Week 16 of the NFL season was disappointing for the NFC West. Entering the week, both the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals had outside hopes of making the playoffs. They were hoping things would go their way so that their Week 17 matchup could determine which team gets in.
Sadly, both teams lost, and the Detroit Lions won, effectively ending both teams' chances. For the Seahawks, they played as good a game as they have all season, falling 19-17 to the San Francisco 49ers in a great battle. There was a notable achievement as well. Marshawn Lynch became the first running back to rush for over 100 yards on the Niners defense and scored the first rushing TD that San Fran gave up on the ground.
Arizona fell behind 23-0 on the road to the Cincinnati Bengals, as a result of three John Skelton interceptions, but furiously rallied for 16 fourth quarter points, falling 23-16. They even had a chance to tie the game at the end, only to have Early Doucet trip before he could catch the would-be TD pass.
The St. Louis Rams continued their miserable season, falling 27-0 to backup Charlie Batch and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Falling to 2-13 on the season, all that can be said is how disappointing everything has been.
Read on for the reactions to the games from each of our individual team blog sites.
Seahawks Lose to 49ers: Playoff Bubble has Burst, but the Future is Bright - Field Gulls
Unfortunately we're not sitting here thinking about a hard-fought Seahawks win, a result that certainly could've been had yesterday. They lost a war of a football game, one that was an absolute energy sucker of a game to attend. There were twists and turns, after the whistle hits with no accompanying penalty flags, multiple one play momentum changes, oodles of nerves; a rekindled NFC West rivalry at its best for about three hours.
Rams Vs. Steelers: Pittsburgh Wins 27-0 Without Ben Roethlisberger - Turf Show Times
The St. Louis Rams lost their 13th game of the season, dropping to 2-13 for the year, the worst record since a 1-15 season in 2009, Steve Spagnuolo's debut season as head coach. Fitting, since today's results make it more likely than even that this will be Spagnuolo's last season as the Rams' head coach. Pittsburgh won by a final score of 27-0; it was the second time this season that the Rams have been shutout.
I'm still not quite sure what happened with that game, but I'm told that the San Francisco 49ers did indeed win the football game, so I'll just run with that. A strong second half and an inability to put games away when they should made it come down to the wire, but in the end, San Francisco got it done with a thrilling 19-17 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
Arizona Cardinals fall short against Cincinnati Bengals, lose 23-16 - Revenge of the Birds
And just like that, hopes for the Playoffs are over. In a game that left many Cardinals fans asking "What if...", the Arizona Cardinals were defeated by the Cincinnati Bengals 23-16. I can't even describe how many chances we had to win this one, which makes the loss even worse. Hit the jump for the season-ending, most depressing loss I can think of since 2008.
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