NFC West Preview

I took a bit of a vacation after that post in May. Someone really should have told me that this blogging gig involves regular posting of material. I went to Tahiti for two months, and come back to an inbox full of angry emails from Tony Holm. Hey, sorry Tony, blame the two goobs who bleeping translate these blogs for me!

Anyway, I’m back in that game, as we say in Vegas.

It’s like I told Svetlana, the other night during an intense Session of Sweet, “Not so rough on the chassis, woman!” Ha…ha…Yeah, I said that too. No, I told her,”You can’t buy good help anymore…” I know that, you know that, and the New York Jets are about to find it out too. Eh, more on Favre later, let’s just say the Jets may be better this year, but not by enough – and no one is going to win in this whole deal…

A lot of you are clamoring for my annual NFL prediction column…So that’s what we’ll start with. But since this is a blog, it’ll be chopped up into easily digestible chunks, like gin soaked olives.

We’ll start out in the NFC West, one of the easier divisions to predict…

Seattle Seahawks -9-7 – Division Winner

Seattle is a forerunner in the new Succession…bzzzt…Planning model in major sports. Mike Holmgren is leaving after this year, his successor is on the staff already, and been named. Jim Mora (Jr…Not Jim “Playoffs?!?!” Mora Sr.). So will the Hawks play for him? They’re professionals, right? Actually that doesn’t matter for a lot of NFL players, but the Seahawks are a veteran team. I don’t think there will be a problem. They have a solid defense and a solid offense…and in the NFC West, that’s all you need. Look for them to beat up on the in-division rivals, and struggle against the NFC East and AFC East.

Arizona Cardinals – 8-8

USC has the best cheerleading outfits in college football.

Thought I would share that; and by the way I also think Matt Leinart turns the corner this year. The Cards will score a ton of points …and give a lot of points up too. But it will look not quite as bad because they have 4 games against the Niners and Rams (notice a trend here?). I like Boldin, Fitzgerald and Pope as receivers for Leinart, and expect the Cards O-line to look better with their second year under Ken Whisenhunt. I think the Cardinals are a year away, if Leinart matures on the field, and their D-line shows it can hold the line of scrimmage as the year goes on.

San Francisco 49ers – 6-10

Paul Lynde was a magic talent. That man was THE unchallenged master of the double entendre in the late 60s and 70s. I always said this when I was on The Hollywood Squares, you don’t need Xs, you don’t need Os; all you need is Paul Lynde and the master Straight Man, Peter Marshall. Why do I mention this? Because you’re better off watching reruns of The Hollywood Squares, Frisco.

This team could be very hard to watch. It all comes down to the QB, and the Niners don’t even know for sure who their QB is going to be. Alex Smith, Shaun Hill…hell, even J.T. O’Sullivan – no one knows who’ll be under center on Opening Day. It doesn’t matter what else the Niners have going on (and I like their defense a little bit) – they have no QB, so they have no chance. I’m a fan of Frank Gore, and I like the Bryant Johnson pick up, but they need to make decision quickly on who will be the Man in the huddle.

St. Louis Rams – 5-11

The Rams have a QB, and a pretty good one in Mark Bulger, but he has a hard time staying healthy…Even assuming he stays healthy, I see bad things for this team. And, by the way, did I mention their only offensive weapon besides a rapidly aging Tory Holt is holding out? That’s right, there’s no Steven Jackson to be found at Rams camp. This is not a good situation.

I kind of like the Rams D-Line this year, Chris Long’s addition will allow the Rams to move Adam Carriker on most downs, where he can do more damage against the run. I am a bit concerned by the horrible run defense the Rams showed against the Titians in the first pre-season game. I think this points more to the sub-par back  seven of the Rams…They’re even talking to Adam Archuleta about a possible return!! Not good St. Louis, not good.