St. Louis Rams Win as NFC West Pulls off Sweep

Sep 19, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher acknowledges the fans after the game against the Washington Redskins at the Edward Jones Dome. The Rams defeated the Redskins 31-28. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE

For years the NFC West has been considered the worst division in all of football.  Arguably the lowest point occured during the 2010 season when the Seattle Seahawks edged the Rams for the division title to become the first sub .500 team to win their division since the NFL switched to a 16 game season.  Last year the 49ers exceeded expectations while the rest of the division seemed to fall short of theirs with the Rams being the biggest underachievers of all.  New coaching staffs and new attitudes have made the NFC West a much more competitive division over the last two seasons.  This weekend the NFC West went 4-0 with all of the wins coming against teams that themselves had won their first game.  The most surprising of all these was the Cardinals upset of the New England Patriots.  After the Patriots had dismantled the Titans last week most sports writers were ready to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl, which Tom Brady was hoping would be against anyone but the New York Giants.  Although the Cardinals game was the most surprising each game was impressive in its own way.  The 49ers showed that their defense can ground one of the best passing attacks in football and win a game even when they didn’t play their best.  The Seattle Seahawks dominated the Dallas Cowboys with solid defense, a bruising rushing attack and some timely special teams plays.  The Rams managed to overcome several costly mistakes, either by themselves or the officials, to come from behind and win against the Redskins.  The NFC West has a long way to go before they earn respect from the national media, but this weekend the division took a step towards putting the title of worst division in football in the rearview mirror.