Week 1 in the NFC West didn’t just give us a few answers. It shoved the division’s biggest questions right to the front of the line.
Seattle survived a scare, San Francisco smashed the door open on its own title case, and the Rams were reminded in a hurry that reputation doesn’t buy you anything once the ball is kicked off. That’s the shape of the division after one week, and it already feels like every team has a different problem to solve.
Start in Seattle, where Drew Lock was asked to do far more than anyone planned. He had taken zero reps with the first team before being thrust into action Wednesday night after Sam Darnold went down with a hip injury on the fifth snap of the game.
Lock handled it with real poise, finishing 16 of 22 for 187 yards and a touchdown. Most important for the Seahawks, he was sacked just once and didn’t turn it over in a 13-10 win over New England.
That kind of emergency success is nice. It’s also not the blueprint Seattle had in mind.
The encouraging part for the Seahawks is that Darnold avoided a fracture and structural damage, but there still isn’t a firm return date. Mike Macdonald hasn’t committed to one, Ian Rapoport reported Thursday that Darnold is expected to miss at least Week 2, and Adam Schefter said on the Pat McAfee show that Darnold will miss “I’m going to guess multiple games, but on the fewer side of multiple” - whatever that means.
The schedule gives Seattle a little breathing room. The Seahawks go to Arizona next Sunday and then face Washington in Week 3, which is a friendlier stretch before the tougher run that starts in October with the 49ers, Broncos and Chiefs.
And even with the quarterback uncertainty, there was a lot to like on the other side of the ball. Seattle’s defense looked like a continuation of last season, not a reset.
New England got on the board first after a costly defensive pass interference, but the Seahawks turned the fourth quarter into a mess for Drake Maye and a Patriots offense that played it too cautiously and finished with only 10 points. Seattle intercepted Maye on three straight drives while doing it short two starting defensive backs.
That’s the part that should make the rest of the division pay attention. A strong defense, an explosive young runner in Jadarian Price, and one of the league’s best receivers in Jaxon Smith-Njigba give the Seahawks enough to keep moving, at least for now, if Darnold’s absence doesn’t stretch too deep into October.
Then there’s San Francisco, which spent one night making everyone remember exactly who won 12 games last year. The 49ers took a lot of preseason talk about the Rams and Seahawks and turned it into fuel.
Even before opening night, they had plenty of questions. Their core is older, several key players - including George Kittle - are coming back from serious injuries, and the run game finished 25th last season, which is a strange number for a Kyle Shanahan offense.
The injury list kept growing, too: Ricky Pearsall’s season ended before it began, Alfred Collins suffered a torn patellar tendon at practice earlier this week, and rookie receiver De’Zhaun Stribling was carted to the locker room Thursday night, though early signs suggest he may have avoided the worst.
None of that stopped the 49ers from delivering the kind of performance that changes the conversation fast. They rolled past the Rams 27-7, a score that almost undersells how lopsided it felt.
Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes and one interception, and San Francisco turned two Los Angeles turnovers into a statement win. The payoff showed up immediately in the betting market, too: the 49ers moved from 12th-best Super Bowl odds before the season to fifth-best, just behind Seattle.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, got a sharp reminder that star power only goes so far if the start is flat. The Rams’ loss to San Francisco put an end to any joke about a 17-0 season, but the real issue was how ordinary they looked early.
Matthew Stafford finished with a 61.2 passer rating, his lowest since 2023. Myles Garrett also had a night he’d like back, finishing with zero pressures - his first game without one since 2018.
Garrett said his knee was not at 100 percent and called it “the worst version of myself that I've put out there. And I've got to be better.
I've got to find a way to recover and get back to the player I know I can be and I've shown that I've been before.”
None of that erases the talent in Los Angeles. Stafford is the reigning MVP, Garrett is still the best defensive player in football, Puka Nacua is one of the league’s best receivers, and Sean McVay remains one of the most influential coaches in the sport.
One bad night doesn’t change that. But it did drive home the bigger truth: there are no easy games in this league, no matter how much hype a roster carries into September.
The Rams get the Giants in Week 2, and the next test will be whether they can shake off the travel and keep their bodies on California time after the trip to Australia. As for Arizona, the Cardinals didn’t fit into this first-round NFC West snapshot, but they’ll matter soon enough. They open against the Chargers on Sunday at 1:25 p.m., a game Seahawks fans may want to watch before Seattle heads to Glendale next week.
In Other News...
Drake Maye Hit Could Leave Patriots Fans Wanting More After Loss
Drake Maye gave the Patriots a mixed afternoon in Seattle, moving the ball well enough to keep New England in striking range but also giving the Seahawks plenty of help along the way. He completed 23 of 33 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, yet the three interceptions and three sacks were enough to tilt a tight game that ended 13-10 in Seattles favor.
The sequence that drew the most attention came when Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall was flagged for unnecessary roughness after a late hit on Maye, a play the NFL is now reviewing for possible further punishment. Maye stayed in the game after the hit, and while the Patriots left with another narrow loss, they now have a short week to reset before facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 20. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Keep Targeting Seahawks Talent After Another Seattle Departure
The Raiders interest in former Seahawks talent has not slowed down, and Bryce Cabeldue is the latest name to follow that path. Las Vegas claimed the rookie offensive lineman off waivers after Seattle moved on, adding another player with familiarity to the Seahawks recent roster churn and another piece for a group that has been reshaped under head coach Klint Kubiak, who previously served as Seattles offensive coordinator.
Cabeldue entered the league as a 2025 sixth-round pick and saw action in a small but useful sample last season, logging snaps at multiple spots along the offensive line. For Seattle, his departure is another reminder of how quickly late-round development projects can become roster casualties, while for the Raiders it continues a clear pattern of looking toward familiar Seahawks connections as they build out their depth. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Opener Chaos Turned A Tense Win Into Something Else
The NFL season opener at Lumen Field had enough on-field edge already, but the scene in the stands briefly stole the attention away from the Seahawks and Patriots. A dispute over seating escalated when a Patriots fan allegedly would not move from seats belonging to other spectators, and what began as an argument turned into a physical confrontation that drew in ushers, security and police before order was restored.
For a few tense minutes, the football game was secondary to the disruption above it, a reminder of how quickly a night at the stadium can veer off script. The fan was eventually handcuffed, and while the crowd settled back in, the incident lingered as one of the stranger moments of an opener that already had plenty of bite. [Read more 🡒]