In the theoretical competition for the worst combined single-season performance by one division of teams in NFL history, the NFC West possesses a strong candidate among a baker’s dozen of nearly equal—and equally terrible—choices. In the 2008 season, that division made a persuasive argument for the kind of professional football history no franchise, let alone any collection of franchises in the same (sort of) geographic area, wants to make.
That NFC West sank lower than, say, the 2019 NFC East (combined record: 24–40 or a combined winning percentage of 37.5%). At least the Eagles finished above .500. On lists that track this kind of thing—yes, they do exist, amid tons of misinformation and just as many basic math errors—two commonly tabbed seasons (1990 NFC Central, 2011 AFC West) hardly qualify for Worst Performance by a Division (single-season) in NFL History. Both of those divisions won too often, collectively, to be so terrible as to necessitate being lumped in with the others.
A narrower list presents: the 1971 AFC Central, where teams combined for a 41.07% win rate; the 1989 AFC East (41.77%); the 2008 AFC West (35.94%); and the 2015 NFC East (40.63%). In a league that’s designed to bend every team toward .500, those divisions even did mediocre wrong. Still, the 1971 AFC Central featured the Browns, who went 9–5; the 1989 AFC East showcased the 9–7 Bills, and that squad set up their Super Bowl runs; the 2008 AFC West presented two teams at .500; and the 2015 NFC East trotted out the 9–7 Washington (now) Commanders.
Then there’s the NFC West. Consider 2008 (34.38%), although the 9–7 Cardinals made a surprise Super Bowl run and nearly won. The rest of the division scratched out only 13 additional victories combined, with seven of those courtesy of San Francisco. Two of its teams—Seattle and (then) St. Louis—ranked among the six-worst franchises in pro football. The Rams picked second in the 2009 draft, and the Seahawks picked fourth.
That season, the worst, it seems, by a single division in one year in league history, was augmented by the 2009 NFC West (37.5%) and the 2010 iteration (39.06%), which easily marks the worst stretch of NFL football played by a lone division since, well, ever. In the Super Bowl era, at the very least. Yeah, 2016 wasn’t great for the NFC Westers (37.5%), but at least the Seahawks were coming off consecutive Super Bowl appearances and still finished 10-5-1. Sure, 2024 wasn’t great, either, with an even split of wins and losses. But the 49ers had played in two of the previous four Super Bowls, one of which (LVI) the Rams had won.
The point is, there were those who chose to drag what surely looks like the one NFL division most prone to being epically bad—combined seasons have developed something of a reputation. However, as this same NFC West took center stage in the first nine weeks of 2025, it allowed for a reconsideration of the division, especially since that worst season of 2008.
Turns out, the NFC West hasn’t been filled with pretenders. Not for a long time. Instead, since the 2008 sinking, no division in football has been as consistently successful over the past 17 seasons. At least when accounting for Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. In that stretch, a team from the NFC West has appeared in eight separate Super Bowls, more than any other division could dare to claim with a straight face.
Not even Brady can say that. Not since 2008, anyway.
Yet here they are, the NFC Westers—Rams, Seahawks, Niners and Cardinals—appointment television for even those unfortunate souls who live in the Eastern Time Zone and dictate much of the national perception about sports. Why? Because they go to bed before so many games end, of course, which isn’t exactly the best way to shape opinion, now, is it? Even those folks with an East Coast bias cannot escape what’s only the latest NFC West revival.
Anyone who stacked the NFC West games from Week 9 back-to-back-to-back on Monday, while adding some masochistic Cardinals viewing Monday night, could see what was already obvious: The NFC West is stacked.
That was Christian McCaffrey, rounding into elite form, with his second game in three weeks posting over 100 yards from scrimmage and scoring at least twice. Mac Jones also starred (again) against the Giants, with 235 passing yards and two passing touchdowns—more proof that the highest win rate in pro football, outside of the tush push, is Kyle Shanahan’s with quarterbacks.
There was Matthew Stafford, encroaching on Brady-level agelessness, distributing passes like an Amazon delivery driver. He hit seven different targets against the Saints, and each caught at least two passes. Stafford also threw four touchdowns to three different players, with two caught by Davante Adams, who seems more comfortable with the Rams’ offense every week.
In Seattle, against the Commanders on Sunday night, Sam Darnold completed his first 17 passes and tossed four touchdowns by halftime. He didn’t even play the whole game. (Jones completed his first 14 passes for San Francisco, proving the NFC West loves quarterback efficiency!)
The Cardinals even snapped their five-game losing streak on Monday Night Football. Arizona did so behind its backup quarterback—don’t sleep on Jacoby Brissett—and a career day from maligned wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. Those and another elite defensive performance.
In the three games featuring all three NFC West “favorites”—each of whom doubles as a Super Bowl contender, separated, of course, only by degree—division teams won by a combined score of 109–48. Throw in the Cardinals’ victory, and that’s 136–65. All four wins were delivered by double digits. The Rams and Seahawks each won by 24 points.
The question is no longer whether three NFC West teams could make the playoffs—duh, that’s possible, even likely at this point. But whether one could overcome recent history, glorious as it may be.
With two Lombardi trophies and eight chances to win one in the past 17 seasons, the NFC West has upended all narratives related to futility for good. This happened for so many reasons: because John Schneider and Pete Carroll took over in Seattle; because the Legion of Boom took shape; because of Shanahan’s quarterback wizardry; because of the 49ers’ terrible 4–12 season (2018) that netted Nick Bosa (second-overall pick, 2019). Because Sean McVay really was a boy genius and Les Snead really did believe he could wave his middle finger at collecting draft picks. (How many have noticed how he has utilized them in recent seasons?) Because: Brock Purdy, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Fred Warner, Bosa and the rest. Because: Marshawn Lynch, Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Russell Wilson and the legion that did boom. Because: Andrew Whitworth, Aaron Donald and Stafford, who has been the quarterback for the two best receiving seasons in NFL history, with Cooper Kupp falling just shy of Calvin Johnson’s mark (1,964 yards in 2012) in 2021. (Kupp, of course, now plays for the Seahawks.)
Will 2025 yield more proof that the NFC West rules in the form of another title? That’s the only question left to answer.
The NFC West demands your attention. The Rams appear to be the best team in the NFC in some weeks, but in others, they don’t look any better than the Seahawks. The 49ers have contended again with their greatest foe over the past 10 years—injuries to key players—and still sit only a half-game back from the division leaders. Those three teams are 18–7 after nine weeks. Imagine that in 2008! The other, Arizona, started 2025 with two wins, then lost five consecutive games—five losses by a combined 13 points, including to San Francisco (16–15) and Seattle (23–20).
The NFC West features two of the top odds-on favorites to win NFL MVP in a few months. Stafford trails only Josh Allen, Mahomes and Drake Maye after Week 9, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. The Rams quarterback is +550 and the next-lowest odds (+1,400) belong to Darnold, the Seahawks’ new superstar QB and last spring’s most impactful signing for any team across the league.
Is there a better division to watch down the stretch? Of course not! Whether that’s three teams vying for the NFC West crown or two of the top three at present doesn’t matter. In part because how each is reconfigured at the trade deadline will go down as part of the fun. The contending NFC West teams have added: wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (Seahawks), pass rusher Keion White (Niners) and cornerback Roger McCreary (Rams). Of those moves, the Seahawks seemed to improve their team the most through Shaheed’s elite speed and the attention that will be taken off Smith-Njigba alone. But don’t discount the Rams’ need for cornerback depth, filled, ostensibly, by McCreary.
The Seahawks already start Darnold in what appears to be his peak form. He has recorded seven of his top nine career passer ratings since last September.
Amid so much hand-wringing over Seattle’s depleted wide receivers’ room—now bolstered by Shaheed—Darnold also turned Jaxon Smith-Njigba into the NFL’s leading wideout (948 yards) through nine weeks. (Fourth: Puka Nacua, the Rams WR who missed one game with a left ankle sprain.) Smith-Njigba is on pace to break the single-season receiving yards record set by Johnson. These Seahawks are on pace to record the third-best point differential in franchise history. And, in the two seasons above the current pace (2005, 2013), they reached the Super Bowl and won the only title in franchise history.
San Francisco has hardly played Purdy in 2025, after signing him to a massive, yet necessary, contract extension this past spring. In recent weeks, the 49ers lost their two best defensive players (Bosa and Warner) for the season. That they’re still 6–3 and anticipating Purdy’s return should be considered a positive.
And Arizona, at least, played close against Indianapolis, Green Bay, Seattle and San Francisco. Tiny victories still count.
So, as 49ers legend Terrell Owens might say, getcha popcorn ready. Not only are the Seahawks and Rams among the NFL’s best teams, but they still have to face off twice this season. There are tons of similar NFC West clashes ahead. Like this Sunday, when Seattle hosts Arizona and San Francisco beckons Los Angeles to town. Same for the Sunday after that, which features Seahawks-Rams and Cardinals-49ers. This means the NFC West could be decided in the next two weeks. It’s unlikely, but certainly possible.
The NFC West features the top two point differentials in the conference, with the Rams at +82 and the Seahawks at +81. The conference showcases two teams that win consistently on the road (Niners are 4–2; Seahawks, 4–0). There are stout defensive lines (Rams), the kind that win Super Bowls with four-man pressure; not to mention top defensive units (the Cardinals ranked fifth in total defense before Monday night, while the Rams were seventh and the Seahawks eighth after Sunday’s slate).
The schedules ahead aren’t exactly daunting, either, as far as predicting such things goes. Sharp Football Analysis graded the 49ers as having the ninth-toughest schedule remaining, the Rams as having the 15th-toughest and the Seahawks at 12th-easiest. (The Cardinals, for what it’s worth, have the 10th-easiest schedule remaining. If they get on a run …)
San Francisco will play five of its remaining games at home. Is that a good thing, based on the Niners’ road record? We’ll see. The 49ers also still have their bye week in early December to rest up and allow Shanahan to do what he does best—create, tweak and adapt that season’s offensive scheme. They’ll do so absent the luminaries listed above. San Francisco also lost Mykel Williams to a season-ending ACL injury against the Giants.
Seattle might need linebacker depth, after the soul of Mike Macdonald’s ever-improving defense, linebacker Ernest Jones (who played, of course, for the Rams before the Seahawks), left Sunday night’s win with a knee injury. (Macdonald said he doesn’t expect Jones to miss the rest of the season.) The Seahawks also play three of their next five games—and the final two of the regular season—on the road. Fortunately for Seattle, it hasn’t lost on the road this season and is 10–1 under Macdonald, who has become only the third coach in NFL history to begin a head coaching tenure with such a road record.
In sum, the 49ers have the most difficult schedule ahead and the most injuries. They also should get Purdy back and play the most home games.
The Seahawks have the most road games, which may, in fact, be a good thing, but hardly ever is for longer periods than what Seattle has already conjured.
The Rams have neither of those things. What they have, seemingly, is the most elite players on any single NFC West roster.
I texted with one NFC general manager(not in the West) on Monday. His educated guess: pick ‘em. Ha! So much for clarity. I’d lean toward the Rams, who have the most experienced and proven QB, elite wideouts in Adams and Nacua, a strong run game and that enviable pass rush. They’re built, more than the Seahawks, more than the Niners, for playoff football. But, as the NFC West has proven—in this season and, for God’s sake, in the previous 17—its status as a modern, elite division.
To win it will require more elements added up by a writer. To win it will require vanquishing division foes. The NFC winner will not back into that title. It will take it, by force, if necessary. Somebody get NFL Films to the West Coast.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The NFC West’s Renaissance Demands Your Attention.
