| Conference | National Football Conference |
|---|---|
| League | National Football League |
| Sport | American football |
| Founded | 1967 (as the NFL Western Conference Coastal Division) |
| No. of teams | 4 |
| Country | United States |
| Most recent champion | Los Angeles Rams (17th title) |
| Most titles | San Francisco 49ers (22 titles) |
TheNational Football Conference – Western Division orNFC West is one of the fourdivisions of theNational Football Conference (NFC) in theNational Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: theArizona Cardinals, theLos Angeles Rams, theSan Francisco 49ers, and theSeattle Seahawks.
The division was formed in 1967 as the National Football League Coastal Division, keeping with the theme of having all of the league's divisions starting with the letter "C."[citation needed] The division was so named because its teams were fairly close to the coasts of the United States, although they were on opposite coasts, making for long travel between division rivals. The NFL Coastal Division had four members:Atlanta Falcons,Baltimore Colts,Los Angeles Rams, andSan Francisco 49ers. Los Angeles and San Francisco occupied the West Coast, while Baltimore maintained its dominance over the lesser teams that remained in the division. Atlanta was placed in the division instead of the expansionNew Orleans Saints despite being further east than three Eastern Conference teams (Cowboys, Cardinals, and the aforementioned Saints).
After theAFL–NFL merger in 1970, the division was renamed the NFC West. The Baltimore Colts moved to theAFC East and were replaced by the Saints, who came from the Eastern Conference (the Saints played in the Capitol Division in 1967 and '69, and the Century Division in 1968). In 1976, the newly formedSeattle Seahawks spent one season in this division (Seattle did not play the other four members of the division home-and-home in 1976, playing each of the other 13 NFC teams and the other expansion team of 1976, theTampa Bay Buccaneers) before moving to theAFC West. Except for that one year, the division remained the same until 1995 with the addition of the newCarolina Panthers team. The Rams moved to St. Louis before that same season, making the division geographically inaccurate. Ten of the fifteen NFC teams were based west of Atlanta, and twelve of them were based west of Charlotte (all except the Redskins, Eagles and Giants).
The 2002 re-alignment changed the entire look of the NFC West. The Falcons, Panthers, and Saints moved into theNFC South; while the Cardinals moved in from the NFC East and the Seahawks returned from the AFC West. The Rams remained in the West, preserving the historical rivalry with the 49ers that has existed since1950, and thus had been the only team in the division that was located east of theRocky Mountains until 2015. Despite this, the re-alignment made the NFC West have all of its teams based west of theMississippi River. With the Rams' return to Los Angeles in 2016, the entire NFC West is now located west of the Rockies for the first time in its history; all teams except for the Cardinals are based in thePacific Time Zone (since most ofArizona does not observedaylight saving time, the clocks are the same as Pacific Daylight Time from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday of November, through at least 2027). The 2016 season marked the first time neither the 49ers nor Seahawks played a division game east of the Rocky Mountains.
The NFC West became the second division since the 2002 realignment (the NFC South was the first) to have each of its teams make a conference championship game appearance: Los Angeles (2018 and 2021), Arizona (2008 and 2015), San Francisco (2011, 2012, 2013, 2019 and 2021), and Seattle (2005, 2013, and 2014). Also since 2002, each team has won at least three division titles, one of only two divisions in the league to do so. All of its teams have appeared in a Super Bowl at least once since the 2002 realignment (the only other division accomplishing this being the NFC South): Arizona (2008), Los Angeles Rams (2018,2021), San Francisco (2012,2019,2023), and Seattle (2005,2013,2014). As of 2024, the NFC West is the only division in the NFC that has not seen at least one of its teams win a Super Bowl when entering that year's playoffs as a wild-card entry (the same historical fact holds true for both the AFC East and AFC South).
In 2010, the NFC West became the first division in NFL history to have a champion with a losing record, after theSeattle Seahawks won the division title with a record of 7–9.[1] They were joined in this distinction in 2014 by theCarolina Panthers, who won the NFC South with a record of 7–8–1, 2020 by theWashington Football Team, who won the NFC East also with a record of 7–9, and 2022 by theTampa Bay Buccaneers, who won the NFC South with a record of 8−9.[2]
Since the end of the2020 NFL regular season, the 49ers lead the division with a record of 589–499–16 (137–166–1 since re-alignment) with fiveSuper Bowl titles and an overall playoff record of 33–22. The Rams hold a record of 586–575–21 (130–173–1 since re-alignment) with five Super Bowl appearances and two wins to go with a 25–26 overall playoff record. The Cardinals hold a 135–167–2 record since joining the NFC West (566–770–41 overall) and a loss inSuper Bowl XLIII, currently with a 7–9 playoff record, 5–4 as a member of the NFC West. The Seahawks hold a record of 179–124–1 since joining the NFC West (367–340–1 overall), with three Super Bowl appearances, winningSuper Bowl XLVIII to go with a playoff record of 17–18; they are currently 14–13 in the playoffs as a member of the NFC West, having gone 3–5 while in theAFC West. Since re-alignment, the Seahawks have led the division in wins, division titles, and playoff appearances.
Place cursor over year for division champ or Super Bowl team.
| NFL Western Conference Coastal Division | NFC West Division[B] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 2000s | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 67[A] | 68 | 69 | 70[B] | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76[C] | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95[D] | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Atlanta Falcons | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles Rams | St. Louis Rams | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baltimore Colts | New Orleans Saints | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Francisco 49ers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seattle Seahawks | Carolina Panthers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NFC West Division[E] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16[F] | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| Arizona Cardinals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| St. Louis Rams | Los Angeles Rams | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Francisco 49ers | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seattle Seahawks | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team not in division Division Won Super Bowl Division Won NFC Championship Division Won NFL Championship, LostSuper Bowl III | |||||||||||||||||||||||
*A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special sixteen-team playoff tournament for that year only. Division standings were ignored, and Atlanta had the best record of the division teams.
*A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special sixteen-team playoff tournament for that year only. Division standings were ignored.
| (#) | Denotes team that won theSuper Bowl |
| (#) | Denotes team that won theNFC/NFL Championship, but lost Super Bowl |
| (#) | Denotes team that qualified for theNFL Playoffs |
| Year | Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Interconf. | Intraconf. | 17th Opponent | |
| 2025 | AFC South | NFC South | AFC North (away) |
| 2026 | AFC West | NFC East | AFC East (home) |
| 2027 | AFC North | NFC North | AFC South (away) |
| 2028 | AFC East | NFC South | AFC West (home) |
| 2029 | AFC South | NFC East | AFC North (away) |
| 2030 | AFC West | NFC North | AFC East (home) |
| Team | Division Championships | Playoff Berths | Super Bowl Appearances | Super Bowl Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers1 | 22 (6) | 28 (8) | 8 (3) | 5 (0) |
| St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams1 | 17 (5) | 27 (8) | 5 (2) | 2 (1) |
| Seattle Seahawks2 | 9 | 15 | 3 | 1 |
| St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Atlanta Falcons2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| New Orleans Saints2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Baltimore Colts2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Carolina Panthers2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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| Division championships (7) | |
| Conference championships (1) | |
| League championships (2) | |
| Retired numbers | |
| Current league affiliations |
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