2012 NFC West Projections

For what it’s worth, The NFC West has historically been a weak division. In the 70s it was dominated by the then Los Angeles Rams. The 80s and 90s belonged to The San Francisco 49ers while the 2000s belonged to The Seattle Seahawks. Each of those teams made at least one trip to The Super Bowl during their respective eras of dominance which could bode well for San Francisco. The Niners come into this season as the favorite, but will anyone be able to challenge them for the crown in The NFC West?

The 49ers burst onto the scene in their first season under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh stayed in Northern California after a four-year stint with The Stanford Cardinal. The Niners won The NFC West for the first time since 2002 and they were an eyelash away from The Super Bowl.

The Niners are most people’s sexy pick coming into 2012 to win The Super Bowl . The 49ers have a defense that finished 2011 ranked fourth in The NFL and Harbaugh has a slew of heavy hitters on that side of the ball. Defensive linemen Justin Smith, Isaac Sopoaga, and Ricky Jean-Francois allow linebackers Patrick Willis, Navarro Bowman, and Aldon Smith to roam free and make tackles due to their ability to take on double teams. In his rookie season, Smith recorded 14 sacks. Willis has yet to meet a running back that he couldn’t tackle while Bowman is a star in the making.

The question mark for San Francisco is whether or not quarterback Alex Smith will have the ability to get the football to all of his targets at wide receiver. The Niners signed wide receivers Randy Moss and Mario Manningham to team with wide receiver Michael Crabtree and Pro Bowl tight end Vernon Davis to give San Francisco the best core of receivers that they have had since the days of Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens, but Smith has a reputation of not having a strong arm.

The main thing for The Niners to do is to back up all of the hype. They won’t be able to sneak up on anyone this season as is evident by their schedule which has them traveling to Lambeau Field to open the season against The Green Bay Packers. Even if The 49ers falter in their trip to Green Bay, they should still run away with a weak NFC West.

The Seahawks have gone 7-9 in both seasons under head coach Pete Carroll and surprisingly they won The NFC West in 2010. The Seahawks like most people were shocked to see The Niners run away with this division last season. Since Carroll took over in Seattle, he has stacked athletes at every position, but he has yet to find the right man to play quarterback for him. Carroll ran Matt Hasselbeck out of town in favor of Tavaris Jackson. Now Carroll has Jackson, Matt Flynn, and rookie Russell Wilson to vie to be the starting quarterback. All three are unproven as Flynn has been Aaron Rodgers’ understudy for the past several seasons in Green Bay while Jackson has struggled since he has been in the league.

The Seahawks still have Pro Bowl running back Marshawn Lynch who is coming off of his best season as a professional as he ran for 1,204 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2011. When Lynch is in “beast mode” he becomes very scary for the opposition; just ask New Orleans Saints safety Roman Harper.

For the most part, The Seahawks will see the tougher teams on their schedule in 2012 travel to CenturyLink Field which is the nosiest stadium in The NFL. The New England Patriots, New York Jets, and Packers will all travel to The Pacific Northwest this season as the crowd noise allows The Seahawks to enjoy one of the best home field advantages in pro football.

The Cards won five out of their last six ballgames in 2011 to finish 8-8 after a shaky start. The hot finished was orchestrated when quarterback John Skelton was the starter as opposed to Kevin Kolb. The Cardinals acquired Kolb from The Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a second-round pick in last spring’s National Football League Draft and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. After Eagles head coach Andy Reid “fleeced” The Cardinals, they turned around and gave Kolb a five-year extension with the potential to be worth $63.5 million. That isn’t bad for a man that spent his time in Philadelphia backing up Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick respectively.

Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt has opened up the competition this summer between Kolb and Skelton, but for my money the only reason that Kolb is getting a chance is due to the fact of the large salary that he commands. The Cards were 2-6 last season with Kolb as the starter as opposed to being 6-2 with Skelton.

Whoever the quarterback will be in 2012 has yet to be determined, but the man that wins the job must get the football to Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Last season was the first season that Fitzgerald failed to register at least 90 receptions since 2006 when he missed three games that year. In three seasons, running back Beanie Wells has yet to start all 16 games and for The Cardinals to compete in 2012, they will need the big back from Ohio State to take on a much larger work load. 

The Cardinals received a boost in the special teams department last season and they hope that the trend will continue in 2012. Defensive back Patrick Peterson returned four punts for touchdowns last season as a rookie as the word has gotten around the league rather quickly to avoid kicking the football to him.

Three of Arizona’s first four games are at home which puts the onus on them to come out of the gate hot; if not you could start to hear some rumblings about Whisenhunt’s job status.

Longtime Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher is now the new head coach of The St. Louis Rams, but he is taking over a team that lacks talent. The Rams were on the verge of the playoffs in 2010 with rookie quarterback Sam Bradford , but they took a huge step backwards last season when Bradford missed six games due to injury. The Rams were 31st in total offense last season and they will more than
likely struggle again this season. After averaging 327 carries in 2009 and 2010, three-time Pro Bowl running back Steven Jackson only carried the rock 260 times last season as The Rams are trying to preserve him; but besides Bradford Jackson is the only offensive threat that The Rams have.

The Rams missed a golden opportunity at The NFL Draft to come away as winners. The Rams moved down several times in the first round until they selected LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers with the fourteenth overall selection. Brockers is a tremendous athlete, but he is better suited for a 3-4 defensive system as opposed to the 4-3 scheme that St. Louis will utilize.

Fisher will get things turned around for The Rams, but it won’t be overnight.