NFL Preview 2019 – NFC West

NFL Preview 2019 – NFC West

The NFC West is another division that is the tale of two contenders and two pretenders.   The Rams and the Seahawks will lead this division.  The 49ers might be better but probably will not.  They still have the same offensive line that watched their star quarterback go out of the game and then did nothing down the stretch.  The Rams lost some help on defense but brought others in.  Their they are good enough to win in the regular season even if they have some significant injuries.  The question is that if they have those injuries can they win in the post season.  Probably not.  The Cardinals either brought in a player In Kyler Murray that will be one of the most exciting players in a while or a colossal bust.  The 49ers took a huge gamble as will by taking Nick Bosa.  There is no question that Bosa has the talent the question is can he stay on the field.

This will be a very interesting division to watch play out.  What will happen with the Rams if Todd Gurley cannot get back to his regular season form from last year.  Like Bosa he is an amazing talent.  if he cannot stay on the field then it really does not matter.

Los Angeles Rams

There is no reason that I can see that will prevent the Rams from winning this division again.  They bring back a pretty impressive team that came close to winning it all.  Too bad that in the most important game of the season the offense just went poof.  It was not all that the Patriots defense was that good.  With out Gurley being able to move the football the whole offense pretty much came to a halt.  The question for this year is how serious is his injury.  Will it hold up for the whole year?  Part of the year or for just one game.  There of course is no way to know how that is going to play out.

The RAMs did not do too much to get better on defense.  Picking up Clay Mathews was an alright move.  He is not going to be a play changer anymore but his leadership will help.  The Rams were in the middle of the pack last year.  Which is fine as long as their offense can continue to put up big numbers. This will also be an interesting season to see if Sean McVay  can keep things going.  Is he really the super football genius that people think he is?    I think the answer to that question is going to be yes.

Rams Record 12 – 4

Seattle Seahawks

This will be one of the most difficult seasons for Russell Wilson.  Their best weapon in Bladwin has retired.  They do not have a stand out running back.  They are a team full of roll players on offense.  Except of course for Wilson. Wilson just signed a huge contract.  This is the year where he will have to shoulder the whole load.  If the Seahawks are going to make the playoffs it will all depend on what kind of season Wilson has.  They will be depending on D. K. Metcalf to see what he can turn into.   He is a big receiver with a ton of potential but a lot of teams were scared to draft him because of how inconsistent he has been.  Maybe a quarterback like Wilson can bring out that potential in him.

While I don’t think that the Seahawks are going to fall off a cliff this year I do think that it is going to be a down season for them.  The defense is not the dominant group that it used the be.  The legion of boom is long gone.  They are not going to be a group that holds opponents under 20 points every game.   In some games if the Seahawks are going to win they are are going to have to just out score them.  With the lack of play makers Wilson has I am not sure they will be able to do that.

Seahawks  Record 9 – 7

San Francisco 49ers

If Jimmy G had not went down last season the 49ers would have won a few more games.  They still would not have been a great team.  We are talking about going 6 – 10 rather then 4 – 12.  Will it really make much difference this year?  Probably not.  While I think that Nick Bosa is a fantastic talent and if he is healthy will put up some really good numbers.  It is an unknown if he will be able to stay on the field.  He sat out the rest of his season at Ohio State last year to recuperate and get ready for the draft.  He promptly got hurt in the off season.  I am not sold on Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch as the tandem to take the 49ers back to the promised land.  Both of them have made some strange moves.   A few that worked and a few that really did not.   Other than picking Bosa with their first pick they really did not do much to get better.  If Jimmy Garoppolo can stay healthy and can finally show he can play then they could be alright.  I don’t see this team being much better than last year.

49ers Record 7 – 9 

Arizona Cardinals

Kyler Murray was the right pick for the Cardinals.  I do not believe that he is going to have a stand out season this year.  The Cardinals had a lot more problems than just at quarterback.  Larry Fitzgerald is at the end of his career.  David Johnson has not been able to stay healthy.  After the number of touches he has had over the last five years that is not a surprise.  They a thin on the offensive and on the defensive line.  That is gong to take some time to fix.  This will be a very trying year for the Cardinals.  I am saying that they will double their wins this year. That will not be much of an accomplishment.

The choice of Kliff Kingsbury to take this team over was really base on one player.  It will be interesting to see what he can do with Kyler Murray.  Kingsbury was not a stand out college coach.  He has a losing record as a head coach. I get why they did this.  He has some good ideas.  He really will need help in order to turn this around.  This is gong to be a process.  The Cardinals fans are gong to have to be patient and not get to crazy if things go really bad this year.  Yes that is very possible that things will go really bad for the Cardinals this year.

Cardinals Record 6 – 10