Why is the NFC West So Bad?

At the end of the 2001 season, the NFL, in an effort to eradicate its overpopulated divisions, opted to dissolve the NFC and AFC central divisions and create eight divisions of four teams that would be classified as the North, South, East, and West divisions for both conferences. 

Since that realignment in 2002, the NFC West has a collective record of 192-256 (.429), the worst in the NFL. Seattle is the only team with a collective winning record and the others have only enjoyed one season with a record above .500. 

Now, I have every bit of respect for these teams; the fact that they can compete in a league as discriminatory as the NFL week in and week out warrants their fair share of kudos. That being said, however, the NFC West flat out blows.

Both Arizona and San Francisco have managed to make only one playoff appearance apiece. St. Louis has pulled two out of their hat but the playoff berths in the West have been primarily dominated by Seattle, who has represented the division five times under Mike Holmgren.

The NFC's Pro Bowl squad hasn't seen much from the West either. In their seven years of existence, the division has sent 61 players to Hawaii, a far-off second to the NFC South's 75 and a mere shadow to the NFC East's 114. 

Defense wins championships. Despite the overuse of the phrase, its a concept that consistently rings true, even in a league dominated by quarterbacks and high-flying offenses. Just take a look at the last ten Super Bowl winners. 

With the exception of the Indianapolis Colts in 2006, they all had defenses that ranked in the top 10. The only team out of the West that has had a top ten defense in seven years was the 2005 Arizona Cardinals. 

Beyond each team's accolades and shortcomings, it's hard to examine their quality without examining each position, their general statistics, and how they match up to the rest of the league. The benefits of the results from this sort of research don't seem to outweigh the amount of time spent on it so I decided to start at the very top. 

Former President Franklin Roosevelt used to post a sign on his desk that read, "the buck stops here" and for owners like Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks, this is a concept that is very familiar.

They are true examples of how a little ambition and financial savvy can turn a simple pro team into quite the lucrative franchise. The Cowboys are reportedly the most profitable sports team in the world and their performance on the field reflects that.

Now, the owner isn't solely responsible for the performance of his/her team, but their interest in the team's activities is usually an indicator of the overall success of their club. 

The Arizona Cardinals have seen plenty of seasons and underwent a litany of owners all trying to create their legacy. Today's Cardinals are owned by Bill Bidwill, who acts as majority owner. 

He has been involved with the team in an ownership capacity for 47 years. His legacy has been that of a smart, but tight-fisted spender, giving the Cardinals the reputation for funding one of the league's most consistently low payrolls. His cheap spending has kept more than a few star athletes out of a red and white jersey. 

Georgia Frontiere, the first woman to ever act as owner of a pro football team, took control of the St. Louis Rams after the death of her husband, Carroll Rosenbloom. Rosenbloom had intended for his son to take over, but Georgia quickly fired him and took over the team herself.

However, her true interests had always been in the world of show business and the bright lights of the stage, so when her Rams lost the Super Bowl in 1980, she turned her attention away from the team and gave control of it to executives within the organization. 

The Seattle Seahawks were purchased outright by Paul Allen in the late '90s after Allen had already added the Portland Trail Blazers to his list of assets. His interests in other sports ownership, including a MLS soccer team in Seattle, has drawn his attention away from the 'Hawks but he is a regular at the games even still.

As of late, his failure to properly address the conflict that had developed between GM Tim Ruskell and Coach Mike Holmgren caused the team to part ways with their most prolific coach. 

The San Francisco 49ers have always been considered an elite franchise, but after owner Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. was caught up in various financial scandals, he was forced to resign and ownership was transferred to his sister Denise DeBartolo who eventually married John York. 

Since that time, York has been considered nothing more than a disappointment, failing thus far to return the 49ers to their former glory days while hiring one goose egg of a coach after another. 

Of course, there's only so much control an owner can enforce upon his/her team. An NFL team is much like a bureaucracy so it's built to delegate power throughout the organization. The next stop for the buck is the desk of the GM. 

A team's general manager has the most direct involvement in the all the various facets of a team's operations, including a majority vote in the hiring/firing of coaches, the distribution of discretionary funds, and the final decision when selecting players from the draft. These responsibilities do vary according to each team's needs and contract agreements.   

Rod Graves has had varying success during his tenure with the Arizona Cardinals, making all the right moves when they needed to be made. His only black mark was his neglect in handling Larry Fitzgerald's contract as it was expiring.

Due to unforeseen expenditures in some of Fitzgerald's incentives, his contract extension cost the Cardinals far more than they had expected, a hiccup in an organization that doesn't like to spend money. All that money tied up in the Pro-Bowler's contract has restricted the club's efforts to land other key players.

For the St. Louis Rams, Roy Zygmunt was the answer to their financial woes. A wiz with money, Zygmunt was slightly underqualified to be a GM and his quick temper kept him at odds with other executives, namely Mike Martz, the old Rams coach that inspired "the Greatest Show on Turf." His scouting skills were no prize, either. Ten of the players he drafted in the 2006 and 2007 draft aren't on any NFL roster today. 

In Seattle, Tim Ruskell did well enough for a new GM, though some claim he tried to do too much, reconfiguring the Seahawks' roster until it hardly resembled the cast formerly assembled by the previous general manager. His feud with the 'Hawks' winningest coach, Mike Holmgren, caused the prolific play-caller to leave Seattle, a move that has kept Seattle from achieving anything more than three wins this season

The San Fransisco 49ers took on Scot McCloughan as their GM in 2005 and since have suffered a drought in the development of the team's roster. Fox Sports rated him the second-worst draft mind in the league and it shows. The only Pro Bowlers he has given to the team since his inception are MLB Patrick Willis and RB Frank Gore. 

Beyond the owners and the general managers, the head coach has the most direct influence on the performance of the team. Of the 11 coaches hired by the four teams over the last seven years, only two had previous winning records as head coaches. The others were failed projects or brand new to the title. 

Dave McGinnis coached the Arizona Cardinals from '02-'03; he never finished a season over .500. Next in line was Dennis Green, the cerebral roughneck from Minnesota where he never suffered a losing season in ten years as their head coach. In his three years in Arizona, though, he never won more than six games. 

Ken Whisenhunt came to town after leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to two Super Bowls as offensive coordinator and he remains after resurrecting the Cardinals, bringing them a playoff berth, optimistic he can do it again this year. 

Mike Martz did more than well as St. Louis' head coach; he excelled, but after the realignment, his success faltered and he never matched the wins he had compiled before. Scot Linehan took over during the '05 season after Martz was hospitalized with a heart condition. 

Once again, the Rams were turning to an ex-offensive coordinator and suffered three straight losing seasons. After a slow start in 2007, the Rams decided to part ways with Linehan and gave the reins to Jim Haslett who rewarded them with two wins.

Seattle had the only real ray of light in the division in coach Mike Holmgren. The only two years he finished below .500 were the first year post-realignment and his last year with the team. Upon further inspection, however, there is good reason as to why he never won a championship. In his entire career with the Seahawks, Holmgren never coached a defense that finished in the top half of the league. 

San Fransisco has also been fruitless in their attempts to find a replacement for George Seifert and his exemplary career with the 49ers. They have turned to Steve Mariucci, Dennis Erickson, Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary and collectively they have provided the team with an overall .379 record. 

Whether the blame belongs to bad ownership, poor managing, or lacrimose coaching, the NFC West is suffering. The draft hasn't been kind to any team and their rosters reflect it. 

There is hope, though. Arizona's resurrection was manifested in the form of a Super Bowl appearance last year, but there is still a long and weary road ahead of them. 

San Fransisco is looking tougher than ever under Mike Singletary but they need to solve their quarterback problem before they can take the next step.

St. Louis and Seattle are both in rebuilding mode but their best players are only getting older and a change is due for both clubs.  

For Seattle specifically, there is talk of Holmgren returning to the Seahawks, only this time he'll be gunning for Tim Ruskell's job as general manager.

The NFC is no easy road and it will be tough for either of these teams to assert themselves as true contenders anytime soon, but this league is known for miracles and perhaps one will find its way into the front offices of these forlorn teams, desperate for a hopeful future.