Week 10 standings: NFC West race tightens following Seahawks loss, 49ers win

The Seattle Seahawks really missed an opportunity to guarantee themselves a first-place standing by the time their bye week is over. Their 21-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put the fate of the division lead in control of the San Francisco 49ers, who prevailed 22-16 over a severely undermanned (and boring as hell) Los Angeles Chargers squad.

What does this mean? Well the 49ers are a win on Seattle’s bye from taking back top spot in the NFC West via tiebreaker, and that’s a big deal because that leaves the Seahawks pretty much zero room for error as far as dropping another division game. They’re at risk of both the head-to-head tiebreaker and having an inferior division record even if they win the 49ers rematch. At the moment, the 49ers “control their own destiny” or whatever cliche you want to use.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals shut down the Rams 27-17 in the battle of the backup QBs, so if Colt McCoy has to play next week... maybe? Maybe he can beat the 49ers again? If not then Arizona’s pretty much toast and there will be pretty clear water between the top two and the bottom two. I’m just about ready to write the Rams off, especially with Cooper Kupp suffering a potentially serious ankle injury that could result in missed time.

Here are the updated Week 10 standings:

NFC West Standings

1.) Seahawks: 6-4 (2-1 DIV)

2.) 49ers: 5-4 (3-0 DIV)

3.) Cardinals: 4-6 (1-3 DIV)

4.) Rams: 3-6 (1-3 DIV)

Remaining Schedules

Seahawks: BYE, vs. Raiders, at Rams, vs. Panthers, vs. 49ers, at Chiefs, vs. Jets, vs. Rams

49ers: at Cardinals (Mexico City), vs. Saints, vs. Dolphins, vs. Buccaneers, at Seahawks, vs. Commanders, at Raiders, vs. Cardinals

Cardinals: vs. 49ers (Mexico City), vs. Chargers, BYE, vs. Patriots, at Broncos, vs. Buccaneers, at Falcons, at 49ers

Rams: at Saints, at Chiefs, vs. Seahawks, vs. Raiders, at Packers, vs. Broncos, at Chargers, at Seahawks

Buckle up, folks. It’s gonna be tight.