NFC West Preview

Alright, let's get things rolling in the NFC division previews, starting in the West again. This division has basically been wide open since the Seahawks demise over the last three years. The Cardinals stepped in on the strength of the career Renaissance of quarterback Kurt Warner, but he retired this spring. The Rams were the top team in the league ten years ago, but won only a single game last season. That basically leaves the rising 49ers, with their top-tier defense and running game. But like each of these teams, San Francisco has serious question marks at quarterback. This is the only division where every team really has a chance to win the thing.

Division Winner: San Francisco 49ers

I think when it's all said and done, none of these teams will truly belong in the post season. But the closest to it will be the 49ers. Frank Gore is an excellent running back in his prime and head coach Mike Singletary has built the defense into a formidable unit. The big question is quarterback play. This team has been through seemingly dozens of starting quarterbacks just in the past few years including Bengals back-up J.T. O'Sullivan. Every other starting QB seems to be the nth chance for former number one overall pick Alex Smith. And once again Smith is penciled in to start the season under center. If his play is even halfway steady this season, San Francisco will win the division they nearly stole from the Cardinals last year. Nine wins ought to do it, sadly.

Division Runner-Up: Arizona Cardinals

Make no mistake, the Cardinals lost a lot since losing the Superbowl after the 2008 season. Losing Kurt Warner is the biggest blow, but they also lost two of their best defensive play-makers to free agency. The best things going for Arizona are that Ken Whisenhunt is still their head coach and there running game is poised to improve greatly in Beanie Wells' second year. The biggest question by far for this team is whether former first round draft pick Mat Leinart can finally have a breakthrough season. He's had nearly as many chances as Alex Smith, but arguably has enjoyed more success. There are also questions about whether the defense will survive the losses of Dansby and Rolle. I'm going with eight wins in a close race with the 49ers.

Division Third Place: St. Louis Rams

It's been a dismal three years for the once-proud Rams. They have won six games in three years and were the worst team in football last season. But there's a glimmer of hope with the acquisition of Heisman-winning quarterback Sam Bradford, the number one overall pick of this year's draft. While it's way to early to know if Bradford will pan out, the Rams do still have All Pro running back Steven Jackson moving the chains and Bradford will more than likely be an upgrade over the oft-injured and now departed Marc Bulger. This team should have enough pieces in place now to upgrade to four wins.

Division basement: Seattle Seahawks

The problem with the Seahawks is that after years of dominating this otherwise weak division, age has caught up to them. Now they have their third head coach in as many season, but still have Matt Hasselbeck at quarterback. He spent a good portion of each of the last two season injured, and the Seahawks have struggled to win more than a handful of games. I wouldn't expect much more of him this season. I'm guessing new coach Pete Carrol simply wasn't hot on any of this years QB prospects in the draft and is biding his time. This team also isn't particularly talented at the other offensive skill positions. Clearly a rebuilding year in Seattle, who I think will win all of three games.

Week 5 NFL Observations

Starting with the last game first, here's Mustache's observations (stachvations? mustavations? I'll work on this) from week 5 in the NFL:

The Dolphins are back. Written off after a 3 game losing streak to start the season, it looked like Miami was in a division where the Jets and Patriots would distance themselves easily from the bottom of the pack. But after back-to-back Jets and Patriots losses and back-to-back division wins for the Fins, the pecking order has changed a little bit. But not for Buffalo. They lost to the Browns in a game where their quarterback only completed two passes.

I am probably most surprised by Jacksonville's blowout loss to the Seahawks. Seattle has been mediocre at best this season, and the Jaguars looked like a team that could turn it around after a poor start. If the Jaguars are going to be a contender this season they have to win games like this, not lose by 41 points. After a few seasons of being the best division in the AFC, the South looks terrible. After the undefeated Colts, the remaining three teams have a combined 4-11 record.

McNabb is back in Philadelphia, and I'll be damned if the Eagles don't look like a top 5 team again. The Eagle's young receivers look excellent, and McNabb threw two incredible touchdown passes. This is probably the best team to have lost a game (sorry Bengals).

Other notables:

Indianapolis, the New York Giants and Minnesota continue to look excellent, all winning in convincing fashion.

Pittsburgh had some trouble with Detroit and Dallas had a lot of trouble with Kansas City. Both did pull out wins, but these teams are not as good as many think, especially not the Cowboys.

2009 NFL preview - NFC

And in an obvious follow up to yesterday's post, here's Dank Game's NFC season preview that you were so excited about.

West

I see a lot of flux in this division as compared to last year. I do not see Arizona repeating a playoff run, although their offense will likely continue to put up big points. San Francisco is a rising star in a poor division, and just good enough to edge out a Cardinals team that will win few games outside the division.

Seattle dominated this division for years, and lost their own Superbowl to Pittsburgh, but even with the addition of T.J. Houshmenzadeh, the window on this team has likely closed. Meanwhile the Rams, who have been terrible for a couple years now, will just barely edge out Seattle for the number three spot in the division while still falling under .500

South

I see the NFC South getting shaken up as well. I really believe New Orleans has done enough to upgrade their defense to win this division, as tough as it may be. The offense will be as potent as last season, and the Saints will likely run up the score on the NFL's bottom feeders.

Last year's division winner, Carolina will remain in the playoffs, although through the wild card. They will be chased by a good Atlanta team, who will just barely miss the playoffs. Meanwhile, it appears Tampa Bay has collapsed. With a new head coach and still not fully decided starting quarterback situation, Tampa will be in a distant fourth.

North

I didn't make any changes in this division. However, I do think the Bears will make the playoffs this year via the wild card, and Green Bay may very well have a winning record. Detroit to bottom out the division is too painfully obvious to bother explaining.

The Vikings are a hot team this year following the Brett Favre signing. The team is basically the same as the one that won the division last year, but with at least a slightly better quarterback situation. And Chicago will be imporved with Jay Cutler behind center instead of Kyle Orton. And Detroit will win at least one game.

East

I briefly wrestled with the question of whether to put Philadelphia or New York on top of this division. I'm starting to think that much-hyped Eagles are over-hyped and I don't see what the Michael Vick signing really does for them. But they are still a more complete team than the rest of the NFC, and Donovan McNabb is a better quarterback than Eli Manning. New York will be close to a wild card berth, possibly losing out on a tie-breaker scenario.

Most expect Washington to finish the division in last place, but I think they're a better team than advertised. Dallas fans seem to use T.O. as a scapegoat for last seasons playoff miss, but I do not think this team has improved, and see them falling probably a game behind the Redskins.

Playoff Picture