State of the NFC West: Where the Seahawks and their rivals stand

Maybe the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams shouldn’t have put themselves in a position to hope the banged-up Washington Commanders would upset the San Francisco 49ers in the final seconds of Monday night’s game.

Seattle Seahawks’ franchise-record streak on the line vs Kenneth Walker III

The Commanders certainly had a shot, turning what was a primetime dud into a thrilling second-half rally. But the 49ers’ defense swarmed Jayden Daniels for a sack on the final play to crush any chance of a Hail Mary. That stop also lifted San Francisco to a perfect 6-0 on the season.

Six weeks in, the NFC West is taking shape, and the 49ers are sitting right at the top. But what does it mean for the other two hopeful contenders in Seattle and Los Angeles?

There’s plenty of season left, but the strengths and weaknesses of each team have been made more obvious by now. Here’s where things stand:

The 49ers’ offense is rolling and their weakness is improving

No surprise here. The 49ers are averaging the third-most points per game (30.8) leaguewide and are the league’s best third-down offense. On a related, and unfortunate, note: The Seahawks are the worst in the division on third down, though they’re second in the division in points per game. The Cardinals, an offense building its way up with a bridge quarterback, are averaging the fewest points per game (21) of any NFC West team. But the real surprise here is the Rams, who are scoring the third-fewest points per game in the division (22.5) after leading the league in 2025 (30.5).

Kyle Shanahan is one of the league’s best play-callers and his teams are pretty darn good when they’re healthy. And by good, I mean dominant. They’re second in EPA per play behind the Buffalo Bills and are fourth in EPA per rush. Their only real question is the receiver room, where they’ve been dealt a series of injuries, the latest being Mike Evans (currently leading the 49ers in receiving yards) who left Monday’s game with an Achilles injury. Even if Evans is able to avoid missed games, the 49ers will have health questions lingering all year; their top five players in receiving yards (including tight end George Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey) are all 30 and older.

Still, it’s San Francisco’s division to lose right now. And what was a weakness — a shaky pass rush — is improving even without Nick Bosa. The 49ers were sixth in ESPN’s pass rush win rate metric through Week 5.

The Rams are in danger

Mariners fans are plenty familiar with this thought process: “The record isn’t encouraging, but I trust a roster with this much talent!”

The difference between a good Mariners roster that underperformed and a stacked Rams roster that hasn’t met expectation is that the Rams are still doing some good things. They’re third in total offense (401 yards per game) and total defense — the only team to be top three in both categories.

What’s not working? Matthew Stafford doesn’t look like an MVP, for starters. He had six interceptions through his first four games before avoiding a pick in his last two. Unfortunately for him, the Rams are 0-2 in those games. Los Angeles is still an elite passing offense in theory (they have the second-most passing yards behind Carolina) but it’s not getting as much bang for its buck as its NFC West foe (it’s 13th in EPA per pass compared to San Francisco at No. 2). The defense, still missing Myles Garrett, is limiting total yardage but it’s not getting big, timely plays; it’s trailing the rest of the division in takeaways (six) and sacks (eight). The Rams one of seven teams to have fewer than 10 sacks through six weeks. The Seahawks are leading the division in both categories.

The Seahawks’ defense can’t do everything

The good news for Seattle is that it has more sacks (20), interceptions (seven), and total takeaways (11) than any other team in the NFC West. But it’s not enough to erase a lackluster run game and turnovers.

The Seahawks’ offensive line hasn’t played like the 2025 version and the run game is feeling the absence of Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet, but Sam Darnold’s struggles are garnering the most attention, which is fair when you’ve thrown seven interceptions in five games.

It can be either more frustrating or a silver lining that each of the Seahawks’ three losses have been by three points or fewer. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Zach Charbonnet has a chance to return against the Chiefs Sunday night, which will be a boost even with limited snaps. But they need a sharper version and more decisive version of Darnold to avoid falling further behind San Francisco.

The Cardinals upset the Rams, but they still struggle to pack a punch

The Cards haven’t proven they can be a playoff team, nor were they expected to compete for a spot this year. But they have shown they’re not totally in the basement with the struggling Titans and Dolphins. A defense that’s been allowing nearly 29 points per game was stout against the Rams, including forcing a turnover on downs twice, in a massive Week 6 upset.

Seattle has one more meeting with Arizona on Nov. 8. Can the Hawks find the same success they had on the ground in Week 2 (162 rushing yards) this time around?

Seattle Seahawks news and analysis

• Report: Seattle Seahawks TE Elijah Arroyo expected to go on IR
• Brock: One area Seattle Seahawks’ defense is falling short
• Seattle Seahawks’ rocky start is similar to the last defending champ

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