The NFC West should be one of the tightest divisions in the NFL next year. There really is no easy win among the four teams: you have the last two NFC champions in San Francisco and Los Angeles. You have another team who has made the wild card round of the playoffs in both of the last two years, beating Philadelphia in the wild card round last year, in Seattle. Then you have a team that almost beat San Francisco not once but twice last year, with a rookie quarterback, and that added elite wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in a tarde with Houston, in Arizona. Now that the 2020 NFL draft has come and gone, it’s time to take a closer look at the NFL’s divisions. We have the NFL betting odds for each of the four teams in the NFC West to win the division crown this season along with thoughts about each squad.
NFL Betting: NFC West Divisional Odds After the 2020 Draft
- San Francisco 49ers +100
- Seattle Seahawks +240
- Los Angeles Rams +370
- Arizona Cardinals +900
The San Francisco 49ers showed a willingness to turn the offense over to the running game to an extreme degree in their humiliation of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship, but Jimmy Garoppolo showed early in the Super Bowl and in such games as the barnburner win in New Orleans that he can lead a high-octane attack as well. The team lost Emmanuel Sanders to New Orleans but got Brandon Aiyuk in the draft, giving them another fast receiver. Aiyuk will have to develop a good bit to approach Sanders’ contributions to the San Francisco offense, but his coaches with the 49ers think that the gifts he showed at Arizona State will help him contribute right away. There is the possibility of Super Bowl hangover; many teams lose a Super Bowl one year and end up falling off the table the next year. This seems to have happened to the Los Angeles Rams, who lost Super Bowl LIII, started 2019 with a 4-0 record and then plummeted out of the postseason by dropping seven of their last twelve games. Is that a possibility by the Bay?
The Seattle Seahawks are looking to re-sign Jadeveon Clowney. He’s asking for a minimum of $20 million per season, though, and no one has matched that price to this point. It will be interesting to see if his perspective changes as we move into summer. The Seahawks bolstered their O-line with four quiet additions, and they also brought in Phillip Dorsett and Greg Olsen to give Russell Wilson more targets. A trade for Quinton Dunbar could give the Seahawks an upgrade at right cornerback. Bruce Irvin and Jarran Reed give them a decent pass rush, but Clowney would make their unit elite. Tailback remains a problem, although the team is in talks to get Marshawn Lynch up off his couch once again. Seattle was inches away from the NFC West title at the end of Week 17, but the week before they lost at home to Arizona. Do they have the attention span to win this division?
The Los Angeles Rams have been hemorrhaging starters. They tried to trade Todd Gurley II but just cut him when no one wanted to risk a trade on his iffy knee (although the Falcons signed him within a day of his release). Outside linebacker Dante Fowler Jr and linebacker Cory Littleton left via free agency. Nickell Robey-Coleman and Clay Matthews were released for salary-cap relief. This means that players down the depth chart will have to move up for at least some of these positions, which means the Rams could be taking another step back.
The Arizona Cardinals are a hot sleeper pick here, and I’ll tell you why. Basically every need they had going into the off-season has a quality upgrade. We’ve talked about the All-Pro addition at wide receiver, with DeAndre Hopkins, but they also added outside linebacker Devon Kennard, inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips. Kyler Murray will come in with even more confidence at quarterback. Could the Cardinals win this division? It’s not that hard to imagine — and they offer a lot more value than the other flawed squads here.
