How the West was won? AFC West: 2-2, NFC West 0-3, er, 1-3

The NFL schedulers appear not to have done the LA Rams, or any of the teams in the NFC West Division, any favors this season. You see, this is the year in which teams of the NFC West face the teams of the AFC West. And, it just so happens that the teams in the AFC West appear to be pretty good this year. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about teams from the NFC West.

In the lone head-to-head contest between the two divisions in Week 1 so far, the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to a very difficult summer heat game in the Arizona desert and handily dismantled the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 44-21. This was a game that truly showed just how great Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes can be, as he led his starless wide receivers to put up five touchdowns against a Cardinals secondary that was the strength of the defense just one year ago.

The Chiefs put up 14 points before the Cardinals ever got on the scoreboard, and were never closer than seven points in the entire game. And many do not project the Chiefs to be the best in the AFC West.

While the LA Rams were losing to the Buffalo Bills, and the San Franciso 49ers were losing to the Chicago Bears, the lone AFC West loss occured as the LA Chargers defeated the Las Vegas Raiders by a score of 24-19.

NFC West flirting with a historic first

Talk about irony? The Seattle Seahawks can jump out to lead the NFC West if they can up upset the visiting Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football. Will it happen? I’m not sure I’d wager on it.

But if the Seahawks do not win, it will be the first time that no NFC West Division opened the season in the history of the current NFC West Division.

That’s right. At no point in time since the NFC West was made up of the LA Rams, the Seattle Seahawks, the Arizona Cardinals, and the San Francisco 49ers have all four teams opened the NFL season with a record of 0-1. Does that mean that the NFC West is historically bad this year?  I wouldn’t go that far.  I do think that the AFC West is a much improved NFL Division, while the jury is still out on the NFC West.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Seattle Seahawks prevented the NFC West Division from falling to 0-4, rallying for a surprise victory over the visiting Denver Broncos. How shocking is this? The Seattle Seahawks, amidst a rebuild, have a one-game lead over the LA Rams

But if this trend continues, a record of 10-7 could win the NFC West Division. From what we’ve seen in Week 1, a 10-7 record may not even earn a playoff berth in the AFC West Division.