The San Francisco 49ers have pulled their 10th win out for the 2025 season, continuing Kyle Shanahan’s masterclass of winning with an injured roster. While some might be a bit concerned about the Titans getting a fumble and getting back into the game as a result, it was one of those things that just happens. The 49ers didn’t let up or melt down at all, even if it was against the Tennessee Titans.
The big thing to take from this is the 49ers offense: If it can be crisp and clean, they can win anywhere.
The defense, on the other hand, can slow the opposition down, but it’s not going to win you games in the postseason. It’s Brock Purdy’s time to shine for the rest of the year. If the 49ers can manage to win it all, it’s because of him.
I’d want a 49ers Super Bowl win just for that, because it could silence all his critics. But I know that’s nonsense, even if it does happen.
Around the division, the key players won, sadly. So the 49ers remain a game back, while the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks need to settle things.
Los Angeles Rams (11-3)/
The Lions were giving all of us a lot of hope. Despite their defense doing Detroit defense things, they had it at 24-14, and may have kept it that way, if not for the last-second field goal to end the half.
Then the offense just vanished. The Rams came out in the third quarter with two touchdowns and a field goal. The Lions never scored again until the fourth quarter was nearly halfway through. Not like the measly field goal they scored there helped. The Lions added another meaningless tuddy to the board, and that was it. Thanks, Detroit. Thanks for nothing. Final score 41-34, Rams.
Other oddities in the game were how the Rams had only two penalties for a total of eight yards. And the first of those two wasn’t called until inside of three minutes in the fourth quarter. That’s sound football right there. Could there have been more? Probably, judging by things like this:
All I’m saying is, if a team manages only eight yards on two penalties all game? Fill it in yourself.
The other oddity is the injury bug that bit the Rams’ wide receiver corps. First, Davante Adams got a hamstring reinjury a couple of minutes into the fourth quarter. Rams head coach Sean McVay said, “It didn’t look good,” and he may not be showing up for the Thursday Night game against the Seahawks.
Adams wasn’t the only one. Puka Nacua took a rather nasty hit against his back/head and couldn’t stand up after. The Rams called it “cramps”—whatever that means. Nacua came back for the final series, so it wasn’t nearly as bad as initially thought.
The Rams are now at 11 wins and have a playoff berth clinched. What they don’t have is the NFC West, because that still has to sort itself out. Detroit certainly let us down today, all things considered.
Seattle Seahawks (11-3)
While the Rams were getting surprised by a Lions squad with a decent offense, the Seattle Seahawks were getting surprised by a quarterback who hadn’t played in a few years. As you know, the Colts dusted Philip Rivers off out of retirement, and his first test was one of the better defenses in the league. And Rivers was actually looking really good. For a half.
The Seahawks leaned on kicker Jason Myers. Actually, that’s understating this. The Seahawks threw all their eggs, hopes, and dreams into Jason Myers. And Myers did what we call “Field Goal-ing” the team to death. The Seahawks scored 18 points the entire game. All from Myers’ leg.
Yep, Myers went 6-6 and won the Seahawks the game 18-16. The Colts had 18 seconds to come up with something, but then Rivers threw a pass into a sea of Seahawks defenders intended for Michael Pittman, and that was that. The Seahawks came up with the pass, and it was over.
Six field goals. No touchdowns. As far as quarterback play for the Seahawks, Sam Darnold went 22-36 (61 percent completion rate), a fumble, and zero interceptions. But no touchdowns.
The day of the field goals puts the Seahawks at 11-3 and makes their collision with the Rams all the more important.
Arizona Cardinals (3-11)
Oh yeah, there was another football game. The Cardinals played against the Houston Texans. Now, not very well, but they still played.
How do I describe not very well? Well, by the end of the first quarter, it was 17-0. Arizona suffered three turnovers, one of which was a fumble return for a touchdown.
Gross doesn’t begin to describe this game. Arizona couldn’t get anything going, and Houston had every bounce going their way. Things like this Nico Collins touchdown, and the kickoff following explain things better than I ever could:
So the Cardinals just want the season to end at this point, and the Texans continue to be the league’s best defense. Final score 40-20, and more questions on what the Cardinals do next year.
Onto Week 16
Three more games remain for the NFL regular season, and Week 16 might be the last bit of “good” teams to get things in the 49ers’ favor. The 49ers will be traveling to Indianapolis to face the Colts on Monday Night Football. Philip Rivers didn’t look too shabby today, but we’ll see what happens now that some film is on him.
The Rams will travel to face the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football. A Seahawks win is something we all will want. Should the Seahawks beat the Rams, that puts the 49ers in a decent position to get back into the mix, provided they can win out. I know it sounds disgusting, but we are going to be 1-2 Man supporters this weekend. Seahawks, I’m backing you here, don’t let me down. At the very least, we’ll see how things are before the Sunday games start.
The Cardinals will be facing the Atlanta Falcons. Yeah, not much to report here. Atlanta is 5-9, though it beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week. There might be big changes in Arizona following the end of the season, so enjoy this dysfunctional team for as long as you can, I suppose.
1st: Los Angeles Rams; Next: at Seattle Seahawks (Thursday Night Football)
2nd: Seattle Seahawks; Next: vs Los Angeles Rams (Thursday Night Football)
3rd: San Francisco 49ers; Next: at Indianapolis Colts (Monday Night Football)
4th: Arizona Cardinals ELIMINATED: Next: vs Atlanta Falcons
