The NFC West Division is one of the strongest in the NFL with three solid teams in the defending Super Bowl champion Rams (12-5), the Cardinals (11-6), and the 49ers (10-7), all of whom finished with double-digit Wins and a combined 33-18 record (64.7%).
So, if you are arguing that the NFC West is the best division in the NFL, you have a valid point and only the AFC North may be decent 1 through 4, but no division has three teams as good as LA (10½ Season Team Win Total), SF (9½), and Arizona (8½). Period. Last 2021-22 NFL Regular Season, the NFC West was won by Matt Stafford and the Rams with LA finishing with a 12-5 Record, just 1 game ahead of Arizona which started the Season off 7-0 but somehow hit a patch of Black Ice midseason and fell short in the end.
The 49ers finished a respectable 10-7 and made the Playoffs, not bad for a 3rd place team and SF promptly bounced the Cowboys from the Postseason in their 2021 NFC Playoffs opener in Big D and then handed the Packers their first Home loss the following weekend.
So, there is good reason to think the Niners are legit, but the franchise’s desire to let Jimmy Garoppolo go seems short-sighted in an era when backup QBs always seem to matter in the NFL. Rolling with Trey Lance is fine but Jimmy G is a winner and Depth really matters. The NFC West went 39-28 (58.2%) while the other three Divisions in the NFC all had cumulative .500 or less Records with the NFC South (34-34, 50%), the NFC North (30-37-1, 44.1%), and the NFC East (32-36, 48.8%), combined 11 games under .500.
Below are the 2022 NFC West Division Season Win Totals from one of the top NFL Betting Websites. Oddsmakers have tempered thoughts of a double-digit Win Total this season for the Cardinals with the Suspension of skilled WR Hopkins (6 games).
NFC West Division Season Team Win Totals
Team
Last Season
Los Angeles Rams 10½
12 Wins
San Francisco 49ers 9½
10 Wins
Arizona Cardinals 8½
11 Wins
Seattle Seahawks 5½
7 Wins
Odds courtesy of SportsBetting.ag
The battle for the top spot in NFC West is always a close one 👀
Who will it be this season!? pic.twitter.com/wMEU7vLXH4
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) August 12, 2022
We should expect the NFC West to be just as good this season with the 3rd place team in this division possibly better than the 2nd place teams in the NFC East, NFC South, and NFC North when all is said and done.
Much will depend on how well young QB Lance does as the Starter in The City By The Bay and how well the Cardinals can start without suspended star WR DeAndre Hopkins. The Big Three—LA (7-2), Arizona (NFL best 8-1), and SF (6-3)—were phenomenal on the Road but only went a combined 12-12 at Home last quirky season, but that seemed to be the overwhelming league Trend after the Pandemic: Good on the Road, average at Home.
Seattle (395 PF-366) finished in last place in the NFC West, yet still had a positive Point Differential (+29), showing how strong this Division really is, so don’t sleep on the Seahawks who started life after Russ Wilson and ended last year on a 2-game Win Streak.
Please Note:
Super Bowl LVII will be played in the home of the Cardinals, State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (suburban Phoenix) on Sunday, February 12, 2023 and the Early Line sees the AFC as 1½-point Favorites (49½, SportsBetting.ag).
The starting QBs in the NFC West are solid with Stafford (Rams), Murray (Cardinals), and Lance (49ers), but the Seahawks have a dilemma with Geno Smith and Drew Lock and miss vet Russell Wilson, who is now doing his thing in the Rocky Mountains with the Broncos.
Los Angeles Rams 10½ Wins
The Rams (11/1 to win Super Bowl LVII, SportsBettinga.ag) won 12 games last season, but more importantly, won the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl LVI as Stafford and WR Cooper Kupp played simple pitch-and-catch and scored when it mattered most.
Super Bowl LVI MVP Kupp and Los Angeles (Will the LA Rams Win the NFC West Division? Yes +130, No -170, SportsBetting.ag) only need to win 11 games this year to go Over their Season Win Total, so there’s nothing wrong thinking they’ll win 12-14 games. But the Rams (+450 to win the NFC) were dealt a big blow on Friday night when top Draft Pick RG Logan Bruss (Wisconsin) suffered ACL and MCL tears in LA’s Preseason Week 2 game against the Texans, and he will now miss the entire 2022-23 NFL season.
Odell Beckham Jr. is a Free Agent and LB Von Miller is in Buffalo now with Bruss done for the season before it even started. QB Stafford has Elbow issues he is dealing with so it isn’t easy being champs in any sport and things change more than they stay the same.
Some good news?
Aaron Donald is back and the Rams (+130 to win the NFC West) signed Allen Robinson III (Bears) and WR Lance McCutcheon had another huge game against Houston, catching 5 Passes for 96 yards (19.2 ypc) making him impossible to cut now. The Rams were great on the Road last season (7-2) but need to be better at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood (5-3), but this is a team that can play even better than it did last season when the Rams became NFL champions but teams seldom win back-to-back Super Bowls. The schedule is tough for the Rams with Josh Allen and the Bills in Lipstick City for the opener in Week 1 followed by the Falcons (Week 2) and then trips to Arizona (Week 3) and San Francisco (Week 4) for two huge early season Divisional Road dates, so breathe.
Safety Jordan Fuller and the Rams could start 1-3, so careful in this NFC West Division Season Team Win Totals Betting Market with this Division like a Shark Tank with even Seattle capable of biting anyone in the NFC West or out of it, even as the Seahawks rebuild.
Please Note:
If there is a debate on what the best NFL Divisions are, the NFC West, the NFC North, and the AFC West have to be in that debate. The worst perceived teams in those three divisions are the Seahawks, Lions, and Broncos. And all should be better this season. For the Rams, Stafford’s Elbow, being a little bit better at Home, playing good Defense, and improving their TO Margin (+2) will be important as will establishing a solid Rushing attack with RBs Sony Michel (845/4, 4.1 ypc) and Darrell Henderson (688/5, 4.6 ypc).
If the Rams somehow beat the Bills and the Cardinals and Niners on the Road and start 4-0, look out, NFL as that is the toughest part of their 2022-23 schedule, so looking at these current 11/1 odds to win SB LVII and the +130 to win the NFC West is strongly advised.
.@mccutcheonlance through two preseason games:
🔹 10 REC
🔹 12 Targets
🔹 183 REC Yards
🔹 2 TDs pic.twitter.com/Yqt77nIBWS
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 20, 2022
San Francisco 49ers 9½ Wins
The 49ers (16/1 to win Super Bowl LVII) finished strong and won 10 games last season. Yet, San Francisco (427 PF-365 PA) is still a mystery to me with this team capable of going anywhere from 9-7 to 13-4, so no pick on the 49ers but I think they win 10 again.
Many Niners questions will be answered in Weeks 1-4 with Trey Lance getting his chance to show what he is made of and Jimmy Garoppolo Trade bait and Nate Sudfeld and Brock Purdy compete for the backup spot behind QB Lance in Frisco this Summer. San Francisco was very good on the Road last season (6-3), and will have to be again this year with Away games at Chicago, Denver, Carolina, LA, Arizona, and Las Vegas with a Week 18 game against the Cardinals possibly determining the NFC West Division winner. The 49ers (+775 to win the NFC) will rely heavily on RB Elijah Mitchell (963 Rushing yards), WR Deebo Samuel (1,405 Receiving yards) and rugged TE George Kittle (910 Receiving yards), but this team will have to improve its TO Margin (-5 in 2021).
And like the Rams, SF (+165 to win NFC West Division) will also have to be a better team at Home, after going just 4-4 at Levi’s® Stadium (Tifway II Bermuda Grass) in Santa Clara, yet it found a way to hand the Packers their only Loss at Lambeau—in the NFC Playoffs.
This Division and the winners and losers in these NFC West Division Betting Odds, will likely come down to the 6 games between the Rams, 49ers, and Cardinals. Last season, the 49ers went 2-0 vs the Rams, 0-2 vs the Cardinals and the Seahawks. Yes. Very weird stuff. The Seahawks stopped the 49ers from going 12-5 and maybe tying for the NFC West Division title. Better beware of Seattle, Bubba, San Francisco will be hosting the Seahawks in Week 4 and head up the Pacific Coast to the Emerald City in Week 13.
The Niners can’t expect to sweep LA again this Regular Season but also can’t expect to go 0-4 against the Seahawks and Cardinals. So, maybe the Non-Conference games SF plays will end up mattering in this betting market. It seems this bet will be won or lost by the play of Lance.
Trey Lance vs Packers:
⛏️ 4/5
⛏️ 92 Yards
⛏️ 1 TD
⛏️ 158.3 Perfect Passer Rating
(📸 @49ers) pic.twitter.com/Z0cn9q3fLh
— PFF (@PFF) August 13, 2022
Arizona Cardinals 8½ Wins
The Cardinals (40/1 to win Super Bowl LVII) won 11 games last season, but only 4 after a blazing 7-0 start. These NFC West Division Betting Odds reflect oddsmakers knowing WR DeAndre Hopkins won’t be in pads the first 6 games and the schedule is a challenge.
QB Kyler Murray and Arizona (18/1 to Win NFC) swept the 49ers last season and Split with the Rams in the Regular Season and were then ousted by the Rams in the Wild Card Round of the NFC Playoffs, 34-11 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on January 17, 2022. That memory will be the fire that fuels Arizona, but all the noise from Hopkins seems like a distraction. Murray and the offense need to focus on who he will have as Receivers in Weeks 1-6 and not the fact that Hopkins won’t be there to catch the ball.
Arizona (+350 to win NFC West) also lost top WR Christian Kirk (Jaguars) but have future Hall of Famer AJ Green, WR Marquise Brown (Ravens) and TE Zach Ertz (Eagles). The cupboard is hardly bare in the Sonoran Desert and will be fuller when Hopkins returns.
The Cardinals (449 PF-366 PA) were the best team in the NFL on the Road last season and had the best start of the league’s 32 teams, yet still disappointed, so this is a wait-and-see type season with big early games like the Rams in Glendale likely shaping the season. To me, the 6 games Hopkins will miss isn’t worth more than 1 game in the NFC West Division Odds market and if Arizona can somehow sweep the 49ers again in Divisional play, will have a really strong chance of going Over their 8½ Season Win Total.
For me, that is the best bet in this market as this team should go anywhere from 9-8 to 12-5. It seems oddsmakers are weighing the Hopkins 6-game absence too heavily and giving an unproven Lance and the 49ers too much credit. The Cards seem better than SF.
Together. pic.twitter.com/zqzspbgdhu
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 17, 2022
Seattle Seahawks 7½ Wins
The Seahawks (150/1 to win Super Bowl LVII) finished with 7 wins last season yet still in last place in the NFC West, a testament to how deep and talented this NFL division really is. What have you done for me lately? Only delivered the Super Bowl champions, Ma’am.
In Starbucksville, there are QB problems and not the Russell Wilson Is Gone Vacuum Problem but the Gino Smith is Gino Smith problem and the Drew Lock has COVID-19 problem. Maybe the Niners can trade the Seahawks Jimmy G for some Starbucks?
Nope, best not help the enemy Beanbreath, and these NFC West Division Betting Odds are asking Seattle to win 5½ and with the Jets, Giants and Lions on the Non-Conference slate it seems do-able until you look at the rest of the Seahawks schedule and cringe.
It gets the Super Bowl champion Rams twice, the Cardinals—who swept them—twice, the 49ers twice, the Broncos, Saints, Chargers, Buccaneers, Raiders, Panthers, and Chiefs, so it’s hard to imagine a tougher schedule. Wilson is lucky he is with the Broncos now.
Trying to squeeze 6 wins out of that schedule seems like an exercise in futility and this looks to be a rebuilding year (again) for the Seahawks, so it’s Under 5½ Season Team Wins or pass in this NFC West Division Team Win Totals market because of too many variables.
seahawks fans are down horrendous. pic.twitter.com/F9gQuoevms
— Gurshan Singh (@Gurshan_S1ngh) August 19, 2022
NFC West Division Prediction
The NFC West Division Prediction is for mostly the same exact NFC West Season Win Totals we saw last season somehow. The Rams should win the Division again by 1 game over the Cards with a 12-5 Record and with LA maybe losing in Week 1 to Buffalo on Sept. 8.
I see the same Record for the top three teams with Seattle regressing some and ending 5-12 because of questions at QB and a brutal schedule. The Rams win it again at 12-5, the Cardinals finish in 2nd place at 11-6 with the 49ers ending up in 3rd place again at 10-7.
And all three should make the NFC Playoffs as this Division has three of the best teams in the NFC while the NFC East has two (Dallas, Philadelphia), the NFC South two (Tampa Bay, New Orleans), and the NFC North two (Minnesota, Green Bay). The West is the best.
The NFC West Season Win Totals Futures markets seem pretty hard to beat but I like the Cardinals to win at least 10 games again this season with Arizona playing better at Home and enjoying the talents of AJ Green and the mercurial Marquise Brown. Go deep man.
These NFC West Division Season Win Totals show how strong the Division is and it wouldn’t surprise anyone to have two NFC West teams meeting in the NFC Championship Game in January or to see the Rams repeating as the Super Bowl champions in February.
Best NFL Bet:
Cardinals Reg Season Team Win Total
