San Francisco has a Super Bowl appearance and an NFC Championship game appearance to show for the last two seasons. By the end of 2012, however, Seattle may have been playing the better football. St. Louis had a win and a tie against the 49ers last year and most experts think only quarterback play held Arizona back from being just as competitive. The NFC West is simply stacked. The top two teams are young and talented – possibly the best in football. The only thing preventing St. Louis and Arizona from contending for potential playoff spots is their unfortunate placement in this division. The West will be playing some Must Watch football over the next few months.
Seattle Seahawks
The Optimist:
Russell Wilson returns from a hugely promising first season to lead a talented group of runners and receivers. Reportedly Golden Tate has looked fantastic in training camp and, though he’s injured right now, Percy Harvin’s addition to the roster and return late in the year will add another dimension to this talented roster. Marshawn Lynch is primed for a stellar season AND he’s got solid backups in preseason star Christine Michael and last year’s solid sub Robert Turbin. And, oh, yeah, the Seahawks return the vast majority of a defense that was fourth in total yards allowed and first in points allowed. This roster is stacked and anything less than a Super Bowl appearance will be a disappointment to the Pacific Northwest.
The Pessimist:
The Seahawks gave up a first round pick and then some to acquire Percy Harvin and now their new toy is out until late in the season. They signed pass rushers Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett during the offseason to help as leading sacker Chris Clemons recovers from a torn ACL, but both have been nursing their own nicks during the preseason. Last year’s top draft pick Bruce Irvin is suspended for the first four games of the season – including one of the battles with division foe San Francisco. Sidney Rice has been injury prone. And there isn’t any way the still short Russell Wilson can avoid succumbing to the sophomore slump, right? And even if he does, if Wilson is hit by the injury bug, his backups don’t inspire any confidence at all. There’s a ton of talent on this roster, but if it spends the season in the training room rather than on the field, this team could fail to meet expectations.
The Realist:
Actually, Wilson continues to look like a solid player and as long as he can avoid getting hit with an injury, this team is set to go far. Seattle already was playing better than San Francisco when the Seahawks waxed the 49ers at home during a late season game. If not for a couple of early season losses, it would have been the Hawks with home field advantage. So, while the loss of Harvin is disappointing to fans in the Pacific Northwest, there are more than enough weapons to get this team through until he returns. Golden Tate should be great. Marshawn Lynch is primed for a fantastic season and, if he doesn’t make it to the end, rookie Christine Michael has looked like a potential top-10 back during the preseason. The 49ers remain a great team and it’ll be a two-dog race, but there is no reason to believe the Seahawks should win 13 games and fight for the conference’s top seed.
San Francisco 49ers
The Optimist:
What’s not to like? Colin Kaepernick took a solid team and added another dynamic when he was added to the starting lineup for the last seven games of 2012. He can only get better. The team added Anquan Boldin in a highway robbery trade with Baltimore. The league’s best linebacking corps returns intact and Nnamdi Asomugha was added to add depth to the secondary. This defense was second in the league in points allowed last year. Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter and LaMichael James make for a dynamic running back trio. And the entire offensive line returns intact. There’s no reason to believe this team can’t be just as good as the 2012 version, if not better.
The Pessimist:
Michael Crabtree led the team with 85 receptions in 2012. Mario Manningham was second with 42. Randy Moss was fourth with 28. Crabtree and Manningham are recuperating from serious injuries and starting the season on the PUP list. Moss is working for Fox Sports as an analyst. San Francisco acquired Jonathan Baldwin from Kansas City during training camp, but the receiving corps is a question mark. The defense lost safety Dashon Goldson. Eric Reid was drafted to replace him, but you never know with rookies. And then there is always the dreaded Super Bowl hangover.
The Realist:
The loss of Crabtree hurts, but the multi-faceted Kaepernick can win games in many ways. He’ll find a couple receivers to bond with and the run game will take the team the rest of the way. It’ll be a dogfight with Seattle for the top spot in the West. I’ve reserved my spot on the couch for the week two game. Whichever team emerges as the division champ will likely get top seed in the playoffs and go to the Super Bowl. Anything less than bringing home the Lombardi Trophy would be less than satisfying end to the team’s run in Candlestick Park.
St. Louis Rams
The Optimist:
St. Louis broke the bank bringing left tackle Jake Long in to protect Sam Bradford’s blindside. The offensive line needed work and he is being counted on to help Bradford take the next step in his development. Daryl Richardson leads a trio of interesting backs who will make up for the loss of Steven Jackson, who left for Atlanta. Tavon Austin provides Bradford with a dynamic weapon alongside Chris Givens. Jared Cook should be a nice security blanked at tight end. So an all-around upgrade in talent on offense should help a defense anchored by three first-round picks on the line, a solid cornerback tandem in Cortland Finnegan and Janoris Jenkins and a linebacking corps that adds Alec Ogletree. All of this adds up to improvement for a team that went 7-8-1 in 2012 and, in Jeff Fisher’s first year as coach, played the conference champion 49ers to a win and a tie.
The Pessimist:
Sam Bradford has been injury prone and less than hoped for when he was taken number one overall in 2010. Steven Jackson’s loss not only hurts in yardage but in leadership. None of the three backs in place to get his carries provide what he has on and off the field. Long, the left tackle brought in to protect Bradford, is injury prone himself. And the rest of the line is still uninspiring. There are a lot of decent receivers on the roster, but none have yet proven themselves as “The Guy.” And this team happens to play in the NFC West, which is stacked from top to bottom, particularly with foes in the 49ers and Seahawks who could be matching up for a trip to the Super Bowl. There’s just too much for this team to overcome to finish any higher than third with fourth place not out of the question either.
The Realist:
It’s hard to come away unimpressed with how Les Snead and Jeff Fisher have turned this team’s fortunes around in just a couple seasons. It started with trading the number two draft pick in 2012 to Washington in exchange for a bounty of picks that has helped produce defensive tackle Michael Brockers, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, running back Isaiah Pead, linebacker Alec Ogletree, wideout Stedman Bailey and running back Zac Stacy. Bradford is healthy and surrounded by the best protection and skill talent he’s had to work with since he arrived. The defense should continue being no worse than middle-of-the-road and, on its best days, should be a pretty top notch unit. The future is bright. This season is not. The schedule includes two games against San Francisco and Seattle, and additional matchups with Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, Chicago, New Orleans and improving clubs from Carolina and Tampa Bay. Third place and pushing for the final wild card spot in the West would be a good season in St. Louis this year.
Arizona Cardinals
The Optimist:
The Cardinals brought in an offensive mind in Bruce Arians, who had been the offensive coordinator in Indianapolis. Arians led the Colts through an emotional and impressive season under a rookie quarterback while Chuck Pagano fought leukemia. Arians brought Carson Palmer in from Oakland to play quarterback. Palmer’s best days are behind him, but he’s better than Kevin Kolb, John Skelton, Max Hall, Ryan Lindley, Drew Stanton, Brian Hoyer and most of the other stiffs this team has trotted out at the signal caller position since Kurt Warner retired. This not only brings a proven commodity to the quarterback slot, but should revive the career of Larry Fitzgerald, who at one time looked like the best wide receiver in the game. Add some offensive legitimacy to a team that lost four games by a touchdown or less in 2012 and you might have the r
While the defense is solid, the Cardinals’ offense is abysmal. The team replaced the pedestrian Beanie Wells with the pedestrian Rashard Mendenhall. First round draft pick Jonathan Cooper was brought in to rescue a crappy offensive line and he promptly … broke his leg in the preseason. So, for at least the first three months and perhaps all season, the vaunted Paul Fanaika starts at right guard while Daryn Colledge slides to Cooper’s spot. Fanaika wasn’t bad last year, but that’s only because the four-year veteran was out of the game.
The Realist:
In a lot of the league’s divisions, the Cardinals could be fighting for first or second place with a solid eye on the playoffs. This defense is for real and the offense has, at worst, some decent pieces. But Arizona could be in competition with arguably the league’s two strongest teams in San Francisco and Seattle. And the Rams aren’t that far behind. It’s not out of the question for the Cards to make a run at the final wild card spot, but a tough schedule makes it likely that the best case scenario is beating out the Rams for third in the West.
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