The common principle accepted in the NFL is that
Week 3 of preseason is the closest thing you get to a proper dress rehearsal
for the coming regular season, and as Week 3 is now in the books, it therefore
feels like a good time to review where things are in regards to the NFC West.
Generally speaking the NFC West has given very
little away, everything has been very, very vanilla. If Week 3 is supposed to be a proper walk
through then the West is not accepting the script. Nothing is really known now that wasn't
really known before.
The Seattle Seahawks so far have played 3 close
games, but the preseason for them has been mainly about Russell Wilson knocking
off some rust and getting that game chemistry with new target Jimmy Graham, and
new wide receiver Tyler Lockett. The
defence have been playing without most of the Legion of Boom for either injury
or contract holdout, and the situation involving Kam Chancellor is still
ongoing at time of writing. Seattle’s
offseason could have kept Jerry Maguire in business for years as they gave
shown several stars the money, Wilson, Bobby Wagner etc… However Chancellor
seems like a deal that may not happen.
With more money in their accounts or dissatisfaction at lack of new
deals, will the Seahawks continue to buy into the Always Compete mentality that
has got them to the last 2 Super Bowls?
Arizona Cardinals, have gone from being regular
offseason news items due to being linked with a move for Adrian Peterson to
being one of the quieter teams in the preseason, a move for Chris Johnson for
CJ2K fame excepted. You know however
that a Bruce Arians teams is not going to be so quiet when the games are for
real. For them having Carson Palmer back
after the knee injury last year is absolutely critical, despite the best
efforts of Drew Stanton and others at the end if last season, it is Palmer
which causes this team to thrive. With
him in the team last year, Larry Fitzgerald was putting together his best
stretch of games for a while, and rookie John Brown showed some dynamic
moves. The defence is also well set when
things start to matter, the only question is at cornerback, Patrick Peterson is
expected to be a huge contributor but opposite him can the team thrive now
Antonio Cromartie has returned to the Jets?
The St Louis Rams have turned themselves into the
big IF team in the league, obviously the defence is set and should prove once
again to go one of the top units in the league, and the team should prove to be
a real playoff contender If:-
Nick Foles can settle in and provide starting QB play for sixteen weeks,
The new offensive coordinator can finally work out
how to use Tavon Austin
Todd Gurley can return from injury and be the next best thing, everyone predicted he might be
The Rams receivers can develop into a reliable unit
If all goes their way the Rams could be one of the
better teams in the league, but will the lure of Los Angeles prove an unwarned
distraction? Time will tell for this team!
This leaves the 49ers, the team with the offseason
from hell, as front office and coaching staff would feel, if ever team just
needed to get back to actually playing football, then this is the team. Yet it is the 49ers that have perhaps the
most promising run. Jarryd Hayne the ex-Aussie Rugby League recruit, has produced some very nice touches and seems
likely to make a final Roster now, shame that London 2012 star Lawrence Okoye
is not going to make it having been cut by the 49ers over the weekend. Navarro Bowman is back in the Niners defence
though and that one move is probably the single best item of news any Niner
could have hoped for this preseason.
The coming year is tough to forecast in San
Francisco, many experts would tell you that 6-10 is the maximum they might do,
but this is a team with Carlos Hyde, Colin Kaepernick, Vernon Davis etc… And
despite the pessimistic thoughts of the greater audience if everything goes
right, this 49ers outfit could be an outside wildcard contender.
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