The NFC West has three elite teams, including the Arizona Cardinals. Poor Arizona should be relegated, if the NFL allowed it, and the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams might have a more worthy brother. As it is, those teams can battle each other for the division crown.
Last season, the winner of the division was unknown until the last few weeks of the season. That is likely to be the case next season, too. The good part is that the NFL schedule has the Seahawks' most dangerous rivals facing brutal stretches of the season.
That could be enough to allow quarterback Sam Darnold and his team to take the division for the second straight season. And, as fans know, making it through the NFC West simply lays the groundwork for making a deep run in the playoffs. Maybe Seattle can take the division and win the Super Bowl once again.
Seattle Seahawks' biggest rivals face difficult four-game runs in 2026
San Francisco 49ers' brutal four-game stretch:
- Week 14: 49ers versus the Los Angeles Rams at 1:25 p.m. PT
- Week 15: 49ers at the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football at 5:15 p.m. PT
- Week 16: 49ers at the Kansas City Chiefs in Seattle at 1:25 p.m. PT
- Week 17: 49ers versus the Philadelphia Eagles at 5:20 p.m. PT on Sunday Night Football
While San Francisco plays the Rams in Week 1 in Australia, unlike Los Angeles, the 49ers have a fairly easy schedule in the next two weeks. San Fran plays the awful Miami Dolphins and then the bad Cardinals. This is mostly how the 49ers' schedule goes.
They have a couple of tough matchups followed by a couple of relatively easy ones. That is, except for the stretch above. Should San Francisco be in a position to take the NFC West by Week 14, they could fall to third by Week 18. Let's hope.
Los Angeles Rams' brutal four-game stretch:
- Week 12: Rams versus the Green Bay Packers at 5 p.m. PT on Netflix on Wednesday
- Week 13: Rams versus the Kansas City Chiefs at 5:15 p.m. PT on Thursday Night Football
- Week 14: Rams at the San Francisco 49ers at 1:25 p.m. PT
- Week 15: Rams versus the Dallas Cowboys at 1:25 p.m. PT
The Rams' stretch could even go beyond four. After playing the Cowboys, LA has to travel to play the Seattle Seahawks. That's followed by traveling to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before hosting the Seahawks. That's a brutal schedule following the bye week.
Which isn't even truly a full bye week. Instead of returning the next Sunday for a full two-week break, LA comes back on Thanksgiving Eve for a Wednesday game. That's not a huge rest so late in the season.
Not that the Seahawks needed a lot of help from the NFL to win the NFC West, of course. Seattle just did so last year, but any help in such a high-level division is welcome. That might be all head coach Mike Macdonald's team needs to repeat.
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