Seattle Seahawks Vs Arizona Cardinals: What We'll Learn from NFC West Showdown

In the most befuddling division in the NFC, nothing is for certain anymore.

Before the season started, it was pretty much a consensus that the division was San Francisco's for the taking. The Cardinals were starting a rebuilding process, the Rams were too young and unproven, and the Seahawks didn't have enough offensive firepower to make much noise.

Now that we're six weeks in and our football worlds are upside down, we know that San Francisco touts an offense that is nearly nonexistent unless the fans boo Alex Smith, St. Louis' defense is making Sam Bradford look good, Seattle is horribly inconsistent, and Arizona, a team that was winning games because of its offense last season, is now winning games in spite of it.

In the past few months this division has been an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in bacon, because hey, it's football, and they do have some sizzle, folks.

What we have here is a topsy-turvy division where the division winner could very well be an 8-8 team.

Thus, here is another attempt to define this division with a look at the Seahawks-Cardinals matchup that will surely be a football game—anything else is just speculation.

Have Seattle's Trades Put Them in a Good Position?

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CHICAGO - OCTOBER 17: Head coach Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks watches as his team takes on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on October 17, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. The Seahawks defeated the Bears 23-20. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Seattle Seahawks have made 13 trades since they hired new head coach Pete Carroll.

These trades have yielded four players who are now listed at the top of the Seahawks' depth chart, including Marshawn Lynch at running back, right guard Stacy Andrews, kick returner Leon Washington, and defensive end Chris Clemons.

Of the players they gave up, only Deion Branch, Darryl Tapp and Rob Sims were starting for the Seahawks a year ago.

It seems that as of right now the trades they made in the past 10 months have paid off, as they are sitting tied atop the division and many of the players they traded for are making an impact.

Lynch scored his first touchdown in his first week as a Seahawk last week on 44 yards rushing, Washington has been one of the most dynamic return men in the NFL and already has two touchdowns this season, and Clemons is leading the defense with 4.5 sacks.

If these trades continue to work out and help the Seahawks stand alone atop the division at the end of the week, then Carroll and new general manager John Schneider will look like a couple of geniuses.

Can Max Hall Help His Team?

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GLENDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 10: Quarterback Max Hall #6 of the Arizona Cardinals drops back to pass during the NFL game against the New Orleans Saints at the University of Phoenix Stadium on October 10, 2010 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Sa

Max Hall is an undrafted rookie out of Brigham Young who is now inexplicably starting for the Arizona Cardinals.

Show me one of the Cardinals' faithful who could have predicted this, and I'll show you a liar.

The Cards started the season ready to start over on the Matt Leinart era and brought in Derek Anderson as an insurance policy.

A release of a first-round draft pick and benching of a former Pro Bowl quarterback later, the Cardinals now boast Max Hall as their starting quarterback.

The Cardinals—or as I like to call them, the Bizarro-Chargers—are winning games despite being good at almost nothing, Hall included.

This trend cannot logically last long, and they will need their starting quarterback to do better than passing for around 150 yards and two interceptions a game to keep winning.

How Low Can the Division Go?

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SAN FRANCISCO - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Mike Singletary of the San Francisco 49ers talks with quarterback Alex Smith #11 against the Philadelphia Eagles during an NFL game at Candlestick Park on October 10, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Je

After Week 3, an ESPN columnist speculated that the NFC West could break its 2008 record for fewest wins by a division (they won a combined 22 games that season).

Well, with a clean sweep last week by the division in which the Rams beat the Chargers, the 49ers beat the Raiders, the Seahawks beat da Bears and the Cardinals beat the Saints two weeks ago, the division raised their win total from six to 10.

So while fewer than 22 wins seems unlikely, it is probably not going to be a pretty end to the division.

Only one team in the division has scored more points than it has allowed. The Seahawks have scored 98 and allowed 97. That's right—the only team with a positive net point total is all of plus-one combined over the season.

As a division, they have allowed the third most points on the season and have scored the fewest, and their 10 combined wins are only one ahead of the equally confusing AFC West's nine.

It seems that the weather is too nice out west and the teams in either conference are distracted from winning football games, but that's just a theory.

Considering they are guaranteed nine more wins because of divisional play alone, it seems unlikely that they only win three more non-conference games as a division, so their record seems to be safe from themselves.

Who Will Win the Division?

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CHICAGO - OCTOBER 17: Ben Hamilton #50 of the Seattle Seahawks sits on the bench after breaking his nose against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on October 17, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. The Seahawks defeated the Bears 23-20. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/

If history has taught me anything, it is to not speculate about a divisional race this close this early in the season.

So here it goes.

It seems that the Rams are still too young a team to consistently win at a high enough level to win enough games to take the division. Steven Jackson may have the skills to help the Rams score, but Sam Bradford will be asked to step up at some point, which is a lot to ask of a rookie quarterback whose best target is Danny Amendola.

The 49ers have dug a deep hole that is going to be difficult to climb out of. They have the most talent in the division, but the coaching staff has seemingly been steeped in confusion for the first six weeks of the season. Mike Singletary always seems at odds with Alex Smith. Plus, their quarterback is Alex Smith, something difficult for any team to overcome.

That leaves the Seahawks and Cardinals.

On paper, the Cardinals should be 0-6. I don't want to oversimplify them, but the highest they rate in any category scoring or yards-wise, on offense or defense, is 26th in the NFL. They are an anomaly. The Bizarro-Chargers should fall back into the pack any day now, but I doubt them every week they lose, and then they come back with a win the next week.

The Seahawks have the veteran quarterback who has been able to win games in the past and a decent enough return game and run game to keep them in games. Their defense has been an on again, off again squad, and if they are able to stay on, they have a clear path to the playoffs.

The final call here is that if the Seahawks win and string together two wins in a row, then they should be able to get on a roll and roll into the playoffs.

If Arizona wins, then I'm throwing darts at a dartboard.