It doesn’t take much effort to come up with an argument for the NFC West being the toughest division in the NFL.
The Seahawks beat the Rams and 49ers in the playoffs on their way to winning the Super Bowl last year. The Rams responded to that by trading for Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie ahead of Aaron Donald’s return from retirement, which has made them slight favorites over Seattle to wind up winning the NFC.
The 49ers are hoping for better health than they enjoyed while winning 12 games last season and quarterback Brock Purdy laid out to Matt Maiocco of NBCSportsBayArea.com just why that will be so important.
“We have an extremely competitive, great division,” Purdy said. “I think the best in the NFL. And that excites us because you got to be your best at every moment, every play, every drive. Every game matters, every little thing matters. It all adds up and we even saw it last year.”
Purdy and the Niners won’t have to wait long to test themselves against a divisional foe. They’ll kick off the season against the Rams in Melbourne on Thursday.