Fearless Prognostications for 2010 – The NFC West

Probably half of the teams in the National Football League would be favorites to take the title in the NFC West. It is that bad. But in the end, someone must prevail, and it is my task to reveal to you exactly who the winner, or more precisely, the least mediocre team, will be.

NFC WEST

SAN FRANCISCO 49ers

ARIZONA CARDINALS

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

ST LOUIS RAMS

SAN FRANCISCO 49ers

The Niners will win the NFC West by default. This is easily the worst Division in the NFL, and that by a wide margin. In almost any other Division, San Francisco would be fighting to stay out of the cellar. They have a 1st round bust, Alex Smith, at QB. Because of his inadequacy, future stud Wide Receiver Michael Crabtree will be as frustrated as Calvin Johnson has been on the Lions. Frank Gore is a quality running back, but the offensive line is adequate at best. Their return game has been one of the worst in the league, although Ted Ginn should add some spark. The heart of the defense is their linebacking unit, buttressed by Patrick Willis. They are a 6-10 team but with six games against patty-cakes, they should finish 8-8, enough to get by. The Wild Card team that gets to play San Fran is lucky indeed.

ARIZONA CARDINALS

The Red birds cut bait with Matt Leinhart, conceding the fact that had been obvious for several seasons – their former heralded 1st round pick from the Quarterback Factory named USC was a colossal bust. Matt was short on work ethic, leadership skills, and talent, which is a deadly combination indeed. Replacing Hall of Famer Kurt Warner is NFL nomad Derek Anderson. Anderson has had one outstanding season amidst a career of mediocrity; bet on the latter to occur this year. Which is a shame, considering that Larry Fitzgerald is one of the premier receivers in the game. With the loss of Anquon Boldin, he is likely to be double/triple covered, especially as the Cards running attack isn’t particularly threatening. The defense, outside of their pair of DE’s, Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell, is porous. The descent to the nadir of the Division is only prevented by the presence of two of the most woeful teams in the NFC

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ST. LOUIS RAMS

Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo, the Defensive Guru of the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants, declined Daniel Snyder’s offer two years ago to coach the Redskins, only to take on the Herculean task of remaking the decimated Rams into a functional football team. Last season was a predictable disaster, and even with the acquisition of QB Sam Bradford, progress towards respectability will be slow. The strength of the Rams is their running game, led by Steven Jackson, who when healthy is arguably the equal of Adrian Peterson. The defense is young and untested. It will need all of Spag’s genius to bring the unit to respectability.

This winter, Rams long time owner Georgia Frontiere passed on, and her children sold the franchise to a partnership led by Shahid Khan, the president of an auto parts manufacturer, Flex-N-Gate. Hopefully, they will have the patience to allow Spagnuolo the chance to remake a franchise that not that long ago featured “The greatest show on Turf.”

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

The cynical part of this writer wonders if Pete Carroll, who consistently had rebuffed offers to once again coach in the NFL, finally decided that to bail ship from USC in the midst of a burgeoning scandal was the practical career move. He certainly has had more tempting offers then taking over the sinking ship of Seattle, which is as daunting a rebuilding project as its division rival, the St. Louis Rams. They do have the best quarterback in the division in Matt Hasselback, but that happens to be the case because two of his cohorts are incompetent, and one is an untested rookie. Before USC, Carroll had a Head Coach gig with the Jets, and most observers thought that he wasn’t given a fair shot at success due to the owner’s impatience. He will have an opportunity to show that he is not in the mold of Nick Saban or Steve Spurrier, two highly successful college coaches who couldn’t cut it at the professional level.

By Paul J. Nebenfuhr
Pro Football Fans Staff Writer