Wednesday, September 7, 2011

2011 NFL Preview: Part 5 - NFC West

Ah, the hapless NFC West...
  1. St. Louis Rams (9-7) - Sam Bradford leads the troops... and that alone is enough to win this division... I think he makes a pretty big leap in Year 2, and Steven Jackson is still an elite RB in my opinion... the receiving corps is pretty sparse, but I do like Danny Amendola as a possession guy... Mike Sims-Walker is a head case, but he provides their most legit talent at wide-out in a long time... the defense has some top guys in Chris Long and James Laurinaitis, but the overall talent is pretty average... they basically win the division by default...
  2. Seattle Seahawks (7-9) - Okay, I'm going to say this... I kind of think the Tarvaris Jackson move is a decent gamble (avoids lightning strike).... the guy has a +.500 record in his career and clearly has a big-time arm... that said, I have no faith in him either... the receiving corps wass pretty bad overall in 2010, but Mike Williams is a nice talent and they've added Sidney Rice... Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett return to form the RB duo and while they won't win any games (short of the ridiculous playoff run by Lynch), they won't kill you either... whether they compete with STL for me comes down to the defense... My concern is in the secondary where Marcus Trufant still resides, and they're going to need some help from the pass rush...
  3. Arizona Cardinals (7-9) - Kevin Kolb... do you believe?... I kind of do from the standpoint of "clear upgrade over what they had before".... I think he'll be league-average, and if he's that, that'll be a decent offense with Larry Fitzgerald and a healthy Beanie Wells (hahahaha)... they replace Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie with rookie Patrick Peterson and that shouldn't be a downgrade, so if they get health/production from vets like Adrian Wilson and Joey Porter? Shouldn't be an embarrassing unit...
  4. San Francisco 49ers (6-10) - Can we PLEASE give up on Alex Smith already!??! How is this guy still penciled in?... anyway... that alone is enough to write them off IMO, but the Frank Gore injury uncertainty coupled a banged up Crabtree AND a new system? Good luck on offense... it may be the best defense in the division, but they won't score enough for Patrick Willis and company to win games....
Enjoy...

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