With a win against the San Francisco 49ers Limited Jared Goff Jersey , the Los Angeles Rams improved to 7-0 and increased the division lead over an idle Seattle Seahawks to 3.5 games. Starting next week, I'll use this column to look at playoff scenarios. While the division is essentially a lock for the Rams, the Seahawks are in battle for a wild card. With the Green Bay Packers sitting on the second wild card spot at 3-2-1, there's reason to believe that the 10-6 threshold that set the bar for NFC playoff teams last year will be lowered this season.Denver Broncos 45, Arizona Cardinals 10Cardinals LeadersPassing: Josh Rosen 21-39, 194 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTsRushing: David Johnson 14 carries, 39 yardsReceiving: Christian Kirk 3 catches, 57 yards Cardinals (1-6) head coach Steve Wilks started this week by saying that the jobs of the coaching staff (himself included) were in jeopardy if they didn't come out with a win on Thursday Night Football. Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy was the first to be let go after this Thursday night shellacking. The offensive overhaul is a good start; they rank dead last in total yards and rushing yards and next-to-last in passing yards and points per game. Rosen had a nightmare of a game, committing 5 turnovers, taking 6 sacks, and averaging less than 5 yards per pass attempt. The defense deserves no pass either, surrendering 4 touchdowns to a Broncos team that is in the bottom half of offensive teams. The Cardinals are a broken team and very obviously looking for a high draft pick in the Spring.Next Week: vs. San Francisco 49ers (1-6)Los Angeles Rams 39, San Francisco 49ers 1049ers LeadersPassing: C.J. Beathard 15-27, 170 yards Orlando Pace Jersey , 1 TD, 2 INTsRushing: Raheem Mostert 7 carries, 59 yardsReceiving: George Kittle 5 catches, 98 yards, 1 TDThe 49ers (1-6) had a very similar performance to their partners in the bottom of the NFC West. 4 turnovers, 7 sacks, a blocked punt and a 22-0 start for the Rams made for a long day. Perhaps some pride was saved when the NFL flexed this out of the original prime time slate (for a game that was even more lopsided, but i digress) after the injury to Jimmy Garoppolo. Similar to the Cardinals, the 49ers most important day coming forward is Draft Day 2019, where a top-5 pick is on their way in hopes for a bounce-back season.Next Week: at the Arizona Cardinals (1-6)*Note: The Seattle Seahawks were on a bye in Week 7. They play at the Detroit Lions (3-3) in Week 8. The Los Angeles Rams seemed to come out of nowhere last season to win their first NFC West championship in 14 years.When the Rams clinched their second straight division title Sunday, everybody in the NFL had seen it coming all year long.The league-leading Rams (11-1) haven't surprised anybody this season, not after their remarkable 2017 transformation under rookie head coach Sean McVay.They're still the division champs again, this time with four games to spare and plenty of opportunities to climb even higher before the postseason.The Rams became the first team to clinch a postseason berth by beating the Lions 30-16 last weekend, guaranteeing themselves at least one home playoff game. This franchise hadn't won back-to-back NFC West championships since 1979, when the Rams completed a run of seven straight."It's a blessing," McVay said Monday after returning from Detroit with a raging winter cold. "You don't take anything for granted. It's nice to be able to still have an opportunity to accomplish some things as you continue to progress through this season Deacon Jones Jersey Salute to Service , but it still feels great either way to be able to accomplish something special with people that you care about and that you love."The Rams put on celebratory hats at Ford Field, but the muted party was mostly forgotten Monday when they got home.According to left tackle Andrew Whitworth, the Rams have greater expectations after they built on last season's 11-5 record with an even more impressive campaign this fall."With all of us coming together for the first time (last year), it felt like you responded and rose to the occasion and achieved something," Whitworth said. "I think this year, it feels like we expected to be a good football team. We expected to have an opportunity to win this division again, and we went out and did it. So I think you more see it as a checklist item. ... You're happy you won it, but it's not the end goal, and it's not really something we didn't think or expect that we could do."Two straight division titles still are a notable achievement in the up-and-down history of the Rams, who have won only one NFL championship since 1951.Los Angeles' string of solid playoff teams in the 1980s won just one division title. The Greatest Show on Turf and its descendants in St. Louis won three division titles in five years, but never two in a row.The Rams had missed the playoffs in 12 consecutive seasons before McVay and Wade Phillips led them back last year, only to lose an opening-round home game to Atlanta.The Rams are playoff-bound again, but they still have plenty to do in December 鈥?starting with the chance to clinch a first-round bye during their trip to Chicago on Sunday night.A win over the Bears (8-4), who have the NFC's third-best record behind LA and New Orleans (10-2), would guarantee an extra week of rest for the Rams in January.The Rams also control their destiny for home-field advantage in a potential NFC championship game with the Saints, but that race could go deep into December."It's a big deal Authentic Sean Mannion Jersey ," McVay said. "To be able to earn the opportunity in your 13th game of the season to be able to, at the worst, clinch a No. 2 seed, it would mean that you'll be able to watch that first week of the wild card round (at home). It's a huge deal to us, so that's certainly going to be a great challenge. That's the next step."NOTES: Backup running back Malcolm Brown injured his collarbone in Detroit, and he was expected to have "a procedure that's not necessarily a surgery" on Monday, McVay said without elaborating. The Rams didn't know the severity of the injury. ... McVay confirmed he spoke with former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury about potentially being "an extra set of eyes" for the Rams down the stretch. The offense-minded coaches are good friends, and Kingsbury spent time with the Rams during the summer. "He's got a lot of opportunities that he's figuring out now, so there's really no news on that front," McVay said. ... McVay hopes to kick his cold in time for the Rams' trip to wintry Chicago. "Even if I'm not healthy, that's not going to hold me back," McVay said. "I'm not out there playing, so as long as my brain isn't too slow, then I'm going to do the best I can to get as healthy as possible and ready to go for these guys."