All three rivals could give Rams trouble in NFC West during 2019 season

Despite being the favorites in the NFC West once again, the Los Angeles Rams could see plenty of trouble from their rivals in 2019.

Thanks to winning back-to-back division rivals, the Los Angeles Rams rightfully deserve to be the favorites once again in the NFC West heading into the 2019 season.

Never in a million years did football fans expect the Rams of all teams to become immediate contenders in the NFC when Sean McVay was hired back in 2017 since they looked to be a work in progress, but here they are hoping to win their third division title in a row.

Of course, that’s always easier said than done since one of the difficult factors about winning the NFC West two years in a row is Los Angeles will be entering the new season with targets on their backs once again.

Looking at the competition across the NFC West, it’s easy to make the case over the Seattle Seahawks being the biggest threat within the division since this is a team that has only missed the playoffs once (2017) since Russell Wilson came on board in 2012.

However, just because the Seahawks appear to be the biggest threat at the moment for the Rams when it comes to the NFC West doesn’t necessarily mean Los Angeles will be off the hook with the other teams.

Rams Insider Myles Simmons recently discussed which team could actually challenge the Rams the most in 2019 for the NFC West title.

And with Simmons discussing how a healthy Jimmy Garoppolo is expected to take the offense of the San Francisco 49ers to new levels along with the Arizona Cardinals hoping for big things right away with Kyler Murray, the NFC West title is far from a guarantee for the Rams.

Football fans remember well last offseason just how much Super Bowl hype there was surrounding the 49ers after Garoppolo ended the 2017 season on a strong note by going 5-0 as the starter.

Does this mean San Francisco will have what it takes to live up to the hype this time, assuming Garoppolo doesn’t see any setbacks from the torn ACL suffered last September? Better yet, could Murray’s explosiveness make Arizona a surprise playoff contender in the NFC?

Take these questions into consideration along with the Seahawks looking to build off of last year’s playoff run, the Rams better be ready for the tough challenge that 2019 will bring when it comes to the difficulty of playing in the NFC West.

Otherwise, Los Angeles could face similar levels of disappointment to last season when they failed to show up in Super Bowl 53, but at least there’s no reason to have that mindset right now.

As mentioned before, the Rams have earned the right to be the early NFC West favorites heading into the 2019 season, and no matter what kind of challenges they face, the team should feel confident in McVay having them ready.