The NFC West is now down to a two team race. The Seattle Seahawks seem to be getting back into Super Bowl form while the Arizona Cardinals are slipping with more and more injuries. The St. Louis Rams might be playing the best defense in the division but the San Francisco 49ers are basically a dumpster fire just trying to make it to the end of the season. Here’s a preview of the NFC West matchups:

Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams, Thursday 8:25PM EST

The Cardinals and the Rams will meet Thursday night on short rest. The Rams have shut out their past two opponents and the Cardinals are coming off an impressive win over the Kansas City Chiefs. This is going to be an extremely interesting matchup because the Cardinals only have a one game lead in the division and the Rams are a very dangerous team right now who seem to be enjoying their role as spoiler.

This game is going to be all about who can control the line of scrimmage on each side of the ball. The Rams’ defensive line is possibly one of the best lines in the NFL and the Cardinals’ offensive line leaves a lot to be desired. The Cardinals have lost their starting running back Andre Ellington for the rest of the season and will use Stepfan Taylor in his place. Since the Rams have the tenth best PFF (subscription) grade against the run, I doubt Taylor will have much success, especially since the Cardinals’ have the eighth worst run blocking grade. This will force the Cardinals to pass more, leaving quarterback Drew Stanton to run for his life against the Rams’ pass rush. The Cardinals offense relies on the big play and Stanton most likely won’t have the time for those long plays to develop downfield.

On the other side of the ball, the Cardinals’ defense can play some football as well. Their run defense, which hasn’t been playing quite as good as they were earlier in the season, will be in charge of stopping Rams running back Tre Mason. In their passing game they’ve been getting much better production out of guys like Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, and Jared Cook. Since the Rams are on their third string quarterback at this point, they’ve been doing a great job at just getting the ball into their playmakers’ hands and letting them work. While the Rams been able to score a lot of points against the likes of the Oakland Raiders and the Washington Redskins, neither team have the stars on defense that the Cardinals have like Tyrann Mathieu and Patrick Peterson. The Rams are going to have a much tougher time scoring on this defense. This game is certainly going to be physical and most likely come down to the end to decide a winner. When all is said and done I think it will be the Rams winning this game by a field goal.

San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks, Sunday 4:25 EST

You would be hard pressed to find two teams in the NFL going in any more opposite directions than these two teams. The 49ers have had two incredibly embarrassing losses in a row which has pretty much ended their hopes of squeaking into the playoffs. The Seahawks, on the other hand, have now dominated their past three opponents, holding each of them to their season lows in points and yards. Two weeks ago these teams met in San Francisco and the 49ers got beat 19-3. This time they play in Seattle and things have just gotten worse for the 49ers and better for the Seahawks.

The 49ers defense, even with all of their injuries and missing pieces, is still one of the best defenses in the league. They will also be getting All-Pro inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman back after he was activated from Injured Reserve on Tuesday. While Bowman might not play significant snaps in this game he will certainly provide a spark. As far as on the field play, the Seahawks offense is incredibly simple. Stop running back Marshawn Lynch from running all over you, something the 49ers have had serious problems doing in the past, and contain Russell Wilson in the pocket. If Wilson can be kept inside the pocket, their wide receivers aren’t good enough to consistently get open. However, keeping Wilson in the pocket and stopping Lynch are much easier to write about than they are to actually accomplish. The 49ers defense certainly has their work cut out for them.

The real mismatch in this game comes when the 49ers are on offense. This offense is abysmal. It’s unimaginative and painful to watch. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been struggling a great deal lately. Not all of it is his fault however. The receivers, Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis particularly, haven’t been able to get open and when they have been open they’ve dropped a lot of passes. On top of that the coaching staff has decided that Kaepernick will strictly be a pocket passer now, something he doesn’t excel at. On the other hand, the Seahawks defense is starting to click on all cylinders now that they’re getting healthy. Safety Kam Chancellor is back and so is linebacker Bobby Wagner. Both players change the dynamic of this unit. The cornerbacks, especially Richard Sherman, are playing better than they were earlier this year and will make it extremely hard for the 49ers receivers to get open. This is most likely going to be a long day for the 49ers. The lost 19-3 at home and I expect this game to be worse. This one could get ugly quick and I expect the Seahawks to win by multiple touchdowns.