NFC West Recap: 49ers continue to distance themselves; Rams and Seahawks lose

The San Francisco 49ers had another good week of football. Sure, their 23-17 win over the Washington Commanders unnecessarily came down to the wire, but they still won. The best part is, everyone else lost! AGAIN!

The 49ers have beaten the Commanders—a team the Seattle Seahawks lost to. They have also beaten the Denver Broncos, a team both the Rams and Seahawks lost to. Should tiebreakers come into play, those two victories could be a deciding factor.

So that puts the 49ers at 6-0 and 3-0 in the division. With the losses, they now have a three-game lead (and change if you could tiebreakers) over the second-place Seahawks.

Yes, the Commanders win wasn’t pretty, but the 49ers are 6-0, and if we have to endure a game like that Commanders game to be 6-0, I don’t think there’s a fan in the world who wouldn’t take that.

It’s not without some wrinkles. Wide receiver Mike Evans may miss some time. While Christian Kirk has resumed practice, it might take some time to get in sync with Brock Purdy. At least the 49ers get Dre Greenlaw back next week and maybe Nick Bosa.

Seattle Seahawks (3-3)

The biggest thing about the Seahawks’ loss to the Denver Broncos isn’t that they lost a game they probably should have won; it’s that Bo Nix may be getting more criticism for his play than Sam Darnold.

And he should. Nix has had a tendency to come back in the second half in 2026, but he didn’t do any of that here. You can also add in some very bad decision-making. Nix went 17 for 27 and 107 yards passing. Yes, 107 yards passing and the Broncos won. It’s fair to note the Broncos also had 74 yards rushing.

So how did the Broncos win? Defense, all defense. How did the Seahawks lose? Well, not being able to run the ball might be the biggest reason. 113 yards total. Rashid Shaheed losing one of his two fumbles doesn’t help. Then there’s the other quarterback. Sam Darnold had two interceptions, zero touchdowns, and five sacks.

17-14, Broncos. The Broncos are 4-2 after that stat line from Bo Nix. He didn’t throw a touchdown or an interception and got sacked twice compared to Darnold’s five. Do the Broncos look like a 4-2 team? That’s up to you. The Seahawks are now games (yes, plural) behind the 49ers, and it’s not going to get any easier.

Arizona Cardinals (2-4)/Los Angeles Rams (2-4)

Oh, you know what time it is. Let’s Ram It! Let’s Ram it all the way to last place in the NFC West.

The Arizona Cardinals not only beat the Los Angeles Rams, but did so by field-goal-ing the Rams to death. Six field goals were all the Cardinals needed to get the 18-16 victory.

This was a Los Angeles Rams team that some thought would go undefeated before the season began. Now they are last place in their own division. My, what a tangled web we weave.

And the Rams had a chance to win this thing. They marched down the field, got the touchdown, and the Cardinals only had 45 seconds left with no timeouts. Turns out 45 seconds is too much time for Jacoby Brissett, because next thing you know he’s pushing the ball down the field and getting into field goal range in 10 of those 45 seconds.

Many are saying the Rams get an easier schedule so they can right the ship, but again: They lost to a team via six field goals. The only other team the Cardinals have beaten is from Los Angeles, and that team, the Chargers, is 0-6 right now.

And yes, the Rams lost their kicker early in the game and didn’t have a kicker to make field goals. Then again, should the Rams need a kicker for the Cardinals?

That’s a huge win for the Cardinals and an equally miserable loss for the Rams. Are they out? No. But they are now in last place with several divisional losses on them as well. They are almost at “run the table to get in the playoffs” territory. Almost.

And it gets worse. First, wide receiver Davante Adams is out 6-10 weeks due to a hamstring injury. That’s devastating for the wide receiver group (something 49ers fans know all too well). Second, their shiny new kicker, Blake Grupe, was injured on Sunday, which was enough to add him to injured reserve.

So the Rams need to overcome a four-game deficit without a kicker or their veteran wide receiver.

Onto Week 7

The 49ers will travel to face the Atlanta Falcons, a game with the dreaded 10:00 AM start time. Not exactly ideal when the Falcons have been humming for a couple of games until Sunday—when the Chicago Bears crushed them. That score says 31-23, but 16 of the Falcons’ 23 points came in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Chicago was scoring touchdowns until the fourth quarter. Regardless of Atlanta’s performance, they have the best running back in the game in Bijan Robinson. With Robinson, the Falcons can run the ball, and if you’ve watched them lately, he’s not exactly the easiest thing to stop. It’s a great test for the 49ers, who have limited explosive runs.

The Seahawks host the Kansas City Chiefs as the Sunday Night Football game. It feels strange to want the Seahawks to win just to hand the Chiefs a loss, but the Chiefs could do the 49ers a favor by putting the Seahawks to 3-4. As much as some of us may dislike both teams, that will be a fun game to watch. Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III will probably be the star of the show; the Seahawks running game hasn’t been the same since he left in free agency, and the Chiefs have had a running game since acquiring him.

The Cardinals host the Denver Broncos. The same Denver Broncos who managed to beat the Seahawks. Given what we’ve seen of this Cardinals team, a win isn’t out of the ordinary.

The Rams will have their second straight week of not playing on primetime. They might play a bit more on Sunday afternoon if the league flexes them out of anything in the future. They host the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders lost to the Buffalo Bills, but were in it until the end. The Rams could be their get-right game.

1st: San Francisco 49ers Next at Atlanta Falcons

2nd: Seattle Seahawks; Next: vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday Night Football)

3rd: Arizona Cardinals; Next: vs. Denver Broncos

4th: Los Angeles Rams; Next: at Las Vegas Raiders