NFC West standings prediction before week one of 2021

The NFC West is stacked and even the presumed least team can win the division. How will the division end up and where will the Seahawks finish? Below are my best guesses (and I should say, also likely wrong.)

Before I get into the reasons why I will say I am not factoring in any potential injuries. Some key players on every team will get hurt at some point and miss a game for five. This will affect the season. But possibly the one player in the division whose team would be hurt the most by the injury is Russell Wilson. Because, well, Wilson is probably the most important player in the NFC West.

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But the NFC West is one of the toughest divisions in football. Teams can’t afford to let a couple of winnable games end in losses or be without key players for too long. In the NFC West, dropping two games a team should have won likely means not winning the division and missing the playoffs altogether.

Predicting where the Seahawks will end up in the NFC West in 2021

Fourth place: Arizona Cardinals (9-8)

I think if the Cardinals were in nearly any other division in football they would be competing to win it. But they happen to play in a division where their overall talent isn’t as good. Also, one of the signs of a good coach is when their teams get better as the season goes on. Under Kliff Kingsbury, the Cardinals seem to get worse. In 2019, the Cardinals went 2-6 in the second half of the year and in 2020 they went 3-5.

Yes, Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins and Chandler Jones and others are very good players but the other teams in the NFC West simply have more good players and better coaching.

Third place: Los Angeles Rams (10-7)

The Rams have a better quarterback with Matthew Stafford but they lost four starters from their 2020 defense. Los Angeles still has Aaron Donald (future first-ballot Hall of Famer), Jalen Ramsey and Leonard Floyd but losing that much talent plus the defensive coordinator is bound to hurt. And this is the same team that lost to the Jets last year.

The Rams will likely beat the Seahawks once or twice as that always happens but overall they will struggle with the 49ers, Packers, Buccaneers, Vikings and Ravens all on their schedule.

Second place: San Francisco 49ers (11-6)

I will be honest and say I think the 49ers might be the top team in the division but I am simply not going to pick against Pete Carroll again. Every season the Seahawks are picked by sites like Sports Illustrated to have mediocre seasons and every year Seattle makes the playoffs.

The 49ers biggest question mark, though, is at the position you don’t want to have a question mark: Quarterback. Even during the 49ers run to the Super Bowl in 2019 Kyle Shanahan wanted to run more than throw it. Maybe there just isn’t a lot of trust in Jimmy Garoppolo. But if healthy, the 49ers defense is great and they run the ball extremely well.

First place: Seattle Seahawks (12-5)

Even during the 49ers Super Bowl dash two years ago the Seahawks almost won the division. Carroll and Wilson are just a formidable duo that doesn’t finish towards the bottom of the NFC West. I see a lot of sites predicting that think Seattle will finish third or worse because of the defense.

Yes, Seattle has a major concern at cornerback but everywhere else? There are lots of good edge rushers, two very good safeties, linebacker has lots of talent. I don’t get the defensive hate towards Seattle. If Wilson stays healthy, Seattle ins the division.