished dead last can turn it around in only a year. This may be the case for the Cards, who were in last in the division to conclude the 2023 season with an abysmal 4-13 record.
Well, through eight games, Arizona has already matched their 2023 win total and are enjoying a 4-4 record. With their 4-4 record, they are now technically in first over the Seahawks. Why? The Cardinals have the better division record tiebreaker over Seattle. Arizona is 2-0 in NFC West play, while the Seahawks are 0-1.
Making matters worse is the fact Seattle could be as low as third place in the division by the end of tonight, depending on how the San Francisco 49ers do against the Dallas Cowboys. Currently, San Francisco (3-4) is hosting Dallas on Sunday Night Football. The 49ers have beaten the Cowboys in their last three meetings. Should San Francisco prevail once more over their hated rivals, they will move ahead of the Seahawks due to their head-to-head tiebreaker. All three teams will be 4-4 through eight games.
Of course, all of this can change. With all these teams so close to one another, standings can adjust week to week at this point… which is certainly what happened from last Sunday to now.
Still, it’s not a great sign the Seahawks went from a commanding lead in the division to staring down the barrel of third place. I don’t think Seattle fans can handle seeing another beloved team squander a division title in the same season the Mariners historically blew their opportunity to do so.
Life comes at you fast in the NFL.