PFF Week: Out West, Week 9

It’s your last chance to get caught up on the happenings at PFF before the next slate of games is upon us and our new ‘PFF Week’ posts provide quick access to the week that was. The ‘Out West' edition covers all things pertaining to the AFC and NFC West divisions for a one-stop Saturday shop built to keep you in the loop and on top of your football-watching game.

With all of the success and well-deserved hype that Denver has had this year, it's strange to see them second in their own division behind the 8-0 Kansas City Chiefs. Staying in the same division, both San Diego and Oakland are in the thick of the race for that second wild card spot, the one that won't go to the Chiefs or Broncos. It's much the same story in the NFC West with Seattle one game ahead of a surging San Francisco squad while Arizona and St. Louis still have decent shots for a wild card berth. Let's review and preview all the games in the West divisions.

Week 8 Wrap

The Rams gave the Seahawks more of a game than most anticipated on Monday night as Seattle continued to look less than impressive when on the road. The Redskins also played well against the Broncos early into the fourth quarter when things began to fall apart for Washington. Cleveland, with new starting quarterback Jason Campbell, was in it until the very end against the Chiefs in Arrowhead. All of the games are detailed in our ReFocused articles.

REFO: Seahawks @ Rams
REFO: Redskins @ Broncos
REFO: Falcons @ Cardinals
REFO: Browns @ Chiefs
REFO: Steelers @ Raiders
REFO: 49ers @ Jaguars

Second Rounders in Focus: Week 8 lets you know how all of your team's second rounders performed this past weekend, you can also check out the first rounders here. Week 8's Power Rankings continue to have Denver as the top team in the league. 32 Observations switches things up this week and focuses on team defensive stats instead of its usual look at individual stats. In Palazzolo's Pitch, our Steve Palazzolo takes a look at the difference between metrics and grades. The ‘Had a Bad Day' Team of Week 8 includes Darren McFadden, in spite of his solid rushing total and pair of rushing touchdowns. The PFF Team of Week 8 features a number of players from both the NFC and AFC West. Check out how your favorite team's rookies are faring in our Race for Rookie of the Year.

Looking Ahead to Week 9

It's a light slate of games for the two divisions as the 49ers, Cardinals, and Broncos are all on bye this week. In this week's set of 3TFO pieces, our writers go into detail on Jake Locker's penchant for throwing downfield, an increased role for the Seahawks' Doug Baldwin, and a struggling first overall pick in the Chiefs' Eric Fisher. For San Diego, Philip Rivers is on pace for the highest single-season Accuracy Percentage in the history of PFF and he looks to be in for a big game against a weak Washington pass defense. Finally, the Seahawks take on perhaps the league's worst team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in Seattle where the team almost never loses.

3TFO: Titans @ Rams
3TFO: Eagles @ Raiders
3TFO: Buccaneers @ Seahawks
3TFO: Chiefs @ Bills
3TFO: Chargers @ Redskins

PFF Pick'em Week 9 has our experts in 100% agreement on five different games.

Additionally…

Rick Drummond takes a look at quarterbacks deemed to be “Dual Threats” and the rise of quarterbacks running the ball. Neil Hornsby's Week 8 edition of The Third Phase focuses on kickoff coverage and which players excel at this aspect of special teams. In our latest dive into Signature Stats, Khaled Elsayed examines Drop Rate for wide receivers and discovers that four of the WRs without a drop come from the Wests.

We, as fans, have been entrusted with the responsibility to make sure the NFL's best players are recognized through our Pro Bowl voting. Don't be that guy who votes for all of his team's favorite players, regardless of how terrible they may be. Take this responsibility seriously, be an informed voter using our handy Pro Bowl Cheat Sheet.

Use our Signature Stats. Really, they're the best.