The NFC West was supposed to be a knife fight, but through six weeks it’s turned into a San Francisco showcase. The 49ers, battered by preseason injuries and expected by plenty of people to wobble early, now own a three-game lead in the division and keep separating themselves from the pack while Seattle and Los Angeles keep slipping.
San Francisco still had to sweat Monday night. For much of the game against the Washington Commanders, the 49ers looked every bit like the NFL’s top team, before a fourth-quarter surge exposed some cracks in Kyle Shanahan’s group. Even so, they walked away with the win, and in a division like this, that’s what matters most.
Until about 7 p.m. PT on Monday night, the 49ers looked like the best team in the NFL by a mile. The Commanders' fourth-quarter comeback exposed some weaknesses in Kyle Shanahan's squad, but the Niners deserve credit for holding onto the win.
Unless the Seahawks can find a solution to their offensive woes, the 49ers look set to cruise to an NFC West title.
Seattle remains the clearest threat on paper, but the offense is dragging its feet. Sam Darnold has looked far less comfortable under Brian Fleury than he did with Klint Kubiak, and that disconnect is showing up everywhere.
The defense, led by Mike Macdonald, is still elite. The problem is the team no longer feels balanced, and that’s a dangerous place to be when the division leader keeps stacking wins.
There's something going on with Sam Darnold. The Seahawks quarterback looks much less comfortable under coordinator Brian Fleury than he did with Klint Kubiak, and it's holding the offense back. Mike Macdonald's defense is still elite, but this is no longer a balanced team.
The Seahawks still have plenty of time to turn things around and become a playoff team, but their chances of overtaking the Niners in the NFC West are quickly slipping away.
Arizona, meanwhile, has done enough to stay out of the bottom spot in these rankings. The Cardinals are not a disaster, and that alone puts them ahead of the Rams right now.
Their latest win came with help from a controversial penalty call on the game-winning drive, but they looked like the better team for most of the contest. It’s still early, and they’re a long way from division contention, yet there’s at least a hint of something here under Mike LaFleur.
The Cardinals are not a disaster, and that's enough to separate them from the Rams. Even if their game-winning drive was helped out by a controversial penalty call, they looked like the better team for the majority of the game.
Arizona still has a long way to go before it's competing for division titles, but head coach Mike LaFleur certainly has something to him.
Then there’s Los Angeles, where the slide has been sharper than anyone could have predicted. The Rams’ early mistakes might have been easy to chalk up as growing pains for a supposed superteam, but the loss to Arizona pushed the alarm level much higher. With multiple players now dealing with long-term injuries, the preseason Super Bowl favorites may already be watching the division race disappear.
Even the Rams' doubters would have never expected this kind of downfall.
The early-season mishaps could have been written off as the growing pains of a superteam, but L.A.'s loss to Arizona sent fans into panic mode. Now that multiple players are dealing with long-term injuries, the preseason Super Bowl favorites might already be out of the running.
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Commanders Fans Had Plenty To Say About One Pregame Performance
Before kickoff at Levis Stadium on Monday night, Train vocalist Pat Monahan handled the national anthem before the Washington Commanders and San Francisco 49ers met under the prime-time lights. The matchup itself carried plenty of weight, with both teams coming in at 3-4, but the pregame moment quickly became a talking point for reasons unrelated to the standings.
Monahans rendition drew significant negative reaction on social media, where fans wasted little time weighing in on the performance. For a game that already had plenty at stake for both sides, the anthem became an unexpected early flashpoint and added another layer of chatter before the first snap. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Are Undefeated But This Start Is Not Making Them Comfortable
The 49ers are rolling through the early part of the season with six straight wins, a perfect record and the top spot in the NFC, but the mood around the building has stayed measured. San Francisco is also 3-0 in the NFC West after taking care of the Seahawks and Rams, the kind of division start that usually makes a team feel comfortably ahead of the pack.
Kyle Shanahan, Trent Williams and Fred Warner have all spoken about the way the team is approaching the run, and the tone has been more about focus than celebration. Even with the results piling up, there is a clear sense that this start has not fully eased the concerns inside the locker room, especially with the long season still ahead and the margins in recent games still feeling tighter than the record suggests. [Read more 🡒]
Ex-49ers Depth Piece Suddenly Became A Much Bigger NFL Story
Jordan Elliotts stint with the Titans ended almost as quickly as it began, and the reason has turned him into a much bigger league-wide story than the former 49ers depth piece usually draws. Tennessee released him after an incident at the team facility involving a firearm in his car, and the Titans made clear the move came after a violation of NFL rules on possessing a gun on team property.
The situation only became more notable when Robert Saleh addressed it, calling it a lapse in judgment while still voicing support for Elliott. Saleh also nudged other teams to take a hard look at him, which leaves the attention less on the dismissal itself and more on whether another locker room is willing to give him a second chance after such a messy episode. [Read more 🡒]