The Arizona Cardinals have had at least a share of first place in the NFC West since Week 1. However, after losing to the Seahawks again last week they’re in serious danger of going into the playoffs as a wildcard. For the Cardinals to win the division they will need to beat the 49ers and the Seahawks to lose to the Rams, something the Rams were able to accomplish earlier this season. Here’s a preview of the matchups for the final week the of the regular season in the NFC West:
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers, Sunday 4:25PM EST
Both teams in this matchup are on the ropes to a certain extent. With the Cardinals they will be starting rookie Logan Thomas for the first time in his career. After starting Ryan Lindley last week and with the performance he had head coach Bruce Arians didn’t have much of a chance. However, judging by the words Arians has chosen to use throughout the week I’m guessing Thomas will have a very short leash. The 49ers are in a state of turmoil that has been getting worse and worse as the season has progressed. Their team has been hit with injury possibly worse than any other team in the league and the situation with Jim Harbaugh, their front office, and all the speculation surrounding it hasn’t done anything to help the chemistry on the team.
The Cardinals will need their defense to basically pitch a shutout in this game because their offense can not be depended on. Luckily for the Cardinals they have one heck of a defense. Their defense will focus on stopping 49ers running back Frank Gore and containing quarterback Colin Kaepernick in the pocket. The 49ers’ offense will try to establish the run with Gore to help set up the passing game for Kaepernick. If the 49ers can get their run game going with Gore, not only will it open up passing lanes but it’ll also allow Kaepernick to have more room to run if the 49ers decide to call some plays for him. Also, the Cardinals secondary is a little overrated and there are some holes to exploit there. Forcing some extra guys to come down into the box respecting the run will certainly help the 49ers exploit those holes.
On the other side of the ball, the 49ers are incredibly banged up. They’re missing a lot of key players at a lot of key positions. However, the Cardinals’ offense has been a bit of a train wreck itself. The advantage that the Cardinals have is that their quarterback has almost no tape out there for any teams to study. Thomas is more mobile than the other quarterbacks the Cardinals have but his arm isn’t as good. The 49ers will need to keep him in the pocket and make him beat them with his arm. If Thomas is forced to do this, I don’t see them being able to do much at all on offense. I think the 49ers win this game by seven to ten points, especially if the Cardinals are watching the scoreboard and see that the Seahawks are going to win their game against the Rams. If they see that happening, there’s a good chance the Cardinals start to take out some of their more important players.
St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks, Sunday 4:25PM EST
The Seahawks are on quite a role as of late. Their defense is playing lights out and I don’t expect that to change this week. They still have something to play for this week as well: they’ll be playing to clinch the NFC West, a first-round bye in the playoffs, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. So if you think this team might come out flat, I don’t see anyway this happens.
On offense the Seahawks will be tested. The Rams defense has a very stout front seven while the Seahawks’ offensive line has been pretty bad this season. If Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson isn’t on top of his game on Sunday, he could end up taking a lot of big hits from the likes of Chris Long, Robert Quinn, and Aaron Donald. The Seahawks’ offense is an offense designed to make plays off of their run game. They need Marshawn Lynch to be effective and their offense will fall into place after that. Needless to say, if the Rams want any chance at winning this game they need to stop Lynch. If they can force the Seahawks to pass and then keep Wilson contained in the pocket, this offense is very beatable.
For the Rams on offense, they need rookie running back Tre Mason to have himself a game. They can not depend on Shaun Hill, especially against a secondary with guys like Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas. Running on Seattle has become much much more difficult ever since the return of linebacker Bobby Wagner. The Rams will have their work cut out for them but in the end I think it’ll be entirely too much for them to overcome. The Seahawks will win this one by 10 points.