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2005 NFL Preview - NFC West

NFC West

St. Louis (10-6): Well, somebody’s gotta win the division… The offense is still the key to this team, with Marc Bulger, Torry Holt, and now Stephen Jackson stepping in to the starting RB role, and Marshall Faulk & Isaac Bruce with reduced roles on the team… The defense, as usual, could be the Achilles’ heel for this team… The schedule lends itself nicely to the Rams making a nice run to the playoffs, as they end with San Francisco & at Dallas… A member of the all under-rated team, K Jeff Wilkins solidifies the kicking game for the Rams. If there’s one thing we learned from last year’s playoffs, it’s that having a reliable kicker can be the difference between winning the game (Adam Vinateri) and losing (Nate Kaeding, Doug Brien)…

Arizona (8-8): I’ve been waiting to surprise everyone by picking Arizona to win the NFC West for almost four months. Then I started hearing all of the pundits saying “Boy, Arizona looks really good this year”, and “Watch out for the Cardinals – they’re a sleeper”. Then last week, watching an ESPN Game, I heard Joe Theisman tell me that the Arizona Cardinals were winning the NFC West, without a doubt. Uh oh. The 2004 Lions corollary is in full effect here – if EVERYONE thinks you’re a sleeper, then you’re probably not going to do very much. Last year, every single analyst said the Lions were a legitimate threat in the NFC North. They finished 6-10 and had a solid grip on third place. For as much as I like the Cardinals this year, I just can’t follow the crowd on this one. Give me one more year.

Seattle (7-9): I absolutely love Shaun Alexander’s potential this season. I’m making it my mission in the next month to figure out some way to get him on at least one fantasy team. He came into this off-season pissed about missing a contract incentive by falling one yard short of the rushing title. Then the Seahawks slapped him with the franchise tag, keeping him from going out and getting a fat new contract. Then they were unable to trade him to another team where he could sign that contract, forcing him to take the 1-year tender and play his ass off for 16 weeks this season. Trouble is, no one else on Seattle is going to be that motivated… The only people on the team that drop more easy passes than the Wide Receivers are the Cornerbacks. Matt Hasslebeck is getting up there in years. If anything goes wrong with Alexander, I’m not exactly sold on Mack Strong to fill in the gaps... They didn’t deserve to be a playoff team last year, and they’re certainly not making it this year…

San Francisco (5-11): This whole mess began for the 49ers back in about 1995, when the team decided to completely mortgage the future of the franchise and go for a Super Bowl right away. It was worth it – they crushed San Diego for the title. But they still haven’t recovered from the salary cap troubles of the late nineties… It’s not going to matter who starts at QB this season – he’s going to spend the majority of his time lying on the ground anyway. With no quality receivers and only one real offensive threat (Kevan Barlow), the Niners offense is in trouble. And the defense, well, lets just say that, much like last year, the offense is supposed to be the strength of the team…

posted by Big D @ 9:46 PM