Maligned (and rightfully so) for years, the NFC West could be on its way to becoming one of the best divisions in football.
Apart from having last year’s 13-3 conference finalists in San Francisco, the division sports the hottest regular-season franchise in football. The Cardinals have won nine of their last 11 games.
Arizona got that ninth win in unlikely fashion, beating the Patriots in Foxboro. Yes, it was a little fluky and a lot lucky, but the Cardinals did what no one thought they could do -- especially since their Week One starting quarterback is injured and their star wideout caught only one pass.
Meanwhile, the Rams got to half of their 2011 win total by besting the Week One darlings of the league, and the Seahawks quietly body-slammed the Cowboys, a team everyone presumed was destined to exorcise 16 years of demons after an opening-night bean-stalking of the Giants.
Put it all together, and the four NFC West teams beat four 1-0 teams on Sunday, and the division now has two of the five 2-0 teams in the NFL.
So keep an eye on the NFC West. And get ready for some great games as those four teams do their home-and-home round-robin.