Seahawks Aren't the Best in the NFC West: The 49ers Are

I was looking on the front page of Yahoo Sports in the NFL section when I saw an interesting title in regards to the Cincinnati Bengals. It was an article by Charles Robinson explaining how the Bengals could possibly collapse from their surprising 4-1 start.

That column was part of Robinson's "Inconvenient Truths." As I scrolled further down to see what else was in the article, I noticed a title that I could not help but disagree with. That title was "The Seattle Seahawks are the best in the NFC West."

In that section, Robinson goes on to explain how the Seahawks looked good against a decent Jacksonville team. He goes further in regards to how the Seahawks play so much better with Matt Hasselbeck in the lineup—which I agree with, they do play better with him in at quarterback.

Yet, even with Hasselbeck it still doesn't make the Seahawks the best team in the NFC West. Yes, their last game was impressive with the 41-0 shutout of the Jaguars, but let's face it—the Seahawks have an uphill battle to climb. It's not far, but they are still chasing the leader of the division, who in my opinion is the best team in the conference.

Currently, the Seahawks are 2-3 with victories of St. Louis and Jacksonville. Their losses have come at the hands of Chicago, San Francisco, and Indianapolis. So, hypothetically if the Seahawks defeat, Arizona the Seahawks improve to 2-1 in the division.

That still leaves them behind the 49ers in divisional play, considering the fact the 49ers are 3-0 in the division right now.

Hypothetically, if Seattle loses, the team falls to 1-2 in the division, which makes it a much tougher road to get into the division race.

Also, the Seahawks have been having injury issues with their offensive line, so that could spell disaster for them as well. The team is now without Walter Jones, Rob Sims, Sean Locklear, and Brandon Frye.

Seattle's running game hasn't been that effective this year, either. Julius Jones leads the team in rushing with 285 yards and a touchdown. That averages out to 57 yards per game.

Looking further into the rationale of Robinson is the notion that the Seahawks receivers are closer to the Arizona team. I'm going to have to say it's not close to the Cardinal team either.

Seattle's top two receivers are Nate Burleson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who average 71.6 yards per game and 65 yards per game, respectively. The third receiver, John Carlson—who's a tight end—averages 47.8 yards per game. Which is decent from your wide receivers and tight end, but it doesn't compare to the top three of Arizona.

Arizona, on the other hand, has Steve Breaston with 81 yards per game, Larry Fitzgerald at 65 yards per game, and Anquan Boldin as the third receiver at 63 yards per game.

The Cardinals are 2-2 on the season. The team has beaten Jacksonville and Houston, and the losses have come against San Francisco and Indianapolis.

If the Cardinals lose to the Seahawks, they fall into an 0-2 hole. If the team wins, they improve to 1-1, meaning the division race would look like this if the Cardinals win:

San Francisco 3-0

Arizona 1-1

Seattle 1-2

If the Cardinals lose:

San Francisco 3-0

Seattle 2-1

Arizona 0-2

So, it's easy to see who's on top of the division—it is the 49ers.

Now, let's look at it in more depth what have the 49ers been able to do against the Seahawks and Cardinals.

Let's go over the Cardinals, who the 49ers beat in Arizona. The reason is simple—don't let Larry Fitzgerald or Anquan Boldin beat you. The 49ers did that for the most part.

It required a career-high in catches for Tim Hightower—the Cardinals' running back—and Jerheme Urban, who caught five passes for 74 yards.

Fitzgerald was held in check with six catches for only 71 yards and a touchdown, and Boldin caught just two passes for 19 yards.

The 49ers' defense also came away with two interceptions and sacked Kurt Warner three times.

What also is also important to note is that even though Frank Gore managed only 30 yards on the ground, it was Shaun Hill coming up big with a huge 80-yard drive to get the 49ers the 20-16 lead, and the defense held on for that final margin.

The 49ers did beat the Seahawks rather easily by having Gore carve up their defense. Gore became the first running back since Barry Sanders to score two touchdowns in a game with a run more than 75 yards.

Basically, the 49ers' offense was give the ball to Gore and let him do the work. He finished the game with 16 carries and 207 yards for the two touchdowns. 

Defensively, the 49ers did great stopping Hasselbeck, who had to leave the game with a broken rib in the second quarter. Hasselbeck threw for a touchdown but also an interception. The only issue was the 49ers were able to get only one sack.

Houshmanzadeh and Burleson were held to four catches for 62 yards and four catches for 46 yards—neither of them had a touchdown.

In fact, the most effective receiver and rusher for the Seahawks was former Cal star Justin Forsett.

The 49ers at this point could easily be 4-1 instead of 3-2, but we know what happened against the Vikings. The 49ers didn't show up against the Atlanta Falcons, but I don't expect that to happen again anytime soon—especially with Mike Singletary around.

As for Robinson's claim that the Seahawks are the best in the division, it's just not the case. The 49ers are the best in the NFC West—the only thing that could happen is if the 49ers squander it.

They still have some tough games left, three games on the road and one at home. The three away games are Indianapolis, Green Bay, and Philadelphia. The one home game is against Chicago.

That means the 49ers, who now stand at 3-2, would end the season with a 10-6 record. The 49ers have already proven they can beat the teams in their division.

Now looking at Seattle they have some tough road games and those are at Dallas, Arizona, Minnesota, and Green Bay. Home games include Arizona and San Francisco.

For Arizona they may have a tougher road to climb. They have some tough road and home games coming up as well. Starting with the road games the Cardinal are at Seattle, New York Giants, Chicago, and San Francisco. Home games include Minnesota and Green Bay.

One last thing the 49ers actually have a running back they can give the ball to and keep defenses honest. Seattle and Arizona do not have one!

At this point it's clear the 49ers are in charge of their own destiny and all they do now is have to execute and they'll be in the playoffs as the NFC West champions.