Here I am practically gushing over Redskins QB Jason Campbell. Then I find out the next day that he injured his knee against the Steelers in their preseason game. Fortunately, it's not serious, so I don't look like a complete moron. At the risk of further embarrassing myself, I'm pushing on with my thoughts on the upcoming season.
NFC West
1. St. Louis (8-8)
2. Seattle (8-8)
3. Arizona (7-9)
4. San Francisco (6-10)
St. Louis Rams: That's right, suckas! It's my sleeper/dark horse of the preseason! It's also a REAL sleeper/dark horse, not one of those sleeper/dark horses that EVERYONE is talking about as a possible sleeper/dark horse, thereby disqualifying them from being a sleeper/dark horse.
You can't be a dark horse if everyone's talking about you. And why is a "dark horse" not expected to win. Someone show me hard numbers that say light-colored horses consistently finish ahead of "dark horses." Racists!
Anyway, I'm going with St. Louis because they play in a hella weak division (though the weak teams within the division play exciting games against each other) and because they have the second best offensive player in the league in Steven Jackson (pictured, right). This guy is BADASS. He even kinda looks like the Predator. He runs the ball like a man, and can also catch it out of the backfield giving QB Marc Bulger (who's mostly solid, 24 TDs 8 INTs last year) a good target to throw to in addition to Torry Holt, veteran (code word for old) Isaac Bruce and the talented Drew Bennett.
Their defense is suspect, and that'll hurt them, but I'm still giving them the division, almost by default, I'm just not a very big believer in the…
Seattle Seahawks: Matt Hasselbeck is one of the best QBs in the conference (but that's not saying much in the NFC) and the Seahaws will have former league MVP Shaun Alexander back. Though, he's obviously a very talented rusher, I still contend Alexander is kind of a ninny (I've seen him dodge out of bounds one too many times instead of taking a hit when he's near the sidelines.)
Seattle just feels like they peaked two years ago when they won the Super Bowl. What's that, they didn't win the Super Bowl? Oh yeah, they were on the end of some highly questionable calls by the refs and lost to the Steelers. Don't get me wrong though…it's still Seattle's fault that they lost that game in which they mostly shut down Pittsburgh, so Seahawks fan needs to stop crying about that.
I just don't really see this team getting back up to that level again. Their defense is still a weakness, they're the team everyone else in the division wants to beat (since they've won the NFC West that past few years), and they still don't really have too many people for Hasselbeck to throw to who either don't drop the ball (hello Darrell Jackson and Bobby Ingram!) or look kinda washed up (didn't you used to be Deion Branch [pictured, left, at least I think that' s him]?!)
Arizona Cardinals: I like their skill players on offense, but their offensive line is still horrendous, so that'll stop them from reaching their full potential and will keep them out of the playoffs.
Honestly, Edgerrin James looked painfully average running behind that line last year and, since he's only getting older, I don't really see him bouncing back with a big year.
Matt Leinart was up and down last year (as most young QBs tend to be) and he's got great receivers to throw to in Anquan Bolden and Larry Fitzgerald. They have a good young coach in Ken Whisenhunt, who hopefully will keep his nonsensical tirades to a minimum (actually, I hope he doesn't...I LOVE that stuff), a young defense that's getting better and I like them to make the playoffs next year (when Steven Jackson will be completely worn out and Seattle will be too old).
Mostly, I don't like Arizona for the playoffs this year because every preseason "experts" have been picking the Cardinals to have a breakout season, and every season they lay a turd. They're ALWAYS the "dark horse (pictured, right)." Since people are all excited about their bright shiny new coach this year, and Leinart being the starter since training camp, I'm betting they'll lay another egg this year.
Still, this same preseason hype phenomenon will have an even bigger effect on the…
San Francisco 49ers: EVERYBODY'S talking about the Niners winning the division, going to the playoffs and maybe even challenging for the conference title.
Slow down. I know San Fran has the best dressed coach in the league in the suited up Mike Nolan (pictured, left), but everyone should still take a deep breath. And now, relax.
I can understand people getting excited, but this is still a team led by a relatively young QB who just lost his outstanding offensive coordinator (Norv Turner). I know that Frank Gore emerged as a top 10 player in the league last year, and Vernon Davis looks like he's going to be a star at tight end.
But I still say they WAY overpaid on Nate Clements in the offseason, who went make much of a difference in a defense that was bad enough to go out and WAY overspend on Nate Clements.
Most importantly, every other team in the league watches all the NFL preview shows (and read this blog), so they know the Niners are the "it" team. They will sneak up on no one this year. They're still young though, so they'll take their lumps and come back strong next season.
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