After a brutal Thursday night game, the San Francisco 49es have pulled out a win to go 8-0. Now it’s no longer a question of the 49ers winning, but how they are winning. The defense took a step back, but Jimmy Garoppolo filled in with a career night, showing teams what happens when they stack the box and stop the 49ers’ run game and also what happens when Kyle Shanahan decides to put the ball in Garoppolo’s more than capable hands.
There was one game that mattered beyond that since the Los Angeles Rams had a bye, but it showed that when the 49ers want something done, they have to do it themselves.
Seattle Seahawks(7-2)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers once helped the San Francisco 49ers by beating the Los Angeles Rams, but they couldn’t do the same to the Seahawks. While things started well with a 21-7 lead in the first half, you knew a Russell Wilson special was waiting to happen, and towards the end of the half, he marched downfield and got a Seahawks touchdown. While they missed the extra point, that was an indication of how this might end.
The second half had field goals upon field goals, upon field goals, until the final minutes, where the Seahawks and Buccaneers traded touchdowns to tie things up. A missed field goal (yep, another one) for the Seahawks led to overtime, and shortly thereafter, rookie D.K. Metcalf and friends took it across the field for a touchdown.
The win puts the Seahawks to 7-2 and on a collision course with the 49ers. They will meet on Monday Night Football. As the Joker says, you can’t rely on anyone these days, and the 49ers will need to take care of business to keep the Seahawks out of winning another game.
Los Angeles Rams (5-3)
The Rams will return from BYE in an away game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Arizona Cardinals (3-5-1)
With the 49ers 8-0 and the Cardinals have three wins to their name, they are circling the drain in the NFC West race. The NFL heads into Week 10, which is now where the countdown begins on win totals putting things out of reach. With the 49ers at 8-0, they or the Seahawks would need to win a few more games to put the Cardinals into the wild card hunt.
That said, things are going ahead of schedule for Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray. There are some indications the Cardinals will be a problem in the years to come with that team. I’ll take a foot in my mouth for that one as I said I wasn’t sure how that offense would work. We’re still a long way off from saying that’s a lock, but when you see how they played against the 49ers, you know they are going in the right direction. That second game won’t be fun.
Into Week 10
A game with huge implications is on the horizon as the Seattle Seahawks travel to Santa Clara to take on the 49ers. The 49ers have beaten everyone on their schedule, but people still want to question if they are any good. A lot of, “Yeah, but.”
This will be the first time the 49ers take on what could be called an elite quarterback in Russell Wilson. Wilson is making a strong case to be MVP in 2019, and you don’t need to look any further than him digging the Seahawks out of trouble on Sunday.
The Rams will be going to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers. Now that they have had Jalen Ramsey for a bit, we will see how much the trade helps the defense and if they can dig themselves out of the hole they are in.
The Cardinals head to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers. Given how Sunday’s game went, they cannot be happy. This will be a nice litmus test on how the Cardinals are progressing by how they do against the Buccaneers.
1st: San Francisco 49ers; Next: vs. Seattle Seahawks
2nd: Seattle Seahawks; Next: at San Francisco 49ers
3rd: Los Angeles Rams; Next: at Pittsburgh Steelers