Week 4 NFC West Roundup: Taking Pulse of the Division at the Quarter Mark

By Sean Wilkinson@Papa_Lurch Oct 4, 2016, 12:00pm CDT

At the quarter mark of the 2016 NFL season, the NFC West has been turned on it's head. The Arizona Cardinals - who many pundits believed to be Super Bowl contenders - sit in last place while your Los Angeles Rams lead the pack with a 3-1 mark.

It hasn't been pretty for Rams fans, but in the end this isn't the NCAA and style points don't matter. The only fact that matters is that the Rams are off to their best start in a decade.

In addition to sitting atop the division, the Rams will enter the second quarter of the season as the healthiest team in the division with arguably the easiest schedule in the coming weeks.

Week	Arizona Cardinals (1-3)	Los Angeles Rams (3-1)	San Francisco 49ers (1-3)	Seattle Seahawks (3-1)
5	@ San Francisco	vs Buffalo	vs Arizona	BYE
6	vs New York Jets	@ Detroit	@ Buffalo	vs Atlanta
7	vs Seattle	vs New York Giants (London)	vs Tampa Bay	@ Arizona
8	@ Carolina	BYE	vs New Orleans	@ New Orleans

Looking forward, the next few weeks provide the Rams with an opportunity to not only have a 'coming out party', but to also build a cushion for what's shaping up to be a pretty brutal holiday season. If they can head into their bye at 5-2 (or better) with two weeks to prepare for the Carolina Panthers in week 9.... Rams fans may be heading to the voting booths very happy indeed.

But I'm getting slightly ahead of myself....

Needless to say, the next month is going to be extremely exciting for Rams fans.