NFL 2009 Preview: Will the NFC West be More Competitive This Upcoming Season?

The NFC West was the weakest division in the NFL last season where each team in the division combined for a dismal 22-42 record. Thus, before the Arizona Cardinals were hot during the playoffs, many critics believed that they were not a true playoff team. They ended the regular season 9-7, with 6 of their 9 victories coming against weak divisional opponents. Their NFC West rivals had a combined record of 13-35. However, each of their divisional opponents has changed coaches since the beginning of last season. When analyzing the level of competition in the NFC, there are 2 main questions that come to mind. First, will the 3 NFC West organizations that made a coaching change be more competitive next season? Second, will the Cardinals build from last year’s playoff success? In order to answer these questions, we will analyze each one of these organizations as a whole, including their strengths and weaknesses and what key issues each organization must address.

Arizona Cardinals (12-8)

Unlike Arizona’s divisional competition, the Cards do not need have a significant amount of aspects to improve on. That being said, the Cardinals biggest move in the offseason was resigning QB Kurt Warner. This was a very intelligent move as he was highly responsible for Arizona’s offense ranking fourth in the NFL in both points scored (26.7) and yards gained (365.8).

The Cardinals proved to be one of the most dominant teams in the postseason. However, when looking forward to the 2009 NFL season, one cannot forget about their poor performance on the road during the regular season versus non-divisional opponents. They had 5 non-divisional road contests and lost each one. Three of those losses were blowouts, where they lost by an average of 29.67 points per game. If the Cards are to be considered as a serious contender in the NFC and make another run at the Super Bowl, they must find a way to win on the road, like they did when they eliminated the Panthers in Carolina in the second round of the playoffs last year.

Looking at Arizona’s 2009 schedule, it appears that the Cards will have the luxury of facing weaker non-divisional opponents than last season. However, they have three road contests that will definitely be quite challenging. They face the Giants (week 7) and the Titans (week 12), who each ended the 2008 regular season 13-3 and Chicago (week 9) who was 6-2 at home. The Cardinals have been very successful in Arizona, going 14-4 in their last 18 home contests. The two toughest opponents that they will face at home this season are Indianapolis (week 3) and Carolina (week 8). Both opponents ended the 2008 regular season 12-4. Unless if the Cardinals have some kind of a complete collapse or are decimated by injuries, Arizona will most likely win the NFC West again this upcoming season.

San Francisco 49ers (7-9)

The 49ers made a key move impacting the future of their franchise after week 7. The franchise was 2-5 and GM Scot McCloughlan decided it was time for a change. He replaced head coach Mike Nolan with assistant coach Mike Singletary. Singletary immediately made his presence felt with the players by benching certain starters for poor play including replacing quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan with Shaun Hill. This move paid immediate dividends as San Francisco finished the second half of the season going 5-3.

Now the question is can we expect the 49ers to continue from their success over the latter half of the season under Mike Singletary? If so, who will be their starting QB? Singletary acts as an authoritarian in the locker room and will go do whatever it takes to get his point across. I personally think this is exactly what the 49ers need after 6 consecutive losing seasons. That does not necessarily mean that Shaun Hill should be the starting quarterback but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the case since Singletary is quite comfortable with him. The 49ers recently restructured Alex Smith’s contract and may give him a final shot at proving that he wasn’t a complete bust. Expect Smith and Hill to compete for the starting role this season.

The 49ers overall are a very mediocre team on both sides of the football field. Offensively, they lack a significant amount of depth at the quarterback and receiver positions. However, the 49ers did address this concern by drafting Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree. Defensively, the 49ers were a mediocre team. There were very few noteworthy changes in the offseason to San Fran’s secondary. However, on a positive note, San Francisco’s defense managed to hold the opposition to an average of 15.6 points per game in the last 5 contests of the regular season. If Singletary is able to get his defense to play the way it did during the last 5 games of the season, the 49ers will have a chance at being better than just an average football team. Expect the 49ers to win 8 to 10 games this season.

Seattle Seahawks (4-12)

After winning the NFC West for four consecutive years, the Seahawks had a disastrous 2008 campaign where they managed only 4 wins. There were several causes for this collapse. First, the Seahawks were absolutely decimated by injuries. Starting wide receivers Deion Branch and Bobby Engram missed several games. Seattle also missed several key defensive players including linebacker Lofa Tatupu and defensive end Patrick Kearney among others. Seattle’s biggest concern on the injury front came when quarterback Matt Hasselbeck suffered a back injury in week 5 against the Giants. He missed 9 games last season because of this injury.

There were 2 other main causes for Seattle’s disappointing season. Defensively, they were absolutely atrocious. They ranked 25th in points allowed (24.5) and 30th in yards allowed (378). They just couldn’t stop the opposition’s air attack, as they ranked dead last in the league in pass defense. Injuries played a significant role in Seattle’s poor defensive performance. There is no question that the Seahawks would have had much better defensive numbers if its secondary were not plagued by injuries. The Seahawks made a smart move by drafting Wake Forest outside linebacker Aaron Curry. Additionally, the Seahawks hired Jim Mora as head coach. Mora was the head coach of the Falcons from 2004 to 2006. The Falcons were 26-22 under Mora. One of his greatest accomplishments in Atlanta was improving the Falcons defense. In 2003 the Falcons ranked dead last in the NFL defensively. Atlanta improved to 14th in Mora’s first season with the Falcons. The Seahawks are hoping for this kind of improvement defensively.

The other main cause for Seattle’s poor season was its inability to win on the road. The Seahawks only won 2 road contests this season and were blown out by the opposition in several occasions. The 6 games that Seattle lost on the road this season was by an average margin of 18.7 points. The Seahawks historically have struggled on the road but have made up for it with a dominating home record. Although they were a much more competitive team to play against at home this season, their record was 2-6, the same as their record on the road.

Fortunately, unlike many teams, the Seahawks have sufficient amount of depth to be competitive and make it back into the postseason. The addition of receiver T.J. Houshmanzadeh at the wide receiver position gives Matt Hasselbeck a powerful target to help move the chains. Seattle needs to be healthy and to step up its game defensively this season in order to be able to win big games. Expect the Seahawks to win 8 to 10 games.

St. Louis Rams (2-14)

The Rams managed to win less than 4 games for the second year in a row. The beginning St. Louis’ season was absolutely disastrous as the Rams were completely embarrassed during the first four games of the season, losing by an average margin of 26 points to the opposition. Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett replaced coach Scott Linehan after week 4 and managed to win his first two games as interim coach but unfortunately lose the rest. The Rams decided to hire Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. This move will definitely help solidify St. Louis’ defense, which ranked 31st in points allowed (29.1) and 28th in yards allowed (371.9). Spagnuolo’s aggressive blitzing packages helped the Giants win the Super Bowl in 2007 and be one of the league’s toughest defenses last year ranking 5th in both points allowed (18.4) and yards allowed (292).

St. Louis also struggled on the offensive side of the football last year, ranking 31st in points scored (14.5) and 27th in yards gained (287.2). The Rams will need running back Stephen Jackson to be healthy and for QB Marc Bulger to get back to his Pro Bowl form. They drafted Baylor OT Jason Smith to provide better protection for Bulger. This is obviously positive stepping-stone for St. Louis’ plans to rebuild its franchise. The Rams lack significant depth at the receiver position. With Torry Holt going to Jacksonville, Donnie Avery becomes St. Louis’s number 1 receiver. Unfortunately, he is St. Louis’s only receiver with playmaking capabilities. One thing that you can expect from St. Louis’s offense under Spagnuolo, is to heavily run focused. He is coming from an organization that credits its powerful ground game for a large part of its offensive success. The Giants were the best rushing team in the NFL last year. The fact that St. Louis lacks depth at the receiver position gives Spagnuolo all the more reason to make the Rams a team that offensively is heavily focused on running the ball.

Spagnuolo’s opportunity to turn the direction of this franchise will definitely be a very tough challenge for him, given the overall depth of his roster. However, if he was able to the 2007 New York Giants (10-6) win the Super Bowl, then one can expect that if anyone can turn this franchise around it would be him. Expect the Rams to win 6-8 games.