Seattle Seahawks v Los Angeles Rams - NFL 2025
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It was a historical year for the NFC West. The Seahawks (14-3), Rams (12-5) and 49ers (12-5) all won at least 12 games, marking the first time in NFL history that a single division has produced three teams that won at least 12 games. 

The 2025 NFC West could go down as one of the best divisions in NFL history if one of those three teams can figure out a way to win the Super Bowl, but there's definitely no guarantee that's going to happen. As a matter of fact, over the course of NFL history, playing in a tough division has ended up working against teams when it comes to winning the Super Bowl.  

This year's NFC West is the fifth division since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to produce three different teams that won at least 11 games and NONE of the previous four divisions produced a Super Bowl winner. 

Let's check out what happened with the four other divisions. 

1984 AFC West

Let's rewind back to 1984 when the Seahawks were still in the AFC. Here were the three playoff teams from the AFC West that year: 

Outcome: The Seahawks and Raiders got stuck playing each other in the wild card round, which knocked out one of the AFC West teams right away. The Seahawks advanced to the divisional round with a 13-7 win over the Raiders, but then ended up getting destroyed by the Dolphins in the divisional round, 31-10. As for the Broncos, they were the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs and they got a first-round bye, but they ended up losing 24-17 at home to the Steelers in the divisional round. 

2026 NFL playoff bracket projection: Rams overcome surprising Jaguars for Super Bowl title
Tyler Sullivan
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1985 AFC East

After the AFC West produced three teams with at least 11 wins in 1984, the AFC East pulled off the same feat one year later. Here are the playoff teams from the 1985 AFC East. 

Outcome: Just like the AFC West in 1984, the AFC East had two teams face each other in the wild card round with the Patriots beating the Jets, 26-14. The Patriots went on to beat the Raiders 27-20 in the divisional round to advance to the AFC title game. The Dolphins also advanced to the AFC title game with a 24-21 win over the Browns in the divisional round. In the AFC Championship, the 5.5-point underdog Patriots pulled off a huge upset with a 31-14 win over Miami. In the Super Bowl, the Patriots ran into a buzz saw in the form of the 1985 Bears. New England ended up losing to Chicago, 46-10, in one of the biggest blowouts in Super Bowl history. 

2020 AFC North 

After 1985, we went 35 years before another division came along that produced three teams with at least 11 wins. Here are the playoff teams from the 2020 AFC North. 

  • Steelers (12-4)
  • Ravens (11-5)
  • Browns (11-5)

Outcome: Like the two divisions above, the AFC North had two teams face each other in the wild card round with the Browns picking up their first playoff win in 26 years with a 48-37 victory over the Steelers. The Ravens also had to play in the wild card round and they ended up beating the Titans, 20-13. The divisional round ended up being a nightmare for the AFC North with the Browns and Ravens both losing. Cleveland lost 22-17 to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs while the Ravens got taken out in a 17-3 loss to the Bills. 

2024 NFC North 

The NFC North made history last year by producing the highest winning percentage (.662) by any division since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, a record the NFC West did NOT break. Here are the playoff teams from the 2024 NFC North. 

Outcome: The NFC North was basically viewed as one of the best divisions in NFL history, so when the playoffs started, it seemed like a guarantee that at least one team would end up making a Super Bowl run, but that didn't happen. Instead, the division ended crashing out by going 0-3 in the playoffs, and unlike our three prior divisions, the NFC North didn't have two teams face each other in the wild card round. The Vikings got smoked 27-9 by the Rams in the first round. In that same round, the Packers lost to the Eagles, 22-10. The Lions got a first-round bye, but it didn't help them: They ended up losing to the Commanders, 45-31, in one of the biggest upsets of the year. Like the AFC North in 2020, the NFC North didn't even end up sending a team to the conference championship game. 

So what does this all mean for the NFC West? 

When you're in a strong division, you spend 17 weeks beating up on each other and that takes a toll on you. The three NFC West teams went a combined 26-7 in nondivision games, but that didn't help the NFC North in 2024. Last year, the Vikings, Lions and Packers went 29-4 in nondivision games, but still went 0-3 in the postseason. 

The three teams in the NFC West are all great, but they're not invincible, they all have a weakness that could take them down in the postseason. 

For the Seahawks, that's Sam Darnold. Yes, Darnold has been great this year, but he's also turned the ball over 20 times. Not only did he throw 14 interceptions, which was the third-most in the NFL, but he also lost six fumbles. It's almost unheard of for a QB to turn the ball over 20 times and still win a Super Bowl. Over the past 30 years, it's only happened three times and two of those were by Eli Manning (He turned the ball over 27 times in the regular season prior to the Giants' improbable playoff run in 2007. In 2011, he turned the ball over 20 times prior to another wild Super Bowl run). 

For the 49ers, their weakness is their pass rush. The 49ers only recorded 20 sacks in 2025, which was the lowest total in the NFL by far (Every other team in the NFL had at least 26 sacks). In the Super Bowl era, the 49ers are just the fifth team with 20 sacks or less to make the playoffs and the previous four teams went 0-4 in the postseason (1970 Dolphins, 1979, Broncos, 2014 Bengals, 2020 Titans). The 2006 Colts won the Super Bowl despite racking up just 25 sacks and right now, that's the lowest total ever for a Super Bowl winner. 

On the Rams' end, they're going to need to get better at stopping the run. The defense was solid against the run for most of the season, but in the final three games of the year, the Rams gave up an average of 156.3 rushing yards per game. The problem there is that the Rams went 1-3 in the four games this year where they surrendered at least 140 rushing yards. If the other team can run the ball, that keeps Matthew Stafford and the high-powered offense off the field, which makes it more difficult for the Rams to win. 

So yes, the NFC West made history this year, but the division is going to have defy history to win a Super Bowl. The best divisions in NFL history have come up empty every time in the playoffs, but the Seahawks, Rams and 49ers will be looking to end that trend.