How the NFC West Was Won Week 9: The Rams alone at the top

Nov 6, 2017, 8:12 AM | Updated: 3:50 pm

Los Angeles Rams' Tavon Austin (11) celebrates with teammates Sammy Watkins (12), Todd Gurley (30) and Robert Woods (17) after Woods caught a pass for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

BY VINCE MAROTTA

Arizona Sports

After the smoke cleared in Week 9 of the National Football League schedule, one team is all alone at the top of the NFC West standings: the Los Angeles Rams.

With a resounding victory over the New York Giants and the Seattle Seahawks’ home loss to Washington, the Rams are 6-2 and in the driver’s seat in the division halfway through the season.

Here’s a closer look at what transpired in the NFC West this week…

Arizona Cardinals 20, San Francisco 49ers 10

Drew Stanton owns the 49ers.

OK, maybe not, but the Cardinals’ backup quarterback has had success against the 49ers in his career. Of his seven wins as the Cardinals’ starting QB, now three of them have come against the division foe.

The third occurred Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, as Stanton completed 15-of-30 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns in a 10-point win.

The real story of the game was Adrian Peterson. The veteran running back, playing in just his third game for the Cardinals after a trade with New Orleans, ran a career-high 37 times for 159 yards in the win.

On the other side, San Francisco had chances late. Trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter, the 49ers had a drive stall near midfield on which they turned it over on downs with under four minutes to play. Peterson, however, fumbled on the next play, giving San Francisco another chance. They would drive down to the Arizona 9-yard line, but C.J. Beathard’s first down pass ricocheted off the back of left tackle Trent Brown and was intercepted by linebacker Karlos Dansby.

Beathard was battered in the game. The Cardinals got five sacks and hit the rookie 16 times.

Stat of the Game: With his 159 yards (the sixth-highest single-game total in the league this season), Peterson is now one of only six backs in the NFL with two games of 130 or more rushing yards. The others are Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt, Chicago’s Jordan Howard, Jacksonville’s Leonard Fournette, Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott and Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell.

He Said It (Arizona): “I knew we were going to pound the rock. It kind of felt like we were getting up there in the 30-range, but I felt good. The guys did a great job up front and out wide. It was one of those games you just have to grind out.” — Adrian Peterson on his 37-carry day.

He Said It (San Francisco): “They brought a lot of pressures. We had to throw it away too much. A lot of times it had to do with pressures. A lot of times it had to do with missed blocks and sometimes there wasn’t anyone open downfield.” — 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan on why Beathard was hit so many times.

What’s Next: The Cardinals have a quick turnaround and will host Seattle in another division game Thursday night at University of Phoenix Stadium. The 49ers will host the New York Giants in Santa Clara.

Los Angeles Rams 51, New York Giants 17

Jared Goff threw for 311 yards and four touchdowns and the Rams’ defense forced three turnovers in a lopsided win at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Los Angeles started quickly as Aaron Donald strip-sacked Eli Manning on the game’s first drive. Connor Barwin recovered and gave L.A. the ball at their own 48-yard line. Todd Gurley ripped off a 36-yard run on first down and three plays later, Goff found Tyler Higbee on an 8-yard touchdown pass.

The Giants would answer. Manning took New York on a 14-play, 67-yard drive that was capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tavarres King. That’s pretty much where the Giants’ highlights stopped.

The Rams outscored the Giants 20-3 in the second quarter, with Goff throwing long touchdown passes to Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins and Greg Zuerlein adding two field goals.

The third quarter was all Los Angeles, too, to the tune of 21-0. Gurley found the end zone twice and Goff hit Woods again, this time from four yards out.

The game was so lopsided, many are wondering if the Giants, who fell to 1-7, have quit on second-year head coach Ben McAdoo.

The Rams are off to their best start since 2001 and have already surpassed their point total from 2016, when they went 4-12.

Stat of the Game: Goff had his first career four-touchdown game as a pro and averaged 22.2 yards per completion. His passer rating of 146.8 was the ninth-highest single-game mark in franchise history.

He Said It: “Very pleased with our team’s effort today. To come across the country, leaving on a Friday and finding a way to get another win on the road was extremely encouraging.” — Rams head coach Sean McVay.

What’s Next: The Rams return home to host the Houston Texans Sunday afternoon at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Washington Redskins 17, Seattle Seahawks 14

Rob Kelley scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with under a minute to play and the Washington defense held off a Seattle rally attempt to notch a road win at CenturyLink Field.

The Redskins led 10-2 entering the fourth quarter, but Russell Wilson mounted a comeback, throwing touchdown passes to Luke Willson and Doug Baldwin to give Seattle a 14-10 lead with 1:34 left.

Undaunted, Kirk Cousins led Washington down the field in no time, completing a 31-yard pass to Brian Quick and a 38-yarder to Josh Doctson, which set up Kelley’s score.

With 59 seconds to work with, Wilson got the Seahawks to the Washington 46-yard line, but a desperation pass fell incomplete on the game’s final play, preserving the win for the Redskins.

Stat of the Game: Seattle had 16 penalties for 138 yards. The Seahawks are last in the league, averaging 84 penalty yards per contest.

He Said It: “This was a really difficult game for us. We made things so hard on ourselves. All of the things that happen when you lose a game showed up: Turnovers, penalties, getting beat deep. The easy scores for them — the difficult challenges just moving the ball down the field because we were in our own way. We really played against ourselves all day long.” — Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.

Award Winners

Offensive Player of the Week: Jared Goff, QB, Los Angeles Rams – Goff had his best day as a pro, besting his previous single-game passer rating high of 145.8, set against the 49ers in Week 3.

Defensive Player of the Week: Karlos Dansby, LB, Arizona Cardinals – Dansby had seven tackles, a sack, two quarterback hits, two passes defensed and became just the fifth member of the 40-sack/20-interception club with his game-clinching fourth-quarter pick.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Greg Zuerlein, K, Los Angeles Rams – Surprise, surprise. Zuerlein continues to be a weapon as he hit three more field goals on Sunday, making him 24-of-25 on the season.