5 Burning Questions Facing the NFC West
Can patchwork 49ers contend, will Matthew Stafford hold up, and will rapid rebuilds in Arizona and Seattle spark turnarounds?
The NFC West has experienced some extreme makeovers in recent seasons.
In Los Angeles, the Rams’ receiving corps swapped one aging possession receiver for an aging deep threat. San Francisco is holding its offense together with masking tape, gauze, and hope. Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ defense this season will be the byproduct of a high-priced shopping spree and the Seahawks are paying a premium to figure out if they can win with their new starting quarterback.
Here are five burning questions that will define the 2025 NFL season in the NFC West:
1) Can Ricky Pearsall, 49ers’ Receiving Corps, Make Up For Deebo Samuel’s Absence?
These San Francisco 49ers are going to look a bit different than the 49ers who dominated the NFC West for the better part of the past decade, before the attrition of injuries and cumulative wear-and-tear of coming so close to a Lombardi but repeatedly coming away empty-handed took their toll.
General manager John Lynch orchestrated an on-the-fly teardown and rebuild of San Francisco’s defense. But, in a league where offenses play such an outsized impact on the outcome of games and seasons, it is Brock Purdy’s receiving corps that might be the biggest unknown of all in the Bay Area.
Here’s what Purdy, head coach Kyle Shanahan, and the 49ers are up against; Brandon Aiyuk is opening the season on PUP, and could be out until Week 7, Jauan Jennings isn’t thrilled about his contract and is dealing with a calf injury, and all this is playing out with Deebo Samuel catching passes from Jayden Daniels in Washington.
Aiyuk and Samuel accounted for 128 of Purdy’s 455 passing attempts, or 28 percent of the quarterback’s target share.
Ricky Pearsall is finally healthy and should open the season atop the 49ers’ depth chart, and I’m bullish on his ability to be a versatile weapon in the offense, but if Jennings is less than 100 percent, San Francisco is putting outsized pressure on tight end George Kittle and running back Christian McCaffrey to shoulder the load of the offense. Running McCaffrey into the ground (550 combined touches in 2022 and 2023) is part of what contributed to the 29-year-old breaking down last season.
Few coaches are as schematically innovative and adept at maximizing his quarterback and personnel than Shanahan, but in a division that might be more competitive than ever, San Francisco is going to have to walk a tightrope of hope that McCaffrey can hold up and that Pearsall, Jennings, Demarcus Robinson, and some guy named Jacob Cowing are enough offensive firepower.
For all of Shanahan’s ingenuity, this feels less like the firepower of a contender and more like a franchise clinging to the residue of what it once was.
2) Is Matthew Stafford healthy?
Jared Verse may be the next double-digit sack machine if he picks up from his late-season surge, Davante Adams may be the ideal scheme fit for Sean McVay’s system, Kyren Williams has dramatically improved each of his first three seasons and is just one of a cavalcade of young homegrown players on an upward trajectory fueling the Rams, but, nothing matters if Matthew Stafford isn’t healthy.
Stafford has been limited throughout this training camp by back pain and an aggravated disk.
It is entirely possible that Stafford and the Rams’ world-class medical staff will massage, stretch, and work out whatever is causing the pain. But, the thing about back pain is that it can linger, which is suboptimal for the mechanics of playing quarterback at the highest level.
Stafford has been battling the pain and injuries throughout the summer, to the point that McVay and the Rams have been noncommittal about his availability for Week 1 against the Texans.
If Stafford is healthy, he’s a more than serviceable veteran quarterback who has played some of his best football in the biggest games, which is enough to pencil the Rams into the NFC’s “Super Bowl Cluster.” Whether Jimmy Garoppolo can come close to executing the offense at the level Los Angeles was planning on Stafford doing this season could become the question that defines the Rams’ season.
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3) Can The Seahawks Replicate the Vikings’ Offensive Success for Sam Darnold?
Sam Darnold is either on the cusp of a renaissance — or the Seahawks are buying into a mirage.
Darnold shook off the first-round bust label that had previously dogged the likes of Jared Goff and Baker Mayfield, not to mention the former No. 3 overall pick of the Jets himself, during a career year in the comforts of Kevin O’Connell’s quarterback cocoon.
After setting career highs with 4,319 passing yards and 35 touchdowns while tossing 12 interceptions in a quarterback-friendly scheme that accompanied the luxury of throwing to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, Darnold cashed in, signing a three-year deal worth $100.5 million with the Seattle Seahawks, who are purchasing the privilege of figuring out if last season is the spark of a magical career denoumont or the byproduct of the ideal situation and system.
In Seattle, Darnold is playing behind a worse offensive line than he had protecting him in Minnesota, but there is optimism that Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling can either stretch the field or create big plays after the catch to bring out the best in the 28-year-old quarterback.
Only two quarterbacks had more big-time throws than Darnold’s 33 last season, so if the Seahawks want to push the ball vertically, there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic that the Darnold-Smith-Njigba connection can be a prolific one.
Likewise, Klint Kubiak’s system seems tailored to Darnold’s strengths which should be encouraging for the Seahawks.
“Seattle is changing coordinators,” an NFL general manager tells me of Darnold heading to Seattle. “And going to a wide-zone and play-action, 49ers-type scheme. Sam’s had exposure to it in San Francisco, and with the Los Angeles Rams, and to an extent with Minnesota last season.
“Sam goes to the West Coast, which is great for him, because he’s been through the wringer. Seattle’s offensive line is decent, but will need a wide receiver overhaul. He’ll be okay, bottom-third of the league starter, because his turnovers will travel.”
If Darnold is going to walk Mayfield’s and Goff’s footsteps, he’ll need to prove he can eliminate the turnovers that have defined his career, show capable of maximizing the weapons around him, and build on what was a stellar 2024 season. If he checks all of those boxes, the Seahawks are going to look prescient. And competitive.
4) Is Winning With Defense a Winning Formula for the Cardinals?
As Jonathan Gannon enters his third season as Arizona Cardinals’ head coach, the franchise has leaned into his defensive philosophy and given him the tools to dominate on that side of the football.
Rookies Walter Nolen and Will Johnson have the potential to make significant impacts as immediate starters. Josh Sweat adds explosiveness to the pass rush. Dalvin Tomlinson is a savvy veteran defensive tackle with interior pass-rush abilities. Simply put, the Cardinals loaded up on talent to fortify a defense that flashed momentary playmaking ability but whose metrics fell flat in 2024.
Arizona finished last season 24th in yards allowed, surrendering 342.5 yards per game, were 15th in points allowed, at 22.3 per game, while posting a -.6 defensive DVOA.
The Cardinals have become a big of a chic pick in the NFC West on the optimism that wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. makes a major second-year leap, Kyler Murray elevates his supporting cast, and the Cardinals can make enough big plays on offense to push for double-digit wins in what might be a down year within the division.
However, if the Cardinals are going to make a run to the postseason, it very well may be on the back of Gannon’s improved defense, but whether an infusion of talent yields a collectively stingier defense remains to be seen.
5) Can Any of These Teams Advance Out of The NFC Wild Card Round?
There are major structural questions and concerns about all four of these teams who appear to be in various stages of, at best, a retooling and otherwise a well-branded rebuild.
The Rams might offer the most complete roster and the personnel best suited to play the brand of complementary football necessary to make a deep postseason run. But, Stafford’s lingering health concerns cloud Los Angeles’ optimism. There’s a reason this was the team that capitalized on San Francisco’s injury woes and didn’t just win the division last season but boat-raced Darnold’s Vikings out of the NFC Playoffs and came 13 yards from stopping the Eagles’ Super Bowl run in its snowy tracks.
However, how Gannnon gets the pieces of the puzzle to fit together on Arizona’s defense, whether Darnold can build on his stellar season in the best situation imaginable, and if the 49ers have the health and continuity to retake their place on the NFC West’s throne will be the undercurrents of this division race.
Those questions bring us to perhaps the biggest of all, which is, Philadelphia, Washington, and Detroit boast three of the most complete, balanced, and talented rosters in the league. Green Bay has an ascending young core and an exciting quarterback. Even the Buccaneers’ defense and Baker Mayfield’s ascension with a young supporting cast around him present unbridled optimism in Tampa Bay. Is there a team in this division complete enough to challenge those heavyweights within the conference?
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