Cardinals and Seahawks advance from the West, Rams and Niners prepare for next year

Article by Rob Newell

First I hope that each of you, my fellow NFL fans have enjoyed a very Merry Christmas, spent with family and friends.  I apologise for missing a week here due to unforeseen hospital visits more than the demands of the season, but I am back today to give you your update of what is what in the NFC West.

 

Congratulations to the Arizona Cardinals, they are your 2015 NFC West champions. With one regular season game remaining the Cardinals could yet clinch the number one overall seed but have at least guaranteed themselves a first round bye.  They have looked to be the most complete team in the league for most of the season ranking in the top 5 on both offence and defence, and when Chris Johnson went down injured and rookie David Johnson took over the starting running back role, you could easily argue that the Cardinals got even stronger, as Carson Palmer has put together a season that has earned him a place in the MVP conversation.  However, this team has lost the Honey Badger for the rest of the year, how big a loss will this prove to be on the defensive side of the ball?  He gave the Cardinals the sort of defensive x factor that Troy Polymalu gave the Steelers in his prime, making plays in the secondary, stuffing the run and crashing the line of scrimmage for QB pressures and sacks, the Cardinals have cover of course but against the top teams in the league will they rue his injury in the dying moments of the Eagles game.

Also congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks who have clinched themselves a playoff spot.  This team which had the high profile Jimmy Graham signing in Free Agency of course has sparked again at the end of the year, rather reminiscently of last season, and ironically after Graham was lost for the year.  Russell Wilson has put the team on his shoulders and legs and who would have thought that Doug Baldwin would ever be in the same ballpark as Jerry Rice when it comes to receiving records, but by going on a run of 5 games where he has claimed 13 touchdowns Baldwin has done something that only the G.O.A.T. has previously managed, oh and a fit Marshawn Lynch might be back in week 17 and ready to bring Beast Mode back for the playoffs.  The defence may not the all-conquering outfit of a few seasons ago but it still has Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, put bluntly the Seahawks were the team that the rest of the NFC hoped wouldn’t make the playoffs, but Pete Carrol has got them there and now there are some who would make them favourites to appear in San Francisco come early February.  Ignore the recent Rams blip, the Rams have always managed to play Seattle well, it hasn’t said much for the Rams otherwise meanwhile the Seahawks are two-time Super Bowl finalists.  They may be on the road but write off the Seahawks at your peril.  Next week the NFC North will be decided when Green Bay play the Vikings for the 3 seed the loser will likely have the 5 seed, the 3 seed will be at home to Seattle while the 5 seed on the road to Washington, would you almost prefer to lose the division ?

 

Back to those (for now) St Louis Rams, Coach Fisher at times has let the strain show with some very questionable decisions and comments, but the Rams have recovered from their annual mid-season slump and are pushing 7-9 or 8-8 yet again with a game with the 49ers to come, how they manage to get so close to .500 each year is almost mythical.  Their defence which when healthy is a rival for any in the league has been decimated by injury, but Aaron Donald the second year lineman may be on the verge of the unthinkable and be a serious contender to Justin James Watt as the Defensive Player of the Year.  On offence Tavon Austin has finally arrived as the Rams for the first time since he was drafted actually looked like they had some clue how to use him, he is closing in on a 1000 yard from line of scrimmage season before you add in his return game threat, and then there is Todd Gurley.  Every time Gurley looks good the Rams do too, stop Gurley and you probably stop the Rams, but Gurley is a rookie of course recovering from an ACL and what we have seen this year which may yet earn him Offensive Rookie of the Year, is probably a fraction of what he will be in the coming years.  Will those years be in St Louis or Los Angeles of course? And what will the Rams do at QB, is Case Keenum the answer?  While Fisher is in charge maybe, Fisher is happy with 100-200 yards passing as long as Gurley is running the game, but once again we don’t know if the Rams have the QB or Receivers to have than backup Plan B.

Which takes me to San Francisco 49ers, all year long it was supposed to be a historical dumpster fire type season, and yes they will finish bottom of the West with a chance of one of the higher draft picks next April, but against the expectations this hasn’t been that bad a season.  I would argue that there is even a positive feel since Blaine Gabbert took over QB responsibilities from Colin Kaepernick, Gabbert has looked far superior to his Jaguars form and played most of his games with basically one receiver, and practice squad running backs and tight ends, yet still managed to look good, Kaepernick for his games this year had the starters around him before they got hurt or traded and may well have been the worst QB in the league, despite rhetoric to the opposite, expect Kaepernick to be wearing a different uniform next year.  Also the Niners defence has not been that bad, led by the returning Navarro Bowman who should be in consideration for comeback player of the year, possibly with Gabbert, Bowman has returned to his old form and the Niners have pushed most opponents all the way, not many have thrashed them.  Time spent on the field in that there was far too much of it has cost the Niners defence which does not have the depth it once did, but again when Gabbert took over and the offence suddenly kept drives alive for longer, the defensive starters had more rest and came out and played better.  There is a long way to go of course, and Coach Jim Tomsula may yet not get a second season but there things to encourage Niners faithful for the coming years.

Whoever you support, enjoy the playoffs and of course Happy New Year!

Seahawks pick up the pace as Niners start to find feet under Gabbert

Article by Rob Newell

We have reached that part of the season where everything in the NFC West starts to change, it seems to be an annual thing and this year seems to be no different.  Just a few weeks ago, we all thought that the San Francisco 49ers were sure fire number one pick contenders, the St Louis Rams were good shots for a Wild Card and the Seattle Seahawks were as likely to beat themselves than the opposition.  Now just a few weeks later, all that has changed, but first let's have a quick look at the division leading Arizona Cardinals.

 

Coming off a run which has seen them beat their 3 divisional rivals the Cardinals are rolling and look to be on course for a bye week and the number 2 conference seeding, also the Cardinals had their own moment of history in the 4^th quarter of their blowout road victory over the Rams when Larry Fitzgerald hauled in the 1000^th catch of what will be a Hall of Fame career.  The Cardinals 27-3 victory was only that close thanks to the quality of the Rams defence who spent a lot of time on the field in this one.

 

Seems a long time ago that Todd Gurley went 4 straight weeks over 100 yards and was being crowned rookie of the year already, add in a Wide Receiver core missing its safest pair of hands in Stedman Bailey, and has now developed a case of the drops, with a QB competition between Nick Foles and Case Keenum, neither of whom would start elsewhere based on this season's evidence, and you see why Head Coach Jeff Fisher felt the need to fire his offensive coordinator on Monday.

 

Might this be too little too late, there is a groundswell of opinion that Fisher himself may be in danger in St Louis, or indeed even Los Angeles, we await to hear more on that, I am sure it was just coincidental that just after the league have met to discuss LA the Rams chose to wear the old LA Rams throwback uniforms.  Speaking of uniforms, have you seen the Rams colour rush uniforms for the final home game of the year?  Let's just say if the lights in the dome go out you may not know for a while.

 

Any remember this time last year when the Seahawks were trying to be more of a passing team, it wasn’t working so they went back to what they did best with Beast Mode and suddenly the Super Bowl run started.  Then in the offseason Jimmy Graham was bought in as the missing piece, and one again we were looking at a Seahawks passing game, which up to now hasn’t really worked and this time Beast Mode is out injured when Graham also is lost for the season.

 

Time to panic for Pete Carrol? Not a chance, the next man up at Running Back is undrafted rookie Trevor Rawls who this year has outbeasted the beast mode.  The Seahawks have once again reverted to their strengths and getting Jeremy Lane back in the Legion of Boom has helped too, but the Seahawks are rolling again.  The division may be unreachable now but they have got themselves into a playoff spot and after the way they dismantled Adrian Peterson and his Vikings in Minnesota, there will not be any NFC team happy to play Seattle come January even without the Seahawks 12^th Man advantage.

 

What about the 49ers?  After their offseason, they could be relied upon to suck surely? Well maybe why Colin Kaepernick was playing they could, but Jim Tomsula a few weeks ago decided to give Blaine Gabbert a chance, and things have looked up for the Bay Area team ever since to the point where the 49ers are now tied record wise with the Rams and most people believe Kaepernick is likely gone elsewhere next season.  Gabbert may not be the long term answer either, but playing behind the same offensive live as Kaepernick and with less options at RB and Receivers thank to injury, Gabbert has got this team moving and was one bad referee call away from being 3-1 since taking over.

 

Ironically Gabbert may be playing too well and the Niners may miss out on one of the top QB’s in the draft next year thanks to the performance of Gabbert, this may just be Blaine’s team for a season or so as the Niners look for the next QB of the future.  Also I challenge anyone to look at how well the Niners defence is playing and not agree that Navaro Bowman deserves some serious consideration for comeback player of the year, if not for second place in the JJ Watt award for defensive player of the year.

 

I will finish with one cautionary note for Cardinals fans, yes your team is going great but there seems to be a problem in getting the play into the huddle at times, they are a team that have been caught several times for delay of game, and in last few weeks have completed big pass plays on several other plays when the ball has been snapped late and got away with it.  The Cardinals are great and a balanced team no matter what facet of their game you look at, but I’d like to see the clock management managed just a little more carefully, manage that and we could be talking about another Super Bowl appearance fro the NFC West.