The NFC West is no joke.

We all know that the 49ers are strong and the Rams, when healthy, are one of the best teams in the conference. We also know that the Seahawks are talented and could make a big leap forward under their new head coach Mike Macdonald. But the Cardinals are dark horses.

Arizona only won four games last season, so they're not taken seriously. They're a year away from being a year away, people say. But is that true? In the NFL, teams from last place make the playoffs almost every year. Could the Cardinals be the next team? Should the 49ers be worried about them?

Consider that Kyler Murray started the Cardinals' final eight games last season, and their offense averaged 362.8 yards per game during that time. If extrapolated to the entire season, their offense would rank 8th in the NFL, right between the Rams (362.9 yards per game) and the Chiefs (357.9 yards per game).

So the Cardinals offense is better than people think. And they just drafted Marvin Harrison Jr., who is supposedly the best wide receiver to come out of college in years. As a rookie, he could be the best wide receiver in the NFC West.

And then there's Murray, whose career has had its ups and downs but who has never played with a wide receiver as talented as Harrison Jr. And the 49ers have never been able to contain mobile quarterbacks.

Luckily for the 49ers, Arizona's defense lacks talent and probably can't stop Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey. But if the 49ers can't stop Arizona's offense either, these matchups could be extremely high-scoring.