NFC West standings: Rams blown out by Vikings, Seahawks can retake division lead on Monday night

The Minnesota Vikings did the Seattle Seahawks a huge favor by blowing out the Los Angeles Rams by a scoreline of 24-7, and it could’ve been worse had Kai Forbath not shanked two field goals. That vaunted Rams offense — this is something we haven’t had to say in over a decade — carved up Minnesota’s defense for an opening drive touchdown, but that was all of the scoring Los Angeles would manage.

With the score tied at 7-7, a major turning point in the game occurred in the 2nd quarter, as Cooper Kupp fumbled at the Minnesota 1-yard line and the Vikings were able to fall on it. The surprisingly good quarterbacking of Case Keenum continued against his former team, as he went 27/38 for 280 yards and a 4th quarter touchdown to Adam Thielen. Los Angeles’ fearsome defensive front didn’t sack Keenum even once, and the Vikings rushed for more than 170 yards. For context, the Rams had just 200 yards of total offense prior to their final garbage time drive. Of greater concern for the Rams is the loss of WR Robert Woods, who was carted off the field in the 4th quarter, and CB Kayvon Webster was placed in concussion protocol. Dominique Hatfield proved to be a disastrous replacement for Webster, as he was burned on the Thielen TD.

Los Angeles falls to 7-3, which means that the Seahawks can take the NFC West lead if they beat the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. Seattle also can somewhat “afford” to lose to Atlanta, as they’d still be one game back under the worst case scenario. The Seahawks host the Rams in week 15 on December 17th, and as a little fun fact, all of Seattle’s NFC West division championships under Pete Carroll have been officially clinched by beating the Rams at CenturyLink Field.

Next up for the Rams is a home game against the New Orleans Saints, who just came back from 31-16 down to tie Washington 31-31 late in the 4th quarter. Edit: New Orleans won 34-31, which is a bit of a bummer.

By the way, since this is an NFC West standings post, the Arizona Cardinals lost to the Tom Savage-led Houston Texans, which is pretty hilarious. Here’s Patrick Peterson (who did have an interception in this game) getting roasted for a touchdown by DeAndre Hopkins.

NFC West standings

Los Angeles Rams (7-3, 2-1 NFCW)

Seattle Seahawks (6-3, 3-0 NFCW)

Arizona Cardinals (4-6, 2-2 NFCW)

San Francisco 49ers (1-9, 0-4 NFCW)