Week 3 was a slog for the NFC West, and by the time the dust settled, the only team that walked away with a win was the one already sitting on top.
San Francisco kept its grip on first place by outlasting Arizona 36-30 in Santa Clara, pushing the 49ers to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the division. The win came on the back of another sharp night from Brock Purdy, who threw four touchdown passes one week after being named NFC Offensive Player of the Week. San Francisco jumped out to a 14-0 lead and still managed to put up 36 points while holding the ball for just a little more than 21 minutes.
Arizona made it interesting, though. The Cardinals fought back, controlled the ball on offense, and reached 30 points for the first time since 2024. Even so, they were limited to 5.3 yards per pass play, and that wasn’t enough to catch the Niners.
Elsewhere in the division, Seattle’s return to Sam Darnold didn’t end the way the Seahawks wanted. On the road against Washington, they fell 33-31 after Darnold threw four touchdown passes but also got picked off twice. Washington got three touchdown passes from Marcus Mariota, who started in place of the injured Jayden Daniels.
The Rams also let one slip away in Denver. They built a 16-0 lead against the Broncos on Sunday night, but the game turned late. Matthew Stafford was intercepted twice and sacked four times, and Bo Nix finished the comeback with a one-yard touchdown run with 47 seconds left to give Denver a 30-26 win.
After three games, the standings are San Francisco at 3-0, Seattle at 2-1, LA at 1-2, and Arizona at 1-2. The 49ers are 2-0 in the division, the Seahawks are 1-0, the Rams are 0-1, and the Cardinals are 0-2.
Week 4 brings another round of tests. Arizona heads to New York to face the Giants, who will be without starting quarterback Jaxson Dart and top pass rusher Brian Burns.
The Rams travel to play the 2-1 Philadelphia Eagles. Seattle hosts the 0-3 LA Chargers.
And San Francisco gets the Broncos at home.
In Other News...
Cardinals Snap Counts Expose Who Carried The Defense In Costly Loss
The Cardinals defensive workload against San Francisco was spread across a wide cast, with 20 players logging snaps on that side of the ball and the snap totals offering a clear look at who the coaching staff leaned on in a costly loss. The breakdown across the defensive line, linebackers and secondary showed a unit that had to shuffle responsibility throughout the game, while the special teams group was even busier, with 32 players taking part there.
Those snap counts also help explain how much Arizona had to manage around injuries and uneven individual performances as the game wore on. Beyond the defensive rotation, the special teams numbers added another layer to the story, including the kicking and punting work that can swing field position in a tight NFC West matchup, and the full usage chart left plenty to unpack about who held up and who was pushed into a heavier role than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals May Have A Tough QB Decision Around Carson Beck
Arizonas quarterback room is already drawing attention as the Cardinals weigh whether to reshuffle it before the season pushes deeper into view. Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew are both on expiring contracts, and that detail has sparked talk that the front office could explore trades to open up more snaps for rookie Carson Beck, who remains the long-term storyline at the position.
Mike LaFleur has acknowledged the offense has had its struggles, but he stopped short of placing those issues on Brissetts play. That leaves the Cardinals in a familiar spot for a team trying to balance present stability with future plans, and the next move at quarterback could say plenty about how aggressively they want to hand the job over to Beck. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Just Caught A Break Before A Meaningful Giants Test
A difficult road trip to MetLife Stadium just got a little less intimidating for Arizona. New York will be without Brian Burns, its top pass rusher, after surgery revealed a torn ACL that ends his season, and the Giants also will be missing starting quarterback Jaxson Dart for the rest of the regular season because of a knee injury.
For a Cardinals team heading into a meaningful Week 4 matchup, that changes the look of the opponent in a hurry. Burns was the kind of edge presence that can alter protection plans and force offenses to play on edge, while Darts absence removes a key piece of New Yorks offensive approach, leaving Arizona to prepare for a different kind of challenge than it expected when the schedule was released. [Read more 🡒]