And the Rams manage to do the opposite
So, the NFC West was going to come down to a battle between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18. The winner gets all the spoils. The San Francisco 49ers went from first to worst and are out of it. The Arizona Cardinals did Cardinal things and have snagged third place. Will we Ram it? Or will we get a mass of the 1-2’s running around?
Then, on Sunday night, the Washington Commanders won in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons, giving the Rams the NFC West.
So much for that final game idea; it’s time to bring up the Ram’s music video. It’s time to Ram it.
The Rams have won the division and hold the third seed in the NFL Playoffs. That could change if the Seahawks decide to spoil the party, but the only spoiling is if the Rams go from third to fourth in seeding. The Rams and Seahawks will play their final game of the season against each other. No divisional crown will hang in the center of the field.
As far as the Arizona Cardinals and 49ers are concerned, it’s pretty much locked in. The 49ers are the last-place team for 2024. The Cardinals would get the tiebreaker thanks to how the 49ers did against the Miami Dolphins.
And really, after Monday night, a last-place schedule would be a nice change of pace for the 49ers.
Los Angeles Rams (10-6)/Arizona Cardinals (7-9)
This game had an ending adequate for fans of the 49ers, and the 49ers weren’t even playing. We’ll get to that.
The Cardinals trailed the Rams 10-0 until almost midway through the third quarter, when they scored their first touchdown. The extra point was blocked, making the score 10-6. The Rams’ offense couldn’t get much going to respond, and the Cardinals tacked on a field goal to trail by a point.
The Rams answered with a field goal of their own and made it 13-9. Kyler Murray threw an interception into double coverage, which let the Rams take a minute and a half of our lives. With under two minutes and trailing 13-9, the Cardinals began to march down the field. 42 seconds, first and goal, and Kyler Murray threw a second pick. This one was a game-sealing (and eventually division-winning) interception. That alone is enough for 49ers fans to groan.
Except the recipient of the pick was none other than Ahkello Witherspoon. As in the 2017 third-round draft selection for the 49ers Witherspoon. As in, got cooked during a play against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Divisional of 2019 and was benched the rest of the game Witherspoon.
That Witherspoon. Somehow, the football gods concluded that the most suitable recipient of a game-sealing interception was a man who disappointed another NFC West team when they were a starter.
That’s not to say Witherspoon isn’t a good dude. During the benching in that aforementioned playoff game, he took it like a champ and wanted the special teams snaps.
But back to the Rams in 2024. You can’t make up the poetry that you witnessed. The Rams are trying to get the third seed, and the Seahawks are out of the postseason.
Seattle Seahawks (9-7)
Whenever I see the 49ers compared to another team playing a common opponent, I laugh. Things are very different from team to team, and saying Team X scored 38 points against Team Y while Team Z scored only six is hard to quantify in the pro leagues.
Except when the Chicago Bears are Team Y.
Team X is the 49ers, and Team Z is the Seahawks. Against the Bears, the Seahawks scored six points. Not a single touchdown. The Seahawks won 6-3. The win means nothing; the Seahawks are out of the postseason anyway.
You might wonder why I’m not recapping this game. Well, I’ll remind you of the 6-3 final score. Are those games fun? Rarely. Discussing how many times the ball went back and forth for 60 minutes in those games would be a waste of time for both of us, so I won’t try.
The takeaway is that the Seahawks somehow beat the Bears’ three measly points by scoring double that amount. We may never know how the 49ers struggled against the Seahawks. Similarly, how the Bears scored 13 against the 49ers will remain a mystery. The good news is that this puts the Seahawks in second place and gives them the second-place schedule for 2025. So, that means tougher sledding next season.
Like the 49ers and the Cardinals, the Seahawks are playing for pride.
Onto Week 18
The final week of the 2024 NFL Season is near, and the NFC West is locked up. The Rams will be hosting the Seahawks to close out the regular season. The Rams may want to hold onto the third seed in the playoffs and not get leaped by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so a win over Seattle guarantees them just that. Should both the Rams and Buccaneers lose, nothing changes. A Buccaneers win and Rams loss would put the Buccaneers for the third seed.
Meanwhile, the other half of the West will be in Arizona. The Cardinals will host the 49ers. This game will only determine draft positioning. The 49ers have locked up last place in the NFC West, and matching the Cardinals in wins will do little.
Enjoy your last 49ers game.
WINNER: Los Angeles Rams; Next vs. Seattle Seahawks
2nd: Seattle Seahawks; Next: at Los Angeles Rams
3rd: Arizona Cardinals; Next: vs. San Francisco 49ers
4th: San Francisco 49ers; Next: at Arizona Cardinals