NFC West

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The NFC West is a division of the National Football League's National Football Conference. It currently has four members: Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and Seattle Seahawks.

When the division was created after the AFL-NFL Merger in 1970, the division had the following four teams: Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints, and San Francisco 49ers, basically being the old Coastal Division with a team substitution (the Saints replacing the Baltimore Colts). When the Seattle Seahawks began play in 1976, they spent their first year in this division before moving to the AFC West the following year. In 1995, the new Carolina Panthers team was put into the NFC West. And even though the Rams moved to St. Louis that same year, they remained in this division (despite the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East being located further west), leaving just one team on the West Coast.

The 2002 re-alignment changed the entire look of the NFC West. The Falcons, Panthers, and Saints moved into the NFC South, while the Cardinals and Seahawks moved in. The Rams remained in the West, preserving the historical rivalry with the 49ers that has existed since 1950, and thus are currently the only team in the division that is located east of the Rocky Mountains (the Rams had played in Los Angeles from 1946-1994, thus contributing to the rivalry with the 49ers).

[edit] Divisional membership

[edit] Current members

• Arizona Cardinals - Joined in 2002 from the NFC East
• St. Louis Rams - Founding member
• Seattle Seahawks - Joined in 2002 from the AFC West
• San Francisco 49ers - Founding member

[edit] Former members

• Atlanta Falcons - Founding member; currently part of the NFC South
• New Orleans Saints - Founding member; currently part of the NFC South
• Carolina Panthers - Joined in 1995 as an expansion team; currently part of the NFC South

[edit] Division Lineups

[edit] Lineup for 1970-1975

• San Francisco 49ers
• Atlanta Falcons
• New Orleans Saints
• Los Angeles Rams

[edit] Changes from 1969

• Creation of division due to 1970 AFL-NFL Merger
• Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Francisco were members of the NFL Coastal Division prior to the merger. New Orleans moved in from the NFL Capitol Division to replace the Baltimore Colts, who moved to the AFC as part of the merger agreement.

[edit] Changes from 1975

• The Seattle Seahawks were added in the 1976 expansion

[edit] Lineup for 1976

• San Francisco 49ers
• Atlanta Falcons
• New Orleans Saints
• Los Angeles Rams
• Seattle Seahawks

[edit] Changes from 1976

• The Seattle Seahawks moved into the AFC West

[edit] Lineup for 1977-1994

• San Francisco 49ers
• Atlanta Falcons
• New Orleans Saints
• Los Angeles Rams

[edit] Lineup from 1995-2001

• San Francisco 49ers
• Atlanta Falcons
• New Orleans Saints
• St. Louis Rams
• Carolina Panthers

[edit] Changes from 1994

• The Carolina Panthers were added in the 1995 expansion
• The Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis

[edit] Lineup from 2002-Present

• Arizona Cardinals
• St. Louis Rams
• Seattle Seahawks
• San Francisco 49ers

[edit] Changes from 2001

• The Arizona Cardinals moved from the NFC East in the 2002 NFL realignment
• The Seattle Seahawks moved from the AFC West
• The Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, and Carolina Panthers moved into the NFC South

[edit] Division champions

• A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year. Division standings were ignored, Atlanta had the best record of the division teams.

[edit] Wild Card qualifiers

• A players' strike in 1982 reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff tournament just for this year. Division standings were ignored.

[edit] Total playoff berths

¹ Known as the Los Angeles Rams before 1995.

² The Falcons, Saints and Panthers realigned into the NFC South for the 2002 NFL season. The table above represents playoff berths while in the NFC West.

³ The Cardinals had 4 playoff appearances while in the NFC East: two when they were in St. Louis. The two championships were when they were based in Chicago. The table above represents playoff berths after moving to the NFC West.

⁴ The Seahawks won two division titles and had a total of five playoff berths while in the AFC West. The table above represents playoff berths after moving to the NFC West.