The Draw Play

I can’t remember another point in time when a division had 3 legitimate Super Bowl contenders. We frequently get divisions with 2, which usually results in the slightly worse contender complaining that the playoff seeding is unfair, as they get the 5th seed. We’ve had 3 divisional teams reach the playoffs before, like the NFCN two years ago or the 2007 NFCE, but in those cases only two teams usually feel like legit threats and the third is just a feisty youngest child.

To be fair, that might be the current NFCW, with the 49ers being the odd one out, but I hesitate to actually commit to that. Especially before we get a look at how the season goes. Right now, on paper, we have 3 legitimate championship contenders.

The Rams are now the obvious favorite. They came within a game of the Super Bowl, they came within a fluke 2pt conversion of the #1 seed, they just traded for the best defensive player in the NFL and they were already good on defense. The only weakness they appear to have is special teams, and the fact that Stafford is standing perilously on the edge of The Age Cliff.

The 49ers are getting Nick Bosa back and they signed Mike Evans. Losing Robert Saleh is a disappointment, but Raheem Morris is a decent replacement. The questions that haunt the 49ers are their perpetual injury woes and Schrodinger’s Brock Purdy. Is he good? We still don’t know for sure. But we know he’s good enough. He already almost managed to win one super bowl. If the 49ers can find whatever witch put a hex on all their knees and banish her to the netherrealm to stay healthy, this team is easily good enough to compete with anybody.

Funnily enough the Seahawks are who I would have listed as the odd one out before last season. They don’t appear to be a powerhouse. They have talent, but are lacking real star power outside JSN. But as last year proved, that’s just how this team rolls. That is their identity. Maybe they call themselves THE DARK SIDE because they are still hard too see. Whatever questions they have, whatever losses they incurred this offseason: none of it matters. They already proved they can do it. No reason to assume they can’t do it again.

And then…we have…uh

The Cardinals.

Remember last year when we saw the Jets offseason and we all just sort of understood that they would be awful no matter what? Yeah. The Cardinals are that but worse. A new, uninspiring coach (The other Lafleur). A high draft pick that seems to be made for jersey sales and not team building. One of the worst ownerships in the league. A mid-level backup QB. A highly touted young WR that hasn’t lived up to billing. An eternal curse from the Pottsville Maroons. This team is going to be turned into paste in 2026. Like the Jets last year, they might get so blasted that it might be impossible to tell if LaFleur is actually a bad coach or just dealt the worst hand possible. If the Cardinals can manage 5 wins next year, that’s a victory. I’d say this will be fine in the long run if I could; by the time the Cardinals have rebuilt themselves it’s likey the Rams/Niners/Hawks will have fallen off for one reason or another. But this is the Cardinals we are talking about. We don’t have to pretend to take them seriously and assume that they will reach that level in the next few years. Just do something else with your time. This franchise is a disgrace.