Week 8 slate of games reveals absolutely no one is in charge of NFC West

If there's good news for the 49ers halfway through the season, it's that no one is running away with the NFC West lead.

Ideally, the San Francisco 49ers wouldn't have coughed up two fourth-quarter leads to two of their NFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3 and the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5.

But the Niners' 2024 campaign has been far less than ideal. And, despite a primetime victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football in Week 8, head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad still finds itself looking up at two other teams in the NFC West standings.

The only reason San Francisco isn't in last place is because LA has played one less game than the rest of the division's teams, and Los Angeles currently owns the tiebreaker over the 49ers because of what happened back in Week 3. And the Rams' surprising win over the surging Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night threw even more dust on the NFC's overall picture.

NFC West standings after Week 8

Despite their victory over Dallas, the Niners are still on the outside of the NFC playoff picture, looking in as the No. 10 seed.

Considering how well the NFC North is playing this season, San Francisco's best shot at a postseason berth might be another division title.

Thankfully, no one is running away with the NFC West whatsoever:

1. Arizona Cardinals (4-4)
2. Seattle Seahawks (4-4)
3. San Francisco 49ers (4-4)
4. Los Angeles Rams (3-4)

Arizona leading the division at the halfway point of the season is a prediction precisely zero analysts would have made entering the year, but that's the case. And two divisional wins, including one over the 49ers, help ensure the tiebreaker.

Related story: NFL tiebreaker rules: How are ties decided in division, playoff standings?

The only divisional win the Niners have is a victory over the Seahawks in Week 6, and San Francisco can thank the Buffalo Bills for handing the Hawks a defeat in Week 8 to ensure there isn't a further gap heading into Week 9.

The 49ers can gain ground in the NFC West this upcoming week despite being on their bye, provided the Cardinals fall to the Chicago Bears. But Seattle squares off against the Rams in Week 9, meaning the winner of that bout will, by tiebreaking default, be above the Niners in the standings.

Barring an unlikely tie between Los Angeles and the Seahawks, the best San Francisco can hope for is No. 2 in the division, but it won't fall to last place once Week 9 is concluded either, since even a Rams victory would drop the Hawks to 4-5.

The moral of the whole convoluted story? It's good no one is running away with the NFC West lead. But the 49ers need to rack up some divisional wins in the second half of the season.

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