NFC West Week 7 Preview

Author:
Nicolas Newman
Updated:
Oct 22, 2020 4:42 PM EDT

NFC West Week 7 Schedule

Sunday, October 25th @ 1:25PM (CBS): 49ers @ Patriots
Sunday, October 25th @ 5:20PM (NBC): Seahawks @ Cardinals
Monday, October 26th @ 5:20PM (ESPN): Bears @ Rams

Current NFC West Standings

1st: Seahawks (5-0)

T-2nd: Cardinals: (4-2)

T-2nd: Rams: (4-2)

4th: 49ers: (3-3)

General Week 6 recap and Week 7 overlook:

After six weeks, the NFC West has a combined record of 16-7. That’s the best mark in the entire league. The next best division is the AFC North, which has accumulated a record of 15-7-1. What sets the NFC West apart from the AFC North is that there is no weak-link. The Bengals are at the bottom of their division with a 1-4-1 record, whereas the 49ers are at the bottom of theirs with a 3-3 record. As the weeks go on, the NFC Best (West), is clearly the toughest division in all of football.

This past week, two teams within the division made themselves look real good in front of a National television audience. Last Sunday night, the 49ers took care of business and were in control of the vast majority of their matchup against the Rams. One night later, the Cardinals pulverized the Cowboys on Monday Night Football by a final score of 38-10.

Looking ahead to Week 7, the NFC West has another opportunity to continue their dominance in the limelight. Week 7 will feature one out of conference matchup, one prime time divisional matchup, and a prime time conference matchup.

Let's take a closer look at each matchup:

San Francisco 49ers (3-3) @ New England Patriots (2-3)

2020 Team Stats (49ers on left side - Patriots on right side):

Points Scored Per Game: 24.7 (20th) - 21.8 (25th)
Passing Yards Per Game: 240.7 (20th) - 207.2 (25th)
Rushing Yards Per Game: 127.8 (11th) - 167.2 (2nd)
Points Allowed Per Game: 21.7 (10th) - 22 (T-11th)
Passing Yards Allowed Per Game: 212.7 (5th) - 219.8 (9th)
Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 108.3 (10th) - 119.2 (16th)

Storyline: Will the Patriots lose three consecutive games for the first time since 2002?

The Patriots have not lost three straight regular season games, since 2002. If they lose this game, they’ll be 2-4. A 2-4 start would be their worst six game stretch to begin a season since Bill Belichick’s first year as head coach, which was 2000.

Wild.

The Patriots have been the most dominant team in football for the last two decades, which is the greatest stretch of dominance in league history.

Belichick’s first year without Brady got off to a hot start as the new man under-center, Cam Newton, led the team to a 2-1 record. That one loss was one yard away from turning into a victory, as Newton was stopped at the goal line on the final play of a Sunday Night Football matchup against the Seahawks. A few weeks later, COVID-19 hit Newton and the Patriots and they were forced to start Brian Hoyer.

Yikes.

Since then, the team has been out of whack. When a team starts 2-4, it is extremely difficult to make the playoffs. The 49ers were in that position last week and came through with their best performance of the season against the Rams. Will the same go for the Patriots? Or, will Kyle Shanahan get his revenge against Belichick (it’s the first time they’ve been on opposite sidelines since Super Bowl LI), and put an end to the Patriots playoff hopes? I believe it will be the latter.

Here’s why:

Last week against the Rams, the 49ers found their offensive identity. They are a run-first team that utilizes the run and short-passing game to open up the rest of the playbook. This identity gives the team its best chance to win. Stay committed to the ground, and when you throw, get your playmakers the ball in space. That is exactly what the 49ers must do if they want to win this game.

Raheem Mostert is out, and the team must turn to undrafted rookie JaMycal Hasty to take over as the featured back. Hasty should be the back receiving the early down touches, Jerick McKinnon on passing downs, and Jeff Wilson Jr. around the goal-line and sprinkled in lightly in differing situations.

Shanahan catered his play calling last week towards Jimmy Garoppolo. He didn’t ask Garoppolo to do much, and allowed him to get into a rhythm and regain some confidence. Unless Shanahan needs to make an adjustment, he should continue to call games like that for Garoppolo. This is a Garoppolo revenge game, as he’s playing against the team who drafted him for the very first time. I expect him to be on his A game for this matchup and build off of last week's performance.

The key to slowing down the Patriots offense, which averages only 21.8 points per game, is slowing down Cam Newton the runner, not the quarterback. Running quarterbacks have been the 49ers' worst nightmare for the last season and a half, but they have a chance to show improvement against a team who relies heavily on its quarterback’s ability to run. Newton leads the Patriots with 225 rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns.

On the other hand, Newton the quarterback does not have many weapons to throw to. His main targets are Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, and Damiere Byrd (who?). There is no wonder why the Patriots have the seventh-worst air attack in football.

If the 49ers want to not just win, but be in control throughout this game, then they must contain Newton the runner. Stack the box and dare him to throw. If that is their approach on defense and they stick with their newly found offensive identity, I like their chances to win this game.

In fact, I’m taking the 49ers to win this game.

Prediction: 49ers 24 - Patriots 17

Seattle Seahawks (5-0) @ Arizona Cardinals

2020 Team Stats (Seahawks on left side - Cardinals on right side)

Points Scored Per Game: 33.1 (1st) - 27.7 (11th)
Passing Yards Per Game: 280.4 (4th) - 241.5 (T-18th)
Rushing Yards Per Game: 115.4 (17th) - 161.0 (4th)
Points Allowed Per Game: 27.0 (18th) - 18.7 (2nd)
Passing Yards Allowed Per Game: 370.4 (32nd) - 226.5 (11th)
Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 100.8 (7th) - 119.7 (17th)

Storyline: Can the Cardinals make a statement?

When these two teams played last, the Cardinals won by a final score of 27-13. But that was during Week 16 of last season, and circumstances have certainly changed since then. Back then, the Cardinals were a four-win football team with nothing to lose, while the Seahawks were an 11-win team in the middle of a race for a division title. The Seahawks may have found themselves victims of a trap game, as the following week was the Sunday night game against the 49ers in which they completely butchered their chance of winning the NFC West.

Now, the Cardinals are a four-win team, except it’s only Week 7, not 16. Through the first six weeks of the season, they’ve been a tough team to gauge, but now they have a chance to prove just how real they are. The Seahawks will be playing their first divisional matchup of the season, and I like the Cardinals chances to upset them.

Here is why:

The Cardinals have the ability to keep the game close, just like the Vikings did two weeks ago. They can effectively move the ball on the ground and through the air. However, their game plan should be to move to the ball on the ground. Just because the Seahawks have the worst pass defense in football, does not mean that it’s an area the Cardinals must exploit.

The goal for the Cardinals should be to have long sustained drives by running the football and limiting Russell Wilson’s opportunities. This plan nearly paid off for the Vikings, but some questionable decision making resulted in turning the ball over to Wilson with too much time on the clock.

The Cardinals defense has been quite the surprise this year, as they currently are giving up the second-least amount of points per game. If their offense keeps Wilson off the field in the form of clock-eating drives that result in points, the defense may have it in them to hold off Wilson just enough to steal the upset.

The Seahawks have lost three-straight NFC West matchups, and I believe it’ll be four straight by the conclusion of Sunday.

I like the Cardinals as home underdogs.

Prediction: Cardinals 31 - Seahawks 24

Chicago Bears (5-1) @ Los Angeles Rams (4-2)

2020 Team Stats (Bears on left side - Rams on right side)

Points Scored Per Game: 21.3 (27th) - 25.3 (19th)
Passing Yards Per Game: 222.8 (23rd) - 253.0 (15th)
Rushing Yards Per Game: 90.0 (28th) - 135.2 (10th)
Points Allowed Per Game: 19.3 (7th) - 19.0 (5th)
Passing Yards Allowed Per Game: 224.2 (10th) - 209.5 (4th)
Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 113.0 (14th) - 109.0 (T-11th)

Storyline: Can the Bears prove that the Rams are frauds?

Don’t be fooled by the Rams 4-2 record -- they may not be that good of a football team. The Rams have their four wins because they swept the NFC East. They beat the Cowboys, Eagles, Giants and the Washington Football Team. That is not saying much, because the NFC East has the worst combined record in football (5-18-1).

The two good teams the Rams have played, the Bills and 49ers, dominated them for the vast majority of their respective matchups. So that leads to the question, are the Rams a bunch of frauds? In my opinion, we still don’t know, but we’ll have a much better idea after this game.

Last week against the 49ers, Jared Goff looked bad. The worst part about it, there wasn’t much of a pass rush coming at him. This week against the Bears, there will be a tremendous pass rush coming at him.

Despite the struggles the Rams offense may endure against the Bears’ defense, I still think they’ll have more success scoring points than the Bears’ offense going against the Rams’ defense.

Where I stand with this game is it’s a complete toss up. It could really go either way. I’m expecting an extremely tight, old-school football game in which the game will be decided in the final minutes.

I like the Rams to beat the Bears because the Rams aren’t the team traveling into a different time zone. If it were the other way around, I’d like the Bears.

Prediction: Rams 20 - Bears 13

SI Writers' Predictions: