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Beanie Wells needs 766 yards rushing in Week 17 for his second consecutive season with at least 1,000. The odds are higher that Wells will return to the Arizona Cardinals for a fifth season with the team. How much higher? That one is open to inter...

The Arizona Cardinals held a 17-0 lead over the Philadelphia Eagles with six seconds before halftime Sunday. What happened next sent Arizona on its way to a 27-6 victory and the Cardinals' first 3-0 start since 1974: The Eagles went with three wi...

The NFL trend toward a state of (pass) happiness has not swept over the NFC West. Go ahead and blame the quarterbacks, but realize, too, that the St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers have sought run-oriented identities through ...

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis routinely cuts down running backs in the open field. Willis has likewise taken out two top backs in the "Madden 13" cover competition, joining fellow NFC West icon Larry Fitzgerald in the final eight d...

Any knowledgeable NFC West fan knows what happens when Matt Forte runs across Patrick Willis. On the field, Willis helped hold Forte to 2.05 yards per carry as Willis' San Francisco 49ers defeated Forte's Chicago Bears 10-6. We'll conveniently ove...

Imagine how many yards Marshawn Lynch might gain if the Seattle Seahawks had a Pro Bowl fullback. OK, now. Stop imagining. The NFL has named Seattle's Michael Robinson to the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement for Green Bay fullback John Kuhn. R...

The hit San Francisco 49ers safety Donte Whitner put on New Orleans' Pierre Thomas set a physical tone for one of the NFL's best defenses Saturday. It also knocked Thomas from the game with a concussion. Tough break? Yes, but not entirely unexp...

This was indeed a special season for the San Francisco 49ers and, by extension, the NFC West overall. The Associated Press All-Pro Team, announced Friday, includes five 49ers, a league high for any team. Arizona's Patrick Peterson made the team as...

Four of the 13 players with at least 1,000 yards rushing this season call the NFC West home. All four run with power. Two in particular -- Arizona's Beanie Wells and Seattle's Marshawn Lynch -- have racked up yardage after contact. Both rank am...

Two memorable plays from the San Francisco 49ers' Patrick Willis came at the Seattle Seahawks' expense. One was an 86-yard interception return for a touchdown during an overtime victory at the former Qwest Field in 2008. Another was the rib-breaking ...

SEATTLE -- Thoughts on the Seattle Seahawks' 31-14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night at CenturyLink Field: What it means: The Seahawks improved to 5-7 for the season, including 2-2 against teams from the NFC East. They continu...

Five things I'll be watching for when the Seattle Seahawks face the Philadelphia Eagles at CenturyLink Field on Thursday night: Marshawn Lynch's ongoing revival. Lynch has 443 yards rushing since Week 9, most in the league. He has topped 100 yards...

Five things I noticed while watching the Arizona Cardinals' most recent game, a 21-17 victory at Philadelphia: Adrian Wilson can hurt you within the rules. The hit Wilson put on Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin with about five minutes left in the f...

Frank Gore had played 92 games for the San Francisco 49ers and finished with positive rushing yardage in every one of them. Gore's 93rd game featured six carries for zero yards and a question: What happened? NFL Rushing Leaders vs. 8+ Box C...

The San Francisco 49ers are an overtime defeat away from being 8-0 for the season. They are 4-0 on the road, own three fourth-quarter comeback victories and lead the NFC West by five games with eight to play. They are also quite likely playoff pre...

Not that Frank Gore's candidacy for MVP needs defending, but just in case: The San Francisco 49ers' running back has gained 28.6 percent of his rushing yards against eight or more defenders in the box. That's the highest percentage among all playe...