NFC West optimist, pessimist view of every team

The NFC West has three teams that are .500 or better going into Week 7. Here are the optimistic and pessimistic views of each team. 

Arizona Cardinals (1-5)

Optimist: They might not win a lot of games, but they play as hard as any team and have been competitive in almost every game. The Cardinals have also received a surprisingly strong performance from backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs in place of the injured Kyler Murray. Speaking of which, they have Murray's return to game action to look forward to at some point this season. The real excitement, though, comes from the fact they have 12 picks in the 2024 draft class — including two first-round picks — to accelerate a rebuild. 

Pessimist: For as hard as they have played, this team is still probably at least a couple of years from serious contention, and the remaining schedule is the third toughest in the NFL (.581 winning percentage, per Tankathon). The next realistic chance for a win might be a Week 16 game against Chicago. That game could also determine who gets the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. 

Los Angeles Rams (3-3)

Optimist: The Rams' best players — quarterback Matthew Stafford, defensive lineman Aaron Donald and wide receiver Cooper Kupp — are healthy after being limited for significant parts of the 2022 season. The team's three losses came against Super Bowl contenders San Francisco, Philadelphia and Cincinnati.  

Pessimist: The Rams have a difficult remaining schedule, with games against Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, Seattle and San Francisco. Stafford has started to show some of the limitations that come with a 35-year-old quarterback. He has lost some of his mobility and is prone to turnovers. In 15 games since the start of the 2022 season, Stafford has 13 interceptions and been sacked 45 times.

Seattle Seahawks (3-2)

Optimist: Thanks to quarterback Geno Smith and a trio of talented wide receivers (D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba), the Seahawks have a top-10 scoring offense for the second year in a row. Smith has shown his surprising 2022 performance wasn't a fluke. 

The most encouraging development, however, is the defense has shown some improvement across the board, going from a bottom-five unit last season to a dominant run-stuffing unit that has also been surprisingly good against the pass. The arrival of rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon is a big part of that improvement. From the moment he made his debut, the No. 5 overall pick has looked like a rising star.  

Pessimist: The defense and offense struggle on third down. On defense, the Seahawks are allowing opponents to convert on more than 48 percent of third downs (the third-worst mark in the league). On offense, they are only converting 31.6 percent on third down, (also the third-worst mark in the league). Super Bowl teams tend to dominate those downs, and if the Seahawks continue to struggle in those situations, they could be in trouble.  

San Francisco 49ers (5-1)

Optimist: In five of their six games, they have looked like the best team in football, dominating with an explosive offense and dominant, ball-swarming defense. Quarterback Brock Purdy has mostly looked the part of a franchise quarterback while running back Christian McCaffrey has emerged as an MVP candidate. 

Pessimist: McCaffrey, OT Trent Williams and WR Deebo Samuel were injured in a Week 6 loss to Cleveland. That could be a problem if the injuries linger. As soon as McCaffrey and Samuel left the game against the Browns, Purdy became ineffective. Was that just a one-game outlier against a great defense and in bad conditions? Or did he get exposed by what a good defense can do to him when you take away one or two of his skill players?