NFC West Breakdown: Week 4
By Scott Allen
(Scott Allen writes for Raising Zona, which is FSB’s Arizona Cardinals blog. Representing the rest of the NFC West are 12th Man Rising, Niner Noise. and Ramblin’ Fan.)
Not sure if we learned anything new in week 4 with the teams from the NFC West that took the field. The Arizona Cardinals continued their road woes in a big way. The St. Louis Rams squandered an early 4th quarter lead to eventually get blown out by the Buffalo Bills, and the San Francisco 49ers lost on the road to the New Orleans Saints. Seattle was the only team to avoid a loss and that was because this was their bye week. The divisional standings will not change going into week 5.
Arizona Cardinals (2-2):
Looking Back:
Why the Cardinals would want to look back at the crushing they took from the New York Jets is beyond me? They played a game as about as ugly as it can get in the NFL, and they scored 35 points! The Cardinals turned the ball over an astounding 7 times while only getting one takeaway from the Jets, a second quarter interception of Brett Favre. The Cardinals committed 11 penalties and were sacked 5 times. Worst of all, Anquan Boldin was hurt on an unnecessary hit with 27 seconds left in the game, a game that had already been decided. Having 56 points scored on the defense is a tough pill to take. Brett Favre threw a career high 6 touchdown’s in the process and he looked more like 29 than he did 39.
Looking Forward:
The Cardinals have to be looking forward to moving on after this week. However, up next looms the Buffalo Bills. The Bills just defeated the St. Louis Rams 31-14 on Sunday. The Cardinals are at home the next two weeks and maybe that will inject some life back into this Cardinals team. Also the injuries are starting to mount and those will be addressed this week as well. DT Gabe Watson still has yet to make his season debut. LB/DE Bertrand Berry continues to nurse an injured groin, and also S Adrian Wilson is nursing an injury. Berry and Wilson also missed the game in New York. Buffalo will offer a stiff defense. Oh yeah they are also undefeated at 4-0. Obviously a big game come Sunday.
St. Louis Rams (0-4):
Looking Back:
The Scott Linehan era has come to an end after being fired on Monday. Trent Green was not the answer on Sunday, although he kept the Rams in the game longer than Marc Bulger did in the first three games, as the Rams held a 14-13 lead going into the 4th quarter. However bottom line, they lost again. This time a 31-14 beatdown at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. Steven Jackson finally rushed over the century mark, running the ball for 110 yards on 24 carries. It wasn’t enough though as the Bills scored 18 unanswered 4th quarter points, including a 33 yard interception return by the Bills Jabari Greer.
Looking Forward:
A chance to rest. The Rams are off on their bye week in week 5. This should give them a chance to break in a new coach. It will also give Trent Green another chance to work with the first team. He should be the starter come week 6 against the Washington Redskins.
San Francisco 49ers (2-2):
Looking Back:
The 49ers had the chance to take sole possession of first place, but went to the Big Easy and lost to the New Orleans Saints 31-17. After the first quarter, it was all Saints. Quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan threw for 257 yards, however only threw for a 50 percent completion rate, going 18-36 with 2 interceptions and 1 touchdown. Frank Gore had a decent day, rushing for 82 yards on 16 attempts. It was too much to overcome Saints quarterback Drew Brees and his 363 yards passing, which included 3 touchdown passes. Down 21-6 at halftime, the 49ers were never in the game again. Their lone touchdown came at the 6:28 mark of the fourth quarter.
Looking Forward:
It doesn’t get any easier, but the Niners do get to go home to face a New England Patriot team that they may be catching at the right time. The Patiorts were off in week 4, however they are coming off a huge defeat at home to the Miami Dolphins in week 3. The key will be the the Niners defense, who will need to put pressure on Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel early and often if they want any chance at defeating the defending AFC champions.
Seattle Seahawks (1-2):
Looking Back:
The Seahawks were off in week 4. The Hawks last played in week 3, defeating the St. Louis Rams 37-13.
Looking Forward:
Seattle had the chance to sit back and watch the NFC West self destruct right in front of their eyes Sunday. No one in the division played well in week 4. This shold give the Hawks much more confidence that they can regain the division that has been all theirs over the past several seasons. They have a tough game though in New York against the Super Bowl champion Giants. New York is 3-0 and in first place in the NFC East. New York is also coming off their bye week, so neither team is at an advantage with time between games. If Seattle can continue to run the ball the way they did in week 3 against the Rams, then they could pull off the upset and head home in sole possession of first place should Arizona and San Francisco fail to pull off victories in tough home games.