Week 8 was a good week for most of the NFC West. The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Atlanta Falcons to move to 6-2, the Rams kept themselves in the division race with a victory over the winless Bengals, and the 49ers stayed undefeated by notching their seventh consecutive win over the Panthers.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they were the only team in the division that lost and will most likely finish in last place. Arizona was smothered by the Saints in Drew Brees’ return game and their playoff hopes look quite dim. Having said that, let us dive into the specifics.
Los Angeles Rams 24 – Cincinnati Bengals 10
Despite the Rams trailing Seattle and San Francisco, they are still a team that nobody should sleep on. They dominated Cincinnati and kept themselves alive in the race for the division by moving to 5-3. Jared Goff had himself a solid day with 372 passing yards for two touchdowns and no interceptions. Wide receiver Cooper Kupp had a career game, catching seven passes for 220 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Rams offense did the majority of their damage in the first half with 17 points while delivering the final touchdown in the third quarter. The Rams pass rush sacked Andy Dalton five times and held Cincinnati’s offense to 10 points, giving up none in the second half. An all-around solid performance from Los Angeles, who will take on the Steelers next week.
New Orleans Saints 31 – Arizona Cardinals 9
The Cardinals were unfortunate enough to be the first opponent of Brees’ return from injury. They intercepted him once, but Brees finished the day with a 79.1 completion percentage and three touchdowns against that turnover. Arizona’s secondary was routinely torched by Michael Thomas, who continued his historic receiving streak with 11 receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown. They also gave up over 100 rushing yards to Latavius Murray, who also scored a touchdown on the day in the absence of the injured Alvin Kamara.
New Orleans held the Cardinals’ rushing attack to 40 yards and sacked Kyler Murray three times while limiting Arizona’s offense to nine points. Murray only completed 57.6% of his passes and was pressured by the Saints’ front seven all day. The Cardinals dropped to 3-4-1 and face a short week of rest as a Thursday Night Football game against San Francisco approaches.
San Francisco 49ers 51 – Carolina Panthers 13
Speaking of San Francisco, the 49ers added another victory to their undefeated streak, moving to 7-0 by thoroughly demolishing Carolina at home. Running back Tevin Coleman had himself a day with four total touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving) and rushed for 105 yards on 11 attempts. San Francisco’s defense as a whole was fantastic, picking off Carolina QB Kyle Allen three times and sacking him seven times. Rookie standout Nick Bosa paved the way, finishing with three sacks and an interception.
Jimmy Garoppolo completed 18 of his 22 passes (81.8%) for 175 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for a 111.2 passer rating. Along the way, he completed passes to seven different receivers. San Francisco is undoubtedly one of the best teams in the NFL this year and will face Arizona on Thursday Night Football to attempt to keep the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
