Fair or not, the San Francisco 49ers are realizing the Los Angeles Rams are the clear-cut favorites to win the NFC West this season.
While the division remains hotly contested (aside from the last-place Arizona Cardinals), LA certainly appears to be the most complete squad of the remaining three, including the injury-plagued Niners, who have somehow managed to stay within serious contention with a 7-4 record and after beating the Cardinals in Week 11.
But those are all 2025's problems.
2026, however, is shaping up to be a dream scenario for general manager Les Snead and the Rams, and it all has to do with another NFC squad's downfall this season, the Atlanta Falcons.
Falcons' injury-plagued demise plays right into Rams' hands (thereby hurting 49ers)
Remember, Atlanta traded its 2026 first-round pick to Los Angeles last offseason in a move to grab edge rusher James Pearce Jr.
At 3-7, the Falcons are probably having some hindsight regrets after the move, and in the wake of some serious injury news to several of their key players, things are setting up to only get worse.
As shared by The 33rd Team's Ari Meirov, quarterback Michael Penix suffered what'll likely be a season-ending ACL injury in Atlanta's Week 11 loss to the Carolina Panthers:
#Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. suffered a partially torn ACL on Sunday vs. the #Panthers and is likely done for the season, per @ZachKleinWSB. He is seeking a second opinion. pic.twitter.com/uC6fzCOdys
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 17, 2025
While that opens up a return for veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to the starting lineup, further injury setbacks to offensive weapons like wide receiver Drake London make things much, much worse.
LA won't mind Atlanta's freefall. By default, though, San Francisco will.
If the season ended right now, that original Falcons pick would be No. 8 overall. Should Atlanta's injury problems continue, there's a real possibility it drops down into the top five, rivaling other bottom-feeding squads -- the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, etc. -- in jockeying for a top-five selection.
Should the Falcons finish with a record that'd equate to a top-five pick, Snead would be overjoyed.
The 49ers, meanwhile, would cringe at the thought of a potential NFC West-winning Rams team that seems to be complete on both sides of the ball somehow netting a top-end pick, all thanks to Atlanta's injury-riddled collapse.
Sure, it's a 2026 problem. But it's a problem the Niners would have rather avoided.