With Week 14 of the NFL season fast approaching in the 2019 season, one divisional title is heating up and will come down to the wire – the NFC West crown.
The NFC West is arguably the most competitive division in football. With two of the teams aiming to make a run in the playoffs and a third fighting for a Wild Card spot and a few divisional matchups coming in the final stretch of the regular season, major seeding implications in the NFC are on the line.
The San Francisco 49ers (10-2) lost in a tight battle on Sunday in Baltimore to the Baltimore Ravens (10-2) by a score of 20-17.
That loss opened the door for the Seattle Seahawks (10-2) once they defeated the Minnesota Vikings (8-4) this past Monday night in a shootout 37-30, slotting Seattle into first place of the NFC West by tiebreaker over the 49ers thanks to their win in OT against San Francisco in Week 10.
The 49ers have a brutal four remaining games on their schedule that begins this weekend as they hit the road to take on the New Orleans Saints (10-2), then go home for games against the Falcons (3-9) and Los Angeles Rams (7-5), before rounding out their season against Seattle which can inevitably decide the division.
Seattle’s back half of the schedule has some difficult games, but is not as filled with spectacular teams like the 49ers’ remaining schedule. They will battle it out with Jared Goff’s Rams this weekend in Los Angeles, and then head to Carolina next weekend to take on the 5-7 Panthers who have just recently fired head coach Ron Rivera.
Finally, Seattle finishes their season with two home games against the Arizona Cardinals and of course the 49ers, both divisional opponents. The Los Angeles Rams are currently on the outside looking in, and are looking at stealing a 5th or 6th wild card spot if they can beat the 49ers and rattle off a few more wins down the stretch.
All that being said, both Seattle and San Francisco have their work cut out for them the last few weeks of the season as home field advantage and a first-round bye can be the difference on who makes it through January and into February and headed to Miami for Super Bowl LIV.
 
written by Brandon Antony
edited by Chuck Bayoud