Not long ago, I wrote about how the NFC West gets little credit and has been unfairly tabbed as the worst division in football.

*crunch, crunch*

That's me eating some rather well-done crow, folks.

The division leader, Arizona, is 3-2 overall, and 2-2 outside of the division (wins against MIA & BUF, losses to WAS & NYJ).  The Cards' performance in week 5 at home against the surging Buffalo Billas was impressive, and their 31-10 victory over Miami in week 2 now looks to be a bit bigger than previously thought due to how well the Dolphins have been playing the past two weeks.  However, the loss to the Jets, caused primarily by Brett Favre's record-setting 6 TD performance, was a horrendous defensive display.  Losing to the Redskins by a touchdown, however, now seems like a valiant effort against a very solid team.  By and large, considering only on-field performance thus far in 2008, Arizona is the class of the NFC West.  Yep, THAT Arizona.

In 2nd place, sitting at 2-3 currently, is San Francisco.  They've won on the road against Seattle (33-30 in a week 2 OT matchup) and at home against the hapless Detroit lions.  But, losses to Arizona, New Orleans and New England have stymied this club's interest in returning to the postseason.  It's not that they've lost ugly, because all three of their losses have come to decent football teams.  But, they haven't won convincingly against anyone worth mentioning (no, the OT win in Seattle doesn't count, considering Seattle is 1-3 after their week 5 drubbing at the hands of the Giants).  A 31-13 home win over the Lions shouldn't impress anyone.  Is this team better than in 2007?  Yes.  Is it better than in 2006?  Probably not, and a 7-9 or 8-8 record should be considered a well-placed stepping stone on their path back to respectability.

Seattle, 1-3 after a horrendous 44-6 road loss to the New York Giants, is the defending division champion... as if that actually meant anything nowadays.  In week one, Seattle managed to post a 34-10 loss in Buffalo.  Following that was a 3-point OT loss at home to division rival San Francisco, a loss that embarrassed the franchise after sweeping the 49ers three times in the past 4 seasons.  At 0-2 and facing their worst start in what seemed like an eternity, the Seahawks smothered the Rams with a solid running game en route to a convincing 37-13 home victory.  Then came the Giants, and ohhh it was ugly.  To date, removing Seattle's lone win of the season against one of the three worst NFL teams this season, Seattle has been outscored 111-46 in their three losses.  Ouch.  Now remove the home loss to the 49ers (33-30 in OT), and Seattle has been outscored by New York teams 78-16 in two games.

Now we get to St. Louis, which recently fired coach Scott Linehan.  At 0-4 after their bye week, the Rams are in horrible shape.  Losing weekly by an average score of 36.8-10.8, the Rams are proving how bad they can really be.  0-1 in the division, 0-3 outside of it.  Yikes.  Detroit might be worse, but not by much.  Considering they shelled out half the farm to make Steven Jackson happy and he's provided them with 269 rushing yards and one score in their four losses, things are looking as bleak as ever for the Rams.

So, to sum up, the NFC West is 6-12 overall, and 3-9 outside of the division.

Bad.