2013 NFC West Projections

Very quickly the NFC West has become one of the toughest divisions in the National Football League. The division is building its reputation on defense as each team finished in the top 14 in total defense for 2012. The San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks head into this season with Super Bowl aspirations, but the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals aren’t ready to roll over for them in the NFC West.

The Seattle Seahawks have become a team that nobody wants to face as they can defeat teams in a variety of ways. Quarterback Russell Wilson can defeat teams with his arm or his running ability. Seahwaks running back Marshawn Lynch is one of the most powerful runners in the NFL as he is extremely hard to take down. The Seahawks are also deep at the wide receiver position with Percy Harvin, Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin, and Sidney Rice. Defensive ends Cliff Avril, Red Bryant, and Chris Clemons can put pressure on any quarterback in the NFL while Seattle’s secondary consisting of cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner along with safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas have made passing on them a dangerous risk by their opposition.

The Seahawks started the 2013 campaign with a road victory against the Carolina Panthers as Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is attempting to get his team adjusted to playing road games on the East Coast. If Carroll has his way this team will have to get adjusted to playing on the East Coast one more time in February for Super Bowl 48.

The San Francisco 49ers were so close yet so far away from winning their sixth Super Bowl Championship last season. The 49ers fell three points short of winning the Super Bowl, but Niners head coach Jim Harbaugh and his team are not going to fell sorry for themselves. San Francisco has upgraded their secondary by adding cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. Wide receiver Anquan Boldin destroyed the 49ers secondary in the Super Bowl, so Harbaugh acquired him from the Baltimore Ravens in the off-season. Boldin didn’t take long in introducing himself to San Francisco as he recorded 13 receptions for 208 yards and a touchdown in the 49ers 34-28 season opening victory over the Green Bay Packers. Boldin will team with tight end Vernon Davis and wide receivers Michael Crabtree and Mario Manningham to form a great receiving corp in the Bay Area.

Defensively the 49ers are once again loaded with linebackers Aldon Smith, Patrick Willis, Navarro Bowman, and Ahmad Brooks.

Anything less than a return to the Super Bowl will result in a disappointing season for San Francisco.

The St. Louis Rams made tremendous strides in their first season under head coach Jeff Fisher. In 2012, the Rams went 7-8-1 and they were the only team within the division that did not lose to the 49ers.

Now Rams quarterback Sam Bradford finally has some help on offense in the form of rookie wide receiver Tavon Austin who will team with wide receiver Austin Pettis to give St. Louis their first real threat at the wide receiver position since the days of “The Greatest Show on Turf”.

The Rams went out in the off-season as they sought to protect Bradford’s blind side and in doing so they signed former Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Jake Long.

The Rams got off to a good start this season as they defeated the Arizona Cardinals, but it will be tough for them to hang with the Niners and Seahawks in this division.

With a new season comes new optimism for the Arizona Cardinals. The Cards have a new head coach in Bruce Arians and a new quarterback in Carson Palmer. One man who is singing the praises of these two is Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s 798 receiving yards in 2012 were the lowest of his NFL career since his rookie season of 2004. It hasn’t taken Fitzgerald and Palmer that long to connect as Fitzgerald had 8 receptions for 80 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Arizona’s first game of the season.

The Cardinals were 12th in total defense for 2012 and expect that trend to continue in 2013 with linebackers Sam Acho, Karlos Dansby, Alex Okafor and John Abraham teaming with cornberback Patrick Peterson.

The Cardinals won’t win too many games in 2013, but they will be extremely fun to watch.