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If there is one division in the NFL that a sleeper team could emerge this 2008 season it’s the NFC West. The Cardinals appear ready for a breakthrough year while the Seahawks are always a dangerous bunch. The 49ers and Rams took it on the chin last season but have enough talent in place to reverse their fortunes. Here is the take of teams in the NFC WEST DIVISION for 2008 from Marc Lawrence of Playbook. Enjoy… NFC WEST ARIZONA
Team Theme – ONE FOR TWENTY-THREE
Thanks to a great job by first-year NFL coach Ken Whisenhunt, Arizona improved its numbers across the board on both sides of the ball resulting in an 8-8 season. Mired in mediocrity for longer than they’d care to admit, it was the closest the Cardinals had come a winning season since 1998, stretching their mark to one winning season in the last twenty-three years. If they were the Diamondbacks it would simply be considered a slump. The Red Birds appear ready to leave the perch behind the highly regarded talents of QB Matt Leinhart, RB Edgerrin James and WR Larry Fitzgerald. A solid draft landed help on the defensive side of the ball with CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and DE Calais Campbell, while WR Early Doucet of LSU will complement Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Suddenly 2-for-24 is looking pretty good.
PLAY ON: at San Francisco (9/7) ST. LOUIS
Team Theme – LOOK OUT BELOW
No team in the NFL suffered a bigger offensive decline than the Rams in 2007. Beset with a myriad of injuries right out of the gate, St. Louis struggled early and often, losing its first 8 games of the season. After the dust had settled, 63 YPG and 7 PPG of offense were missing from the previous year’s production. It added up to a net loss of five games from 2006. Head coach Scott Linehan went to work immediately, signing five free agents, including QB Trent Green and QB coach Terry Shea, to help light a fire under former Pro Bowl signal caller Marc Bulger. DE Chris Long (Howie’s kid), the Rams’ first round pick, should shore up the defense. Plenty of fixes appear to be in place but the bottom line is this: until the Rams learn to beat winning teams (see Fast Fact) they won’t be one.
PLAY AGAINST: as a favorite vs. Arizona (11/2) SAN FRANCISCO
Team Theme – PANNING FOR GOLD
The 4th year of the Mike Nolan regime will be a critical one and Nolan realizes it. Simply becoming more competitive is no longer acceptable. The team has to win and it has to win now. It appeared headed in that direction last year when it beat division rivals Arizona and St. Louis in the first two games of the season. Then the bottom fell out. The offense went on vacation and never returned finishing the campaign dead-last in the NFL. Sensing the urgency, Nolan hired offensive guru Mike Martz as his new offensive coordinator. He then signed WR’s Issac Bruce and Bryant Johnson along with RB DeShaun Foster to free agent contracts. If QB Alex Smith regains his confidence and RB Frank Gore his elusiveness, the Niners might save Nolan’s hide. We hope so. The league needs more coaches with his panache.
PLAY ON: as dog vs. Seattle (10/26) SEATTLE
Team Theme – SIX PACK TO GO
If, as rumored, this is Mike Holmgren’s final season as the Seahawks’ head coach, he’d like nothing better than to make a sixth straight playoff appearance. He’ll have to do it minus the services of former league MVP RB Shaun Alexander, who was released in a cost-saving measure during the off-season. Seattle will turn to free agent RB’s Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett to fill the void. They will also rely on 1st round DE Lawrence Jackson (USC) to ease the pain of losing three defensive linemen to free agency. While the Seahawks have liabilities, their biggest asset is Holmgren. He is the only coach in the last seven years to lead his team to the playoffs after losing in the Super Bowl the previous season. He’s also suffered only two losing seasons in 16 years as an NFL head coach. We like Mike.
PLAY ON: as a dog vs. New England (12/7)
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