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2008 NFL Preview - Post 1

Beginning today, it’s a four part series for the annual NFL preview! Please, contain your excitement.

In the past, I’d throw a 20,000 word epic post up here that would take everyone a week to read. Last year I realized that’s not the best idea, and this year I’m following my model. Two divisions a day through Thursday. And Friday, will be my second post of the year over at SpartyAndFriends (click if you missed the first one).

So let’s get going – today, the NFC West & South

NFC WEST

2007 Standings

Seattle (10-6)

Arizona (8-8)

San Francisco (5-11)

St. Louis (3-13)

I should have known better last year when I predicted all four teams to finish within three games of one another. Although at this point, it’s pretty much a guarantee to write in Seattle for 10 wins and the weakest division title of the eight.

Every year, Arizona makes a move or two to make me think maybe they’ve got it figured out this year. Maybe this is the year they put together a winning season, and maybe they actually make the playoffs. Their best offseason move was bringing in Clark Haggans from Pittsburgh, and that wasn’t all that great a move. I’m not falling for it this year. I had them at 7-9 last year and they made it to .500. This year, I’m not giving them even that much credit. Maybe they’ll win the damned Super Bowl. At least I could make some money off the 50-1 odds they’re currently getting. Prediction: 6-10

San Francisco needs to put something together, or else they need to start thinking about blowing it all up. Again. They invested heavily in players like Nate Clements and Alex Smith, and haven’t seen any type of return on their money. Since drafting Smith Number 1 overall, they’ve gone 16-32 in three years. In fairness to Smith, he’s only started 32 of the 48 games, but his stats haven’t been all that great either – 19 career TD’s to 31 INT’s, and a total of just under 4800 yards passing. To me, those aren’t franchise QB numbers. Give him one more year, then start looking at the next option. Prediction: 4-12

St. Louis made a major upgrade on their defensive line when they grabbed Chris Long to anchor their DE position for years to come. But after their first round pick, you’d be hard pressed to find another player worth mentioning. I mean, seriously – read some of the player evaluations from ESPN’s post-draft “grades” page. Throw in the fact that their best offensive player, Stephen Jackson, is currently in the middle of a hold-out for a long term contract, and St. Louis might be looking at another season of wondering how high they’ll be drafting in April. Prediction: 2-14

Like I said before – Seattle is just about a guarantee for 10 wins and a de facto division title. They released former league MVP Shaun Alexander (and it’s fairly shocking that absolutely no one has shown any interest in him… there’s a lot more to that story and I’m certain it will come out eventually). They imported TJ Duckett and Julius Jones to take over the rushing load. Of course, Matt Hasslebeck still has absolutely no one reliable to throw the ball to. Let’s just say 10 wins to be safe. Prediction: 10-6

NFC SOUTH

2007 Standings:

Tampa Bay (9-7)

Carolina (7-9)

New Orleans (7-9)

Atlanta (4-12)

Welcome to the worst division in football. This was the only division to have a team on top with fewer than 10 wins last season. Don’t expect much more out of them this year.

Atlanta has had some time to recover from the Michael Vick fiasco. They’ve got a new face of the franchise in Matt Ryan. They let go of TJ Duckett and Warrick Dunn, and replaced them with the dynamic Michael Turner. They imported Jason Elam – on of the most clutch kickers in NFL history, something that can’t be undervalued – stealing him away from the Broncos. Their only big losses were Alge Crumpler and Demorrio Williams. But they still don’t have the defense to shut down the high powered offenses in the NFL – the Saints will probably give them trouble both times this year. They allowed almost 160 more point than they scored last year – the gap should close a little this year, but not enough to matter. Prediction: 3-13

Tampa Bay missed out on the Brett Favre sweepstakes, meaning they’re stuck with the same problem they’ve had since… well since forever really – they need a quarterback. They’ve continued to get older without addressing their biggest needs, and this could be the year it comes back to haunt them. The rest of the division will catch up to them eventually. Jeff Garcia, Joey Galloway and Earnest Graham will only carry this team so far, and this year it might not even be to the playoffs. Prediction: 9-7

New Orleans got stuck with an above average team and a first place schedule last year – they weren’t ready for what a successful run in 2006 brought them. This year, they’ve got the same above average team plus the addition of Jeremy Shockey and the addition of Sedrick Ellis in the draft helps shore up a weak defensive line. Look out for rookie Adrian Arrington as well as a Troy Brown, over the middle possession receiver type. (though it might just be my Michigan bias). Prediction: 11-5

Carolina made a lot of moves this offseason, importing plenty of familiar faces to try and rebuild a team that scored only 267 points in 16 games last season. Unfortunately, they did nothing to address their biggest need – bringing in another quarterback to legitimately challenge Jake Delhomme for the starting job. They had a fantastic top of the draft getting Jonathan Stewart and Jeff Otah, and late round selection Nick Hayden could grow into quite a playmaker on the defensive line. But until they start averaging more than 17 points a game, they’re not going to be able to compete with the rest of the NFC. Prediction: 9-7

Labels: 2008, NFC, NFL, Preview, South, West

posted by Big D @ 3:05 PM