In what’s easily the best division in football, the battle for third place will be epic. This is because three teams in the NFC West are all great with next to nothing separating them.
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As NFL minicamps get under way and the preseason inches closer, there are tons of stories around the league to monitor. From position battles to new coaching regimes to rookies in important spots, a laundry list of questions will find data in these next couple months before Week 1. They all will go toward answering the ultimate, overarching question: who is going to win.
To preview the 2026 season, we are going to go division-by-division and answering just one question about how that division is going to shake out. Last up is the NFC West. The question is: Who is going to finish in third place?
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Go ahead, name the top three teams in football this coming season. Did you happen to mention Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco? All three are legitimate contenders for the Super Bowl and all three will be fighting to win the NFC West. Sorry not sorry to Arizona, but these are the top dogs and one is going to end up in third place.
NFC West Battle for 3rd
Todd Salem: Seattle Is The Answer
I like the Arizona Cardinals roster. They have premiere skill players on offense, including arguably the best tight end in the sport, the best running back prospect, and RB corps in general. And yet, there is no way they do not finish last again in the NFC West unless one of these other clubs is decimated by injury (and even then, San Francisco still finished miles ahead of Arizona when that happened in the past).
The other three teams in the West are perhaps the best three teams in football. They have the top three head coaches in the entire sport. How do we parse them for 2026?
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Seattle is the defending champion. This offseason, they downgraded at running back with the loss of Kenneth Walker but replaced him with a high draft pick. They get a full season out of Rashid Shaheed and should continue to have one of the best defensive lines and secondary in the league. The Seahawks’ over/under win total is 10.5 on most sites.
Los Angeles had the second-best point differential in the league last year (behind only Seattle). The Rams then went out and added Trent McDuffie, one of the best corners in the league, and Myles Garrett, the best defensive player in the entire NFL. They have zero holes on the roster, and their over/under win total is 10.5 on some sites (11.5 on others).
San Francisco was decimated by injuries last year and still managed to go 12-5 to finish as the third-best team in the West but also the third-best team in the entire conference. They added Mike Evans, Christian Kirk, and Deebo Samuel to the offense and should hopefully get healthy returns from George Kittle, Nick Bosa, and Fred Warner, among others. The 49ers’ over/under win total is 10.5 on most sites.
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As you can see, very little separates these clubs. To break it down (and get entirely subjective), if I were to rank these teams’ quarterbacks, I’d have it Rams – 49ers – Seahawks. If I were to rank the head coaches, I’d have it Rams – 49ers – Seahawks. If I were to rank the offensive talent as a whole, I’d have it Rams – 49ers – Seahawks. If I were to rank the defenses, I’d have Rams – Seahawks – 49ers.
I think I’m going to slot Seattle in third place.
The differences are minute, and they may very well end up being the best team in football once again. But I feel the least confident in them repeating as opposed to LAR and SF jumping ahead. Obviously, injuries always play a part, and San Fran feels like the biggest injury risk, but every team can suffer injuries. The talent on the field and the sidelines gives me a Seahawks’ third-place finish. Keep in mind, they were expected to finish third in 2025 too, so take that for what it’s worth.
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Dan Salem: San Francisco Ends In 3rd
Oof, when the defending Super Bowl champions are even a consideration for third place in their own division the following year, you KNOW it’s a stacked set of teams. The NFC West is easily the best division in football. Arizona will easily finish in last place, but that doesn’t mean they have a bad season. I can see how they are turning the corner towards being very good, but that is simply not good enough in this division.
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My instincts say Seattle finishes in second place with both a playoff spot and more than ten wins. They do not fall off much, but enough for us to take notice. This leaves the 49ers and Rams and Los Angeles is absolutely winning the NFC West. They are stacked and have once again gone all-in to win the championship behind Matthew Stafford. I don’t see them faltering in the regular season.
Ultimately this puts San Francisco in third place. Of the three top teams in this division, it always seems to be the 49ers who are dealing with something seemingly out of their control. Be it a rash of injuries or something else, San Francisco can never just have a clean season. Why would 2026 be any different? San Francisco is going to be very good, but when we are arguing inches between them, Los Angeles and Seattle, I believe they come up short.
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Wow, the NFL appears to be much the same as it was last year, but we know that won’t happen outside of the top 5. It so often looks like a repeat in August in terms of who will be good, but that usually all changes by mid-October. Yet here is the NFC West, unlikely to change much from last year, even if last season’s dominance was a bit surprising. I don’t believe we predicted a single “crash and burn” from any of the teams in the NFL this season, yet there is likely to be at least one. I’d put money on it being in any other division but the NFC West though.
Meet our Sports Writers:
Dan Salem is Lead Editor and Co-owner of BuzzChomp. He’s an award winning Actor, Director and Producer. Visit M Square Productions for his film work, or get lost in his old-school comedy on Pillow Talk TV. You can follow him on X, TikTok and Instagram. His latest film ‘Alone’ is now on Amazon.
Todd Salem is a Staff Writer and Contributing Editor at BuzzChomp. He’s also a champion of fantasy football and fantasy baseball, dominating leagues for over two decades. Comment below on his unfiltered opinions.
NFC West Preview – This Is The End
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