Can Four NFC West Teams Make The NFL Playoffs?

• No division has better collective odds to win the Super Bowl than the NFC West.
• With the Arizona Cardinals moving on the Super Bowl odds boards (+8000 to +5000), the division is now complete.
• The NFC West has represented the NFC in the Super Bowl in five of the last eight big games.

SAN FRANCISCO – In the wake of the beginning of the NFL Free Agency period, many teams have brought in new talents and locked down existing players for longterm deals.

While news around the quarterbacks has dominated the headlines, the NFC West has been making their moves to solidify their division.

The San Francisco 49ers (+750 to win Super Bowl) resigned Arik Armstead to bolster their defensive line as well as Jimmie Ward to help keep their defense stout. Though they sent DeForest Buckner to the Colts, they received the 13th overall pick in this year’s NFL draft.

The Seattle Seahawks (+1800) – always known for flying under the radar – have seemed to do the same during the opening of the new season. With Greg Olsen brought in and Jarran Reed resigned, the Seahawks already have their core locked up for many years to come.

The LA Rams (+2800) haven’t made any moves thus far but this team is only 1 year removed from the Super Bowl. With injury issues plaguing the team last season, a turnaround is inevitable. Though rumors of Todd Gurley being traded to the Buccaneers have floated about, the Rams are in a comfortable position to remain in the playoff status.

The Arizona Cardinals (+5000) may have made the largest splash of the offseason thus far, as they traded away injury-prone David Johnson for veteran All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins. With Kyler Murray, Hopkins, Kenyan Drake, and Larry Fitzgerald, this offense is poised to be explosive in a Kliff Kingsbury system.

While four teams in the same division making the NFL postseason was impossible in “yesterday’s NFL”, the option is now present with the expansion of 14 teams making the playoffs. Only one of these teams will need to win the division, but the remaining three could be fighting in the first week of the NFL Playoffs.

A team from the NFC West has represented the NFC in the Super Bowl in five of the last eight years and none of these coaches are showing signs of slowing down.

If the division is to send four teams to the playoffs, it will need to happen from the bottom up. The Seahawks, 49ers, and Rams can safely be assumed to make the playoffs. But it will rely on the Cardinals to make a splash in the NFC to complete this impressive feat.