Sunday, August 31, 2014

2014 NFL Preview: NFC West

Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals were able to raise to quite a few eyebrows in 2013 with a surprising 10-6 finish that left them right on the cusp of making the playoffs. With an arguably easier schedule and most of the team's vital pieces returning, there's no reason to believe the Cardinals can't recreate that success this year. The Cardinals offense is in the best shape it's been in since their Super Bowl run in 2008. Longtime top Larry Fitzgerald is still putting up numbers after all these years while the duo of wide receiver Michael Floyd and running back Andre Ellington gives the Cardinals two more able and exciting playmakers to go to. The emergence of Floyd and Ellington alongside Fitzgerald gives the Cardinals most lethal options on offense they've had since Fitzgerald entered the league in 2004. The resurgence of the Cardinals offense can largely be attributed to the play of Carson Palmer- who is easily the most stable quarterback they've had since Kurt Warner retired in 2009. It may seem kind of ridiculous to say that a guy who threw 22 INT's last season is a huge positive to his team, but Palmer was able to largely counteract that with over 4,000 passing yards and a completion percentage of 63%. Even with his all of turnovers, The Cardinals could count on Palmer to make plays when they needed him to and for the rest of the guys on the offense to rally around his leadership- which is more than you can say about any of the other clowns the Cardinals wheeled out at quarterback from 2009-12. If Palmer can continue to make plays and cut down on his high INT total, he could be a borderline-line top-tier quarterback this season. Defensively, this still one of the most quietly gifted units in the NFL. Aside from Patrick Peterson, who is widely regarded as one of the best corners in the league, I'm willing to wager that most people don't know of the other impact players on this defense. Excellent run stuffers such as nose tackle Dan Williams and defensive end Calias Campbell led a unit that was number one against the run last season, outside linebacker John Abraham is arguably the best situational pass rusher in the business and second-year safety Tyrann Mathieu looks like he is going to be a hell-raising monster of a player for years to come. This unit potentially got even better by adding cornerback Antonio Cromartie to their ranks in 2014. Cromartie is coming off an injury-plagued season where he looked consistently terrible for the first time in his career, which led to the Jets releasing him in the offseason. At age 30, Cromartie could easily bounce back and if he does, the Cardinals will have the most dangerous corner duo in the NFL. The offensive line remains a problem even with the signing of underrated tackle Jared Veldheer in free agency and suspended inside linebacker Daryl Washington will certainly be missed all season long, but ultimately I don't think either of these issues will be enough to sink this deeply talented team. If the Cardinals can win a majority of their divisional games and not lose their edge on defense, they can easily clinch a playoff berth.

 St. Louis Rams: The Rams kind of get lost in the shuffle in the ultra-competitive NFC West. The Rams are by no means a bad team, they just can't really compete in this talent-rich division. If the Rams were in literally any division in the AFC and most of the other divisions in the NFC, they would stand a chance of getting to the playoffs annually. What holds the Rams back from competing for a playoff berth is their lack of offensive weapons in a division that features three of the best defenses in the league. There is not a single guy on this offense that really scares defenses- especially units that are as stout as the Cardinals, 49ers and Seahawks are. I will fully admit that far too much stock is being put into the season-ending injury to quarterback Sam Bradford on this offense. While I feel really bad for Bradford and his horrible luck with severe injuries, Shaun Hill is a completely apt replacement for him. Hill has been one of the most reliable backups in the league for the past decade with considerable success in his 26 career starts (13-13 record). Hill is every bit as talented as Bradford and there will not be a huge dropoff in 2014 with him as the starter. However, it doesn't matter if Bradford or Hill or basically anyone else was at the helm because quarterback is not really the problem with the Rams offense, it's the guys around them. The Rams receiving corps is loaded with mediocre young receivers with only 2013 first-round pick Tavon Austin showing any sort of potential for future success in the NFL. When your number two wideout is the trainwreck otherwise known as Kenny Britt, you are fielding a receiving corps that is lacking some serious talent. Zac Stacy is a stable running back with relatively high upside who can be counted to move the chains multiple times per game, but he isn't the type of the back that can take over a game at will. Stacy is a clear downgrade at the position for a team that has had the likes of Marshall Faulk and Steven Jackson as their feature back for much of the past 10-15 years. The Rams offense always seems like it's going to work on paper, it just never seems to work in the actual execution thanks to the underachieving receiving corps and good but not great running backs. Where the Rams can and will contend with the rest of the division is on defense. Their defense keeps them in games and is the primary reason they finish in the ballpark of .500 every year. Their front seven- led by powerhouse defensive end duo Chris Long and Robert Quinn-is so dominant that you don't even notice the mediocrity of their secondary. That dangerous defensive front should only get better in 2014 as second-year linebacker Alec Ogletree continues to progress and freakishly athletic rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald adds another hybrid run-stuffer/pass-rusher to the mix. The Rams are continuing to head in the right direction, they just don't have the overall talent to be a playoff contender in 2014.

San Francisco 49ers: I can't remember the last time a team as good as the 49ers had an offseason that was so turbulent. Ever since the loss in the NFC championship game to the arch-rival Seattle Seahawks, it's been a consistent downward spiral for this team. In that game, inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman tore his ACL and MCL, and will be out for at least the first half of 2014. Bowman's injury caused a domino effect that led to an offseason full of bad luck. 3/4 of the starting secondary from a year ago (Tarrell Brown, Carlos Rodgers and Donte Whitner left in free agency, starting guard Alex Boone never reported for camp and continues to hold out for a new deal and to top it all off, outside linebacker Aldon Smith was suspended for the first nine games of 2014 for violating the league's personal conduct and substance abuse following a pair of offseason arrests. The defensive side of the ball pretty much in shambles to start the season as inside linebacker Patrick Willis and defensive end/tackle Justin Smith are the only proven pieces in place. The depleted front seven makes matters worse for the 49ers suddenly unproven, rebuilding secondary. Former slot corners Tramaine Brock and Chris Culliver have been thrust into starting jobs for the first time in their careers. Behind Brock and Culliver are a pair of equally shaky veterans in Perrish Cox and Chris Cook- who was arguably the worst corner in the league last year with the Vikings. Brown and Rodgers weren't exactly superstars, but they were far more reliable than any corner the 49ers currently have on their roster. The 49ers' typically great safety pairings even took a hit with competent but fading veteran Antonie Bethea brought in to take Whitner's spot in the lineup alongside second-year stud and lone bright spot in this mess of a secondary, Eric Reid.  Even with all this turmoil, the 49ers should still be a quality, title-contending team in 2014. Say what you want about head coach Jim Harbaugh, but there are few coaches in the league that are more equipped to handle adversity than him. Harbaugh has brought this team to at least the NFC Championship in his first three years with the team and they'll be in a good place to get back there this year thanks to Harbaugh's ability to get the most out of his players regardless of the situation. Balancing out the major losses on defense is an offense that made some nice pickups that will allow them to spread the ball out more than they've been able to in recent years. The team made a big post-draft trade to acquire Stevie Johnson from the Bills to sure up the depth in the receiving corps. The addition of Johnson gives the 49ers the legitimate number three wideout they sorely lacked last year and will take some pressure off of the team's main receiving trio of Anquan Boldin, Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis. The team also went out and drafted another bruising running back in Carlos Hyde to complement Frank Gore. The combination of Gore and Hyde in the backfield could be seriously dangerous and give the 49ers an old-school, physical pair of backs that can quickly wear down a defense. Above all, the 49ers will benefit from having Crabtree healthy at the start of the season. With Crabtree out of the lineup for the first 3/4 of the 2013 season, the passing offense was a borderline disaster with no one besides Boldin and Davis doing much of anything. Crabtree not only gives this offense another threat, his chemistry with Colin Kaepernick is deadly and breaks games wide open for this squad. The 49ers may have a lot more question marks and obstacles to overcome than the previous few years, but it would be an absolute shock if the team wasn't once again playing well into January. 

Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks time to shine finally came last season as the squad hoisted their first Lombardi trophy in one of the biggest blowouts in Super Bowl history. Recent history has suggested that the Super Bowl winners struggle the year after they win it all, but I think the Seahawks are going to be the team that breaks the Super Bowl hangover curse. Unlike other recent Super Bowl winners such as the Ravens and Giants -who were decent teams that got hot at the right time- the Seahawks are absolutely loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. It goes to show you have just how gifted this team is on defense when they let guys like Brandon Browner, Walter Thurmond and Clinton McDonald walk and their overall unit hasn't gotten any worse. Their defense is by far the most intimidating unit to emerge in the league since the Ravens of the early 2000's. With Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and Bobby Wagner entering the primes of their career, this defense is not going to fall off anytime soon. While the defense runs the show, their offense can't be slept on. Russell Wilson is a budding star quarterback with maturity well beyond his years and running back Marshawn Lynch remains the focal point of this offense and arguably the hardest runner in the NFL at age 28. The X-factor for this offense is wide receiver Percy Harvin. Last year, Harvin missed all but one regular season game, which forced the Seahawks to stick to their run-first offense. When Harvin was on the field during the playoffs, he opened up this offense and give them a level of flexibility and explosiveness in the passing game that they have never had in the past. Harvin's versatility and proficiency in the rushing and passing game should be an incredible asset to this team and if he can stay healthy, this offense is going to be far scarier than they were in 2013. I firmly believe that the Seahawks could be the first team since the Patriots in 2003 and 2004 to win back-to-back Super Bowls.  

Projected Standings for NFC West
1.Seattle Seahawks (13-3)
2.San Francisco 49ers (10-6)
3.Arizona Cardinals (9-7)
4.St. Louis Rams (6-10)

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