While Week 1 saw the 49ers looking the strongest of the four NFC West teams, it was only one game. Even though Seattle was upended in Arizona, I still think they are the primary divisional threat to the 49ers. They could turn out to not be a huge threat at all, but I am hesitant to ignore them for now, even after last week's poor performance.
Today, the Rams will host the Redskins, the Seahawks will host the Cowboys and the Cardinals have to travel to Foxboro to face the Patriots. All three are underdogs, with the Cardinals being two touchdown underdogs to the Patriots. If the 49ers can handle their business on Sunday Night Football, they should emerge from this week in sole possession of first place. I suppose the Cardinals could spring the upset, but let's just say I'm not holding my breath. The rest of the standings could fall one of several ways.
The Rams are 3 1/2 points underdogs to the Redskins. Washington is coming off their own huge road win over the New Orleans Saints and Robert Griffin III is officially one of the "it" guys in the NFL right now. It is only one game, but I have been getting all sorts of fantasy football questions about starting him over guys like Cam Newton and Matthew Stafford this week. While Washington should be able to win this game, I'm not prepared to hand over the keys to the kingdom to Washington. Let's see this happen a few weeks in a row before declaring them the next big thing.
The Seahawks are three point underdogs at home against the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys got a big season opening win over the New York Giants while the Seahawks blew a very winnable opportunity in Arizona. I still think the Seahawks could prove solid this year, but they're going to need to get it together sooner rather than later. I actually picked the Seahawks to win this one. I know I'm not the only one, but maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.