The NFC West is truly up for grabs this week, but it’s down to two teams. The 49ers lost last week and were officially eliminated from playoff contention. The Rams continue to play the spoiler role (not this week) and the Cardinals and Seahawks will battle it out in Arizona for division supremacy. Here is a preview of all the NFC West matchups this week:

San Diego Chargers at San Francisco 49ers, Saturday 8:25PM EST

This game is a very unique situation for the 49ers. They have the chance to play the role of spoilers, something they have never been able to do in the Jim Harbaugh era. However, they will be doing it with even more injuries than before. Star rookie linebacker Chris Borland will miss the game with an ankle injury thrusting Nick Moody into the starting role. Wide receiver and special teams standout Kassim Osgood has been place on IR so he won’t be playing either. Running back Frank Gore suffered a concussion last Sunday against the Seahawks and doesn’t seem like he’s going to be able to play and Carlos Hyde also had a minor injury. The only good news on the injury front is that starting right tackle Anthony Davis has finally been cleared for full practice so the 49ers will be getting someone back finally.

For the 49ers to win this game, they’re going to have to get a good pass rush going. Guys like Aldon Smith, Aaron Lynch, and Cornellius Carradine are going to have to step up. Carradine just had his most productive game against the Seahawks and could be called on a lot more in this contest. By being able to get to the quarterback, that will help out the 49ers’ secondary, which has been pretty banged up this season. On offense the 49ers will need to establish the run, just like every other week. The big difference this week might be the possible absence of Frank Gore. They will need to lean heavily on rookie Carlos Hyde.While this is a winnable game for the 49ers I just don’t think the spoiler role is a role this team is comfortable in. Also, their offense is just completely out of sorts and they haven’t been able to fix it yet. I expect the Chargers to win by a field goal.

New York Giants at St. Louis Rams, Sunday 4:05PM EST

This is a game that just might get out of hand for Giants. On offense they basically only have one weapon and on defense they’ve been hit with injury and what’s left isn’t very talented. The Rams are also coming off a Thursday night game so they’ll have extra rest.

The Giants don’t have much of a run game and will rely on Eli Manning and Odell Beckham a lot. This has been a very good connection since Beckham has come back from his injury but that would require that Manning have time to throw. With the Giants’ offensive line having a PFF (subscription) pass blocking grade of -33.6, the Rams’ defensive line shouldn’t have much trouble getting to Eli. On offense the Rams will most likely give the ball to Tre Mason a lot so they don’t have Shaun Hill attempting too many passes. While the Giants defense isn’t on the level of the Arizona Cardinals’, Hill looked like an absolute mess last week. On top of that, the Giants’ run defense isn’t very good. I see the Rams winning this one by about 10 points.

Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals, Sunday 8:30PM EST

This is the game that could very well decide the division. The Seahawks are only one game behind the Cardinals with two games left to play. If the Seahawks win they’ll have two wins over the Cardinals which will essentially put the Cardinals one game back with one game to play. On top of all that, they lost another quarterback for the season. Thursday night in their game against the Rams Drew Stanton went down with an injury that takes him out for at least the rest of the regular season.

This leaves their offense in the hands of Ryan Lindley. Once Lindley stepped in this offense looked even worse than it usually does. It’s an offense designed to connect on a few big plays each game and survive on that and their defense holding opponents to a low point total. Well, it’s going to be extremely hard for a quarterback of Lindley’s caliber to execute against a defense like that of Seattle’s. Their defense is getting completely healthy again and starting to hit their stride. They are back to looking like the defense that won them the Super Bowl last year. On the other side of the ball Russell Wilson and the rest of the Seahawks offense will have their struggles too. While the Arizona defense is one of the better ones in the league, it will also help that the Seattle offense is quite pedestrian. If the Cardinals can contain Wilson and stop running back Marshawn Lynch from having a huge day they can absolutely stay in this game and possibly steal it. I think in the end Wilson and Lynch will make enough plays to win a low scoring affair. The Seahawks should win this by about a touchdown.