Rams surge ahead with six straight wins. Seahawks keep pace, 49ers cling close, while Cardinals slide out of playoff contention.
The NFC West is one of the league’s most chaotic this season and as the regular season enters its final stretch, the standings are tightening in all the wrong (or right) ways depending on your colors.
What looked like a two-team race a month ago has shifted into a full-blown battle for playoff positioning, home-field advantage, and survival. Here’s how the division stacks up after Week 12.
1. Los Angeles Rams (9–2) — Six Straight and Sitting Pretty
The Rams are not just leading the West, they’re controlling it.
Winners of six straight, Los Angeles suddenly looks like the team nobody wants to touch in January. Stafford is healthy, the offense is rolling, and the defense is playing its best complementary football of the year. More importantly, they’re stacking wins in a conference where one slip can drop you two seeds by Monday morning.
At 9–2, they have the inside track on both the division crown and a top NFC playoff seed. Their remaining schedule isn’t easy, but with momentum like this, the Rams look like the team to beat in the West heading into December.
2. Seattle Seahawks (8–3) — Staying On Script
Seattle continues to hover right where they need to be: within striking distance.
At 8–3, they’re only one game behind the Rams and still squarely in the hunt for the division. The offense has stabilized, the defense is playing fast and opportunistic, and Pete Carroll has his team doing the thing they do best.
They’re not on a hot streak like the Rams, but they’re winning the games they should win, and in the NFC West, that’s half the battle.
3. San Francisco 49ers (8–4) — Too Good to Count Out, Too Inconsistent to Trust
The 49ers sit at 8–4, and their record feels like the perfect summary of their year: good, not great; dangerous, but volatile.
San Francisco is firmly in the playoff picture, but inconsistent offensive showings and a rash of injuries have kept them from keeping pace with LA and Seattle. Last week’s win did help stabilize things and secure their spot in the playoffs. Nobody wants to face this team when they’re healthy and clicking. The Niners aren’t out of the division race but they do need help if they want to come out on top.
4. Arizona Cardinals (3–8) — Sliding Fast
And then there are the Cardinals.
Losers of three straight and sitting at 3–8, Arizona’s season has drifted into developmental mode. The effort is there. The execution, consistency, and depth are not. A three-game skid has dropped them completely out of the playoff conversation, and now the focus shifts to roster evaluation and draft positioning.
There’s talent on this team, and there are young pieces worth building around, but in the NFC West race, they’re simply outmatched right now.
The Race Ahead
With a month and change left in the regular season, the NFC West still feels like a three-team sprint with the Rams out front but hardly safe. The Seahawks are hovering, the 49ers are lurking, and the Cardinals are fading into the background. If the Rams cool off or stumble, things get chaotic fast. And in the NFC West, chaos might just be the brand.