Rams falter, Seahawks surge, 49ers streak. December's NFC West race ignites with three teams battling for divisional supremacy.

After three months of catastrophic injuries, identity crises, and the kind of week-to-week roster shuffling that usually ages a fan base in dog years, the 49ers are no longer just fighting for oxygen. They are staring down a legitimate, realistic path to the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC. Yes, seriously. Stop laughing.

Week 14 of the NFL season is here, and games begin on Thursday. In the NFC West in Week 13, the Los Angeles Rams suffered a shocking loss to the Carolina Panthers. As the No. 1 team in the NFL in last week's NFL power rankings, can they stay at the top?

What happened with the Los Angeles Rams this week? Nothing against the Carolina Panthers, but that was a game we expected the Rams to win. We’ll get to that later, but we do need to give props to the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers for their victories.

Not surprisingly, the Seahawks’ defense has been top-notch this season. It’s a big reason that Mike Macdonald’s club is right in the thick of the playoff race.

The Bears are in first place because of their conference record tiebreaker over the Rams right now. The Rams, tied with the Seahawks at 9-3, are No. 2 because they have a head-to-head win over Seattle to have the NFC West lead.

With all four NFC West teams facing each other, it was an interesting week as things went mostly according to plan. Based on the result, the Seattle Seahawks came close to a victory, but their performance wasn’t ideal.

As Sunday fast approaches, the Rams will get the chance to capitalize on their mistakes and do so in enemy territory against a fairly dubious 3-9 Arizona Cardinals team in a NFC West divisional showdown.