{"id":261261,"date":"2026-01-01T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=261261"},"modified":"2026-01-01T08:00:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T13:00:40","slug":"nfl-week-18-power-rankings-nfc-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/01\/01\/nfl-week-18-power-rankings-nfc-west\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 18 Power Rankings: NFC West"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unfortunately, it\u2019s not a spoiler alert who comes in last each week. The fact that the other three NFC West teams are all heading to the postseason also makes things pretty easy from that perspective. However, it does raise some doubts about how the postseason teams are ranked. That means it\u2019s time to take a look at our NFC West Power Rankings following an exciting Week 17 of action.<\/p>\n

Week 18 NFC West Power Rankings<\/h2>\n

#4 \u2013 Arizona Cardinals<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Granted, the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> were trailing, but there was no semblance of a running game, once again. Jacoby Brissett did what he could but failed to take advantage of a weak defense. Trey McBride did break the record for most receptions by a tight end in a season, but that\u2019s about it. Allowing 37 points, it was a terrible afternoon for the defense as well.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#3 \u2013 Los Angeles Rams<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While they are still making the postseason, that was another brutal loss for the Los Angeles Rams<\/a>. We have to question how they are going to recover and what their first-round matchup looks like. Matthew Stafford still had a great year and leads an offense filled with weapons, but it wasn\u2019t a good look losing a winnable game in Atlanta. The hope is that it\u2019s an ill-timed slump.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#2 \u2013 Seattle Seahawks<\/h3>\n
\"DeMarcus
Photo Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a matchup of two division leaders, the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> took care of business. The fact that it came in resounding fashion only serves as a positive. This week, the running game was led by Zach Charbonnet’s 100-yard, two-touchdown performance. It was also not to be outdone by DeMarcus Lawrence and the Seattle defense, who held Carolina to just 139 yards.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#1 \u2013 San Francisco 49ers<\/h3>\n
\"Brock
Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Winner takes all. Well, at least when it comes to postseason homefield advantage and the NFC West title<\/a>. The good news for the San Francisco 49ers<\/a> is that the Seattle Seahawks are coming to them to close out the regular season. Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey are both playing at high levels, which makes them Super Bowl contenders. I have them beating the Seahawks as a slight favorite, so that makes them my number one team.<\/p>\n

For more great football analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unfortunately, it\u2019s not a spoiler alert who comes in last each week. The fact that the other three NFC West teams are all heading to the postseason also makes things pretty easy from that perspective. However, it does raise some doubts about how the postseason teams are ranked. That means it\u2019s time to take a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":261262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,33916],"tags":[236,2320],"class_list":["post-261261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-power-rankings","tag-nfc-west","tag-nfl-schedule"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261261"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261265,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261261\/revisions\/261265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}