Niners cruising to NFC West title

How much better than the rest of their division have the San Francisco 49ers been this season? The Niners have six wins through eight weeks, while the Seahawks, Rams, and Cardinals have a combined four victories. San Francisco will be gunning for its sixth straight victory on Sunday when they hit the road to take on the Redskins in Washington (1:00pm ET, FOX).

San Francisco's lone loss this season came back in Week 2, when they fell 27-24 at home to the Cowboys. They opened the campaign with a 33-17 home win over the Seahawks, and since their loss they've rolled to victories over the Bengals, Eagles, Buccaneers, Lions, and Browns.

Against the Browns over the weekend San Francisco grabbed a 20-10 home win, with Frank Gore rushing for 134 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries. Niners QB Alex Smith went 15 of 24 for 177 yards through the air, with one TD strike and no interceptions. Michael Crabtree had five catches for 54 yards and one touchdown.

Smith, much maligned over his career, has a QB Rating of 95.7 this season, throwing for 1,267 yards with nine touchdowns (plus one rushing score) and just two interceptions over seven games. Smith's career QB Rating is just 74.7.

The Redskins ride a three-game losing streak into their date with the Niners on Sunday, as they've squandered a 3-1 start to the season to sit at 3-4 on the year. That has Washington sitting in a three-way tie with the Eagles and Cowboys for second place in the NFC East, with those teams all two games behind the Giants.

Washington was blanked 23-0 by the Bills at Toronto's Rogers Centre in their last game over the weekend, with quarterback John Beck going 20 of 33 for 208 yards passing with two interceptions on the day. Ryan Torain rushed for just 14 yards on eight carries in the Week 8 loss, and Fred Davis had eight catches for 94 yards.

The Redskins have paid off for bettors in just three of their seven games so far this season, while the Niners are a lucrative 6-0-1 against the spread on the year. Washington and San Francisco last met in December 2008, with the Niners winning 27-24 at home as a 3-point favorite in an OVER result. San Francisco is 2-3 straight up but just 1-2-2 against the spread in its last five against Washington.

In other NFC West action this weekend it's Seattle at Dallas and St. Louis at Arizona, while the Giants are in New England and Philadelphia hosts Chicago on Monday night in the other NFC East contests on the betting board for Week 9.

Rounding out the slate: Tampa Bay at New Orleans, Miami at Kansas City, Atlanta at Indianapolis, the Jets at Buffalo, Cleveland at Houston, Cincinnati at Tennessee, Denver at Oakland, Green Bay at San Diego, and Baltimore at Pittsburgh on Sunday night. Oddmaker will have all the lines and totals for this week's contests.