The San Francisco 49ers suffered their first loss of the season. Here’s how the playoff picture and divisional standings shake out.
NFC West standings before Week 8
1. San Francisco 49ers (6-1)
2. Seattle Seahawks (4-3)
3. Los Angeles Rams (3-4)
4. Arizona Cardinals (2-5)
We’ll have a more thorough update about the division first thing Monday morning, but here’s a look at the standings.
The 49ers are 3-0 in the division. Seattle is 1-1. The Rams are 0-2 — something that could come back to bite them down the line.
NFC playoff standings after Week 7
1. Minnesota Vikings (6-0)
2. San Francisco 49ers (6-1)
3. New York Giants (4-2-1)
4. Carolina Panthers (3-3)
5. Chicago Bears (5-2)
6. Detroit Lions (4-2)
7. Green Bay Packers (4-3)
8. Seattle Seahawks (4-3)
9. Atlanta Falcons (3-4, 3-2 NFC)
10. Los Angeles Rams (3-4, 2-2 NFC)
11. Philadelphia Eagles (2-4) – Monday Night Football
12. Dallas Cowboys (2-4) – Monday Night Football
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-5, 1-0 NFCS)
14. New Orleans Saints (2-5, 0-1 NFCS, 1-3 NFC)
15. Arizona Cardinals (2-5, 1-4 NFC)
16. Washington Commanders (1-4-1)
The 49ers have a date with the Vikings in a few weeks. So they’ll have an opportunity to regain the No. 1 seed. The Niners would also have the head-to-head advantage over Minnesota if it came down to a tiebreaker at season’s end.
A quick look at the Vikings’ schedule makes you think they’ll be lucky to make the playoffs, let alone earn a bye. Yes, they’re undefeated, but the Vikings face the Lions twice, Bills, Packers, Niners, Falcons, Panthers, Patriots, and Bears to end the season. Those are all coin-flip games.
J.J. McCarthy leading the Giants to a division win would sum up the NFL: You never know what’s going to happen. McCarthy wasn’t great on a down-to-down basis, but he made a few big-time plays when New York needed him to. There’s still a lot of football to play.
Carolina leads the NFC South, but they took it to the chin in Week 7. That division is far from solved. Tampa Bay’s defense looks for real. I wouldn’t count them out.
Green Bay has the talent, but they are not a buttoned-up team.
The Seahawks had over 400 yards against the Chiefs, but are you scared of that offense? Their defense is scary, but Sam Darnold is inevitable.
The Falcons are inconsistent, but they’ve proven they can beat anyone on any given Sunday. They’re talented, but probably a year away.
The longer the Rams stick around, the more chances they get to get healthy and make a playoff run.
