Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks were their own worst enemy in the quest for a second Super Bowl title. The Seahawks and Green Bay Packers are both currently sitting at 15/2 odds on winning the Super Bowl, with the Seattle a slight favorite to win the NFC Championship at 7/2 with the Packers at 4/1 so if that makes any sense, somebody should explain it to me.
This is our final division preview, so let’s hold hands, take a deep breath and get through this together.
Seattle Seahawks
2015 Projection: 12-4
2014 Results: 12-4 (lost Super Bowl to the New England Patriots)
Jimmy Graham steps in instantly as the biggest weapon in the Seahawks passing attack with the hope that maybe he’ll make the one-yard touchdown catch on a play that shouldn’t have been called in the first place. Jermaine Kears and Doug Baldwin are fine receivers on the outside, but the player everyone is worried about is Marshawn Lynch. If only Pete Carroll felt the same way.
The biggest thing affecting the Seahawks on defense is the absence of Kam Chancellor who, as of the time I write this, is holding out. Chancellor currently has three years left on his deal, a deal he just signed back in 2013, and the Seahawks don’t feel a great need to redo it just yet. And this is a team that makes no bones about paying its stars, so Chancellor’s holdout seems kind of silly.
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The Legion of Boom is down to just two members, Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas and both of those guys are pretty good members. Cary Williams and Dion Bailey are a different matter. Bailey hasn’t played a game in the NFL and was an undrafted free agent last year out of USC. Cary Williams came over from Philadelphia, a team with one of the worst pass defenses in the league last year. So, you know, things will be different.
St. Louis Rams
2015 Projection: 11-5
2014 Results: 6-10 (missed playoffs)
The only thing keeping the Rams out of the playoffs over the last two seasons has been that their starting quarterback has been sidelined and legless. The trade for Nick Foles in the offseason changes all that. St. Louis has upgraded its offensive playcalling and the results have been evident in the preseason. What has also been evident is the Rams’ lack if sharpness and discipline as pretty much any successful offensive play was called back on a penalty.
The Rams have started out slow every year under Fisher and I see no reason to think this year will be any different. But that’s why you play 16 games. Todd Gurley should be available in time for the Rams to make their move to the postseason. The defense will be a terror for any quarterback they face off against and I think the offense will actually score an NFL-level amount of points this season. It’ll be crazy.
Arizona Cardinals
2015 Projection: 7-9
2014 Results: 11-5 (lost to the Carolina Panthers in the wildcard round)
The floor is about to fall out from under the Cardinals like Chris Christie is doing stretches prepping for some jumping jacks on it. Arizona made some good moves this offseason, especially as it was winding down when they made the trade for Matt Barkley.
What they don’t have is a lot of youth and frankly the rest of the NFC and the Rams and Seahawks in particular, are going to be too tough to catch at season’s end. Bruce Arians has built his team on old and reject talent over the last two seasons and while it’s worked on the win-loss record, it’s never a strategy to get better every year.
The Cardinals offensive line has been terrible in the preseason and in case you think the preseason doesn’t matter, find me the team that purposefully wants to get the hell beaten out of their injury-prone starting quarterback just now returning from a knee injury before the actual games that count start.
San Francisco 49ers
2015 Projection: 5-11
2014 Results: 8-8 (missed playoffs)
Of all the things that ultimately led to Jim Harbaugh getting the ax in San Francisco, his quarterback may be the most underappreciated one. Colin Kaepernick is a disaster that the 49ers are stuck with now for the foreseable future.
Everyone looks at Kaepernick’s 2014 as a disappointment, but I defy you to find the difference in performance compared to his two previous seasons. The truth is, Kaep set new career highs in completions, attempts and yardage passing. As a runner, he had career high in attempts and yardage too. So the secret’s just out. Colin Kaepernick is bad at quarterbacking.
The 49ers lost two of their three best offensive players to free agency, three of their starting defensive backs, their two best defensive ends and to of their three best linebackers. So it’s all worked out awesome.
