‘Everyone dies’: Mike Tomlin compares NFC West to Game of Thrones

For the past few years, the NFC West has been in the discussion of the best divisions in the NFL. Last season, many would argue that it was the best, evidenced by three of the four teams making the playoffs.

With the exception of the Arizona Cardinals, the division had a total of eight losses during the regular season, and the top three teams all had at least 12 wins.

That was enough for former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin to compare the fantasy land of Westeros. But our dragons are smaller than those on the HBO series “Game of Thrones.”

As the 2026 season kicked off Thursday with the Cardinals and Carolina squaring off in the Hall of Fame Game, Tomlin compared the gauntlet that is the NFC West to the popular HBO series.

The road through the NFC West is not for the faint of heart. 👀 pic.twitter.com/Lu2awv5usd

— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) August 7, 2026

“Man, that’s an easy one. I thought you had a tough one,” Tomlin said on NBC when answering Maria Taylor’s question of which division in the NFL is the toughest. “That’s the NFC West, man. It’s Game of Thrones out west. Everyone dies.”

For the Cardinals, Seahawks, 49ers and Rams, winter is indeed coming.

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