Starting with the 2002/2003 season with the addition of the Houston Texans, the NFL decided to realign its divisions. The new NFC West now looks like the following:
This division isn't a very strong division in the NFC, as St. Louis has won their division for several years running. St. Louis is most probably going to take this division in the 2002/2003 season and will likely continue to win it until the two players who make this team,
Kurt Warner and
Marshall Faulk, stop producing. The 49ers, who will likely win a Wild Card spot in the NFC, are not the team they were in the 80s and 90s under the leadership of legendary Quarterbacks
Joe Montana and his successor
Steve Young. The Seahawks are new to this division, and new to the conference, as they moved from the
AFC West. The Arizona Cardinals are still a young team, and should make a run for the wildcard in several years. It really doesn't make sense to me why the
Atlanta Falcons or the
Carolina Panthers were in this division, but they were two of the three teams removed from this division. The other was the
New Orleans Saints.