Getty Image / Kevin Abele
Last season, the San Francisco 49ers overcame one of football’s most injured quarterback rooms to win the NFC West and make a run to the NFC Championship Game.
This year, they enter the season with their QB situation looking a whole lot more clear than it did at this time last year.
With Brock Purdy locked in as team’s starter and one of the league’s most talented rosters, the 49ers are expected by many to claim their division’s crown again and make another deep playoff run.
Standing in their way is a team that seemingly came out of nowhere to make the playoffs last year.
The Seattle Seahawks were a whole lot better than expected last season and now it looks like they could surprise fans again this year.
This time around, the surprise will be an NFC West crown.
The Seahawks made some big improvements this offseason and now may be able to match the 49ers’ offensive weapons by the end of the year.
They drafted Zach Charbonnet to form a formidable running back duo with Kenneth Walker.
They also draft Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who could potentially be their best receiver by the end of his rookie year.
With the two-man rushing attack and JSN teaming up with Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, the Seahawks offense could be a problem this year.
They won’t be any easier to handle on the other side of the ball.
Last season, the Seattle Seahawks’ defense wasn’t all that good.
They gave up the 8th most points in the league during the regular season and then got shredded by the 49ers for 41 points.
However, there was one big bright spot for that defense. They drafted Tariq Woolen in the 5th round and he ended up tying for the league lead in interceptions. He made the Pro Bowl as a rookie.
In this year’s draft, they landed Devon Witherspoon with the 5th pick. He was one of the top cornerback prospects in this year’s draft class and should form an intimidating duo with Woolen.
They also signed Julian Love, who will play alongside Jamal Adams in the secondary. Those four should combine to be a really strong secondary for the Seahawks.
They also brought back Bobby Wagner this offseason, who was pretty good last year even on an awful Rams team.
All together, the Seahawks have made some major improvements to their roster this offseason.
They will also benefit from playing a 2nd place schedule as opposed to the 1st place schedule the 49ers will play this season.
Potentially one of the biggest factors why the Seahawks will win the division is that the 49ers do enter the season with some question marks.
The biggest is when Nick Bosa will return. He is in the midst of a contract standoff with the team and it was recently reported that the two sides aren’t close.
Any game that he misses is a huge blow for the 49ers and we are less than 2 weeks from their season opener.
There are also some questions about just how good Brock Purdy actually is. While he proved that he deserves to be an NFL starter last season, he didn’t face many tough defenses and didn’t look great against the Cowboys when he was actually tested by a good defense.
He still has a bit to prove in his 2nd NFL season.
He’s also coming off of offseason elbow surgery, which could lead to a slow start to the season for him.
Between the improvements the Seattle Seahawks have made and the questions facing the San Francisco 49ers, the Seahawks look like they’ll be able to take how the NFC West crown this year.