Week 10 saw the NFC West battling it out amongst themselves as the San Francisco 49ers faced the St. Louis Rams and the Seattle Seahawks traveled to Arizona to face the Cardinals. Given how awful this division has been in 2010, every divisional victory can have huge implications, and yesterday was no different. The 49ers defeated the Rams and the Seahawks defeated the Cardinals, leaving the division standings as follows:
Seattle Seahawks 5-4
St. Louis Rams 4-5
San Francisco 49ers 3-6
Arizona Cardinals 3-6
The 49ers victory moved them into a tie for last place and closed the gap to one with the St. Louis Rams. However, Seattle’s second road victory of the season maintains their two game edge in the NFC West. They went into Glendale and whupped up on the Cardinals to the tune of 36-18. They did see a tough injury to Matt Hasselbeck, who cracked a bone in his left (non-throwing) wrist. He came back to play in the second half, but was in a cast following the game. If he can’t go next week at New Orleans the Seahawks could be in big trouble.
The 49ers best chance to make the playoffs requires close to a sweep of their remaining divisional games. They won yesterday, leaving them with two games against the Cardinals, one at home against the Seahawks and one on the road against the Rams.
Seattle has moved into the driver’s seat in the NFC West, but they also face a tough schedule the rest of the way. Of course, the toughness of that schedule might be changing even as we speak. They visit a strong New Orleans squad and then host what has quickly become a struggling Chiefs team. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain their current pace and give the NFC West an actual consistent winning team in the division.