NFC West Preview

Last year’s NFC west was the worst division in the NFL by far. It was so bad that the Seahawks made the playoffs and home field advantage for the first round with a record of 7-9! Although the Seahawks did prove some of the doubters wrong by knocking of the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, regardless though it sparked a national conversation about changing the playoff seeding system. This year will be different for the NFC west, well a little different. No team will reach ten wins, but I think that at least two teams will make it to the .500 mark or above.

The San Francisco 49ers finished last year with a disappointing 6-10 record, unfortunately for the 49ers and their fans, this season will not be any better. The 49ers over the past several seasons have had winning personal that have underperformed or been plagued with injuries resulting in disappointing after disappointing season for the bay area. Enter Alex Smith, the number one over pick from the 2005 NFL draft has never played as well as anyone had hoped he would have. Especially if you compare him to Aaron Rodgers who was taken with the twenty fourth pick and even Kyle Orton who has put up better numbers the past two years then Smith and was drafted in the fourth round. Regardless though Smith is who the 49ers have currently behind center, although it does not seem like they have too much faith in Smith themselves; the 49ers drafted to quarter backs in the draft this year McLeod Bethel-Thompson, and Colin Kaepernick. Smith has never thrown for 3,000 yards or 20 touch downs in a single season and has not played in all sixteen games since 2006, he also has more career interceptions than touch downs. Do not expect the 49ers to be going very far with Smith at quarterback. The addition of wide receiver Braylon Edwards from the Jets will help Smith but ultimately will not put much a dent in the loss column. The 49ers do not have to worry about the running game, but they also cannot rely heavily on it either. Frank Gore has been good but has not come close to duplicating his year in 2006. The only consistent force the 49ers currently have right now is linebacker Patrick Willis, but he can only do so much. The 49ers are in a rut and will end up duplicating last year with a 6-10 record and that is still only because of their relatively weak division.

I just came across a preview of the NFC west on nfl.com saying that the Rams could potentially win the division. Well first, anyone has the potential to win their division or even the Super Bowl; second, I do see the Rams improving, but not winning the division. Sam Bradford put up very impressive numbers for a rookie and he started all sixteen games. Bradford eclipsed the 3,500 yard mark with 18 touchdowns, 15 interceptions and a sixty percent pass completion rate. While Bradford did not have any outstanding receivers last year, Steven Jackson and the third most receptions and no one pulled in 700 yards; the good news though is that the two leading receivers, Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson, are both very young and have a lot of room to improve. Amendola is twenty five and Gibson is twenty four and neither have more than three years experience in the NFL. With a year of experience behind Bradford and a year to work on timing and chemistry, Bradford will have another big year and Gibson and Amendola will both have improved years. Steven Jackson will continue to carry the bulk of the carries for the Rams in the running game but with perhaps fewer carries than the previous years thanks to the newly added Cadillac Williams and Jerious Norwood. Williams never became a clear cut started in Tampa Bay but can still contribute valuable plays to a team. And Jerious Norwood started a handful of games two years ago for the Falcons injured Michael Turner and did a respectable job. With that said, Jackson can take a few more plays off leaving him with fresher legs towards the end of games and pushing his yard per carry up. The Rams future definitely looks bright, they will finally reach the .500 mark and go 8-8.

The Seattle Seahawks, the team that had a losing record, still went to the playoffs and knocked off the defending Super Bowl champions in the most dramatic fashion, via Marshawn Lynch running through every Saints defender. Now the Seahawks have to attempt to repeat as division champions, if Matt Hasselbeck and Lofa Tatupu were both returning I would day that they were the division favorites, but now with the loss of Tatupu’s leadership in the middle of the defense and the experience of Matt Hasselbeck, the Seahawks will have to play that much better if they want to repeat last year’s playoff run. The biggest question mark is and still will be for a while is how well will Tarvaris Jackson play, Jackson has never started more than twelve games in a season. Jackson has only started a combined twenty games in his five year career. So while it is hard to gauge how Jackson will be as a full time starter, the one positive is that at least he can be mobile and get out of the pocket if he gets in trouble or the protection breaks down. Like the Rams the Seahawks have a crew of young receivers, a reborn Mike Williams, Ben Obomanu, and Golden Tate are all talented receivers that have the ability to make Jackson’s first year in Seattle a little easier. Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett it looks like will still share the responsibility to carry the ball. While it can be a very good thing because it allows each to stay rested and to mix up running styles against the defense, it is also a slight problem; the Seahawks do not have a clear go to rusher when it counts. Defensively the Seahawks have almost never ceased to under achieve from their talent level. Hopefully it will start to change with some of the younger players becoming leaders. Line backer Aaron Curry, third year, and safety Earl Thomas, second year, can both make some big plays and will continue to improve over the next few seasons. And who can forget trusty Marcus Trufant, Seahawk since his rookie year in 2003. Trufant will continue to be a reliable cover man and give some freedom for Curry and Thomas to make big plays. The Seahawks will be just short of the division title but win one more game than last year and finish at 8-8.

Think Hercules this year with the Arizona Cardinals, you know, the whole
“zero to hero” thing. Last year they brought up the rear in the division going 5-11, the primary difference will be the arrival of Kevin Kolb. Kolb will for sure put up better numbers than Anderson’s 2065 yards, 7 touch downs and ten interceptions. No doubt Kolb’s leading receiver will be Larry Fitzgerald, and with the addition of Todd Heap they will now have a tight end that can put up numbers to compensate for the loss of Steve Breaston. If Beanie Wells can stay healthy then the Cardinals will not have to worry about their rushing attack. Based on their improved offense attack the Cardinals will get back on track and sit on top of the NFC west by the end of the year with a record of 10-6.