NFC West Lookaround: Updates on the Cardinals, 49ers and Seahawks

TGIF* Turf Show Family

*Thank Goodness It’s Football

Okay, maybe none of us are feeling very thankful after the result of a certain game today. I’ll unfortunately get to that down below very soon. Just wanted to prepare you ahead of time so we don’t have any surprises.

The NFC West played each other this weekend so trust me when I say it has been a bloodbath for the best division in the league. Let’s go ahead and get into the action on another crazy Sunday full of football.

Cardinals take a battering ram to Los Angeles to remain unbeaten

I’m just going to rip the band-aid off now and talk about this travesty of a game. I’m not going to dive into the suck show the Rams just put on so I’m going to cover the Cardinals’ performance. Don’t worry, I’ll try to make this as brief as I can. (Deep breath)

With their 37-20 win over LA, Arizona ended their eight-game losing streak to the Rams to remain perfect in 2021. The Redbirds moved into sole possession of the division by manhandling the previously unbeaten Rams.

Quarterback Kyler Murray put on a horror show for the Rams faithful by going 24-for-32 for 268 yards and two touchdowns along with 39 yards rushing. Murray began LA’s nightmarish afternoon by completing this 41-yard pass to receiver A.J. Green:

The touchdown reception was among Green’s five catches on the day for 67 yards. Maxx Williams caught Murray’s other score and finished with 66 yards on 5 receptions. Arizona’s ground game came to play as they finished with 216 yards. Running back James Conner carried the ball 18 times for 50 yards and two touchdown runs. Chase Edmonds led the way with 120 yards on 12 touches including this nifty 54-yard run:

As for the defensive side, they made the Rams’ offense look quite offensive by forcing a couple turnovers which Arizona turned into touchdowns to pad a huge lead. Off-topic but I wonder what the exchange rate would be for turnovers-to-touchdowns. Either way, safety Budda Baker recovered a fumble and cornerback Byron Murphy recorded his third pick of the season on this play:

Next Week: Arizona returns to the desert as they try to remain undefeated against the 49ers. Maybe it will be Trey Lance’s first start you never know. Oops, don’t want to spoil my next section.

Seahawks snap losing streak at 49ers’ expense

Perhaps San Francisco is still shell-shocked over what Aaron Rodgers did to them last week, but the team has now lost two straight after a 28-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. After a quick-strike touchdown from Jimmy Garoppolo to Ross Dwelley, the offense really stalled. Garoppolo was 14-of-23 for 165 yards and a touchdown, but struggled until he left the game at halftime due to a calf injury.

After halftime, Trey Lance took over and performed well while stepping in for Jimmy G. Lance completed 50 percent of his passes by going 9-of-18 for 157 yards and two touchdowns, the first to wide receiver Deebo Samuel who was able to walk in after the Seahawks chose to play a Cover Zero defense:

Lance also finished with 41 yards on seven carries. Speaking of Samuel, he continues his massive tear this season as finished with two touchdown receptions off eight catches for 156 yards. Deebo has played like a reincarnation of Jerry Rice and if you don’t believe me, check out this stat:

On the opposite sideline, the Seahawks took care of business after losing a couple tough matchups to the Titans and Vikings. Russell Wilson played like a man on a mission as he played his heart out. Wilson was an efficient 16-of-23 for 149 yards and was responsible for three total touchdowns, two passing and one rushing. His touchdown strike to receiver Freddie Swain was pretty freakin’ bonkers as seen below:

Wilson had some razzle dazzle for everyone on this day. DK Metcalf was Seattle’s leading pass catcher with four receptions for 65 yards and Wilson’s other score. Russell cooked up more NFL history against San Fran by becoming the fastest player to win 100 games in the league.

Next Week: Seattle faces a short week as they prepare to lose, I mean host the Rams on Thursday Night Football. I will not be at fault if I jinxed LA in any way. San Francisco will head down to Arizona to play the undefeated Cardinals. It’s a must-win for the Niners because they can’t afford to lose anymore ground. If they don’t turn to Lance soon, they should go ahead and punt their season into the Grand Canyon. That’s my little rant for tonight.