The NFC West has stood alone as the best division in football over the past three years with the Seattle Seahawks coming off back-to-back NFC Championships with one Super Bowl wins while the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams all showed signs of heading in a similar direction. However, while the Seahawks appear primed for another big year and both the Cardinals and Rams remain on track to improve, the same can’t be said for a 49ers team that has suffered through a tumultuous offseason in which they lost their head coach and several key players.
Rising Team – Arizona Cardinals
Super Bowl Odds: 35/1
It is important to remember that the Cardinals had the best record in the NFC West before they lost the top three quarterbacks on their roster to injury. And considering that Carson Palmer will be back under center for the start of next season, that alone will represent a substantial upgrade from the Arizona team that was easily dismissed by the Carolina Panthers in last year’s playoffs. The Cardinals also addressed the team’s offensive line with the addition of All-Pro guard Mike Iupati from the rival 49ers as well as A.Q. Shipley from the Baltimore Ravens. On defense, the Cards signed Cory Redding, Corey Peters and Sean Weatherspoon to upgrade the depth in their front seven. There’s also rumors that running back Adrian Peterson will land in Arizona, which would upgrade their lackluster running game.
Replacing departed defensive coordinator Todd Bowles won’t be easy but the Cardinals have done an excellent job in the personnel department with a strong offseason that should have them on the rise in the NFC West.
Falling Team – San Francisco 49ers
Super Bowl Odds: 30/1
No contending team from a year ago took a bigger hit than San Francisco. The 49ers let head coach Jim Harbaugh walk and the aftermath was devastating as they lost Iupati, Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree and whole host of other key contributors to free agency. They also waived goodbye to starters Patrick Willis, Justin Smith and Chris Borland via retirements, which seemed to surprise everyone both inside and outside of the organization. San Francisco did manage to sign Torrey Smith at wide receiver and lure defensive tackle Darnell Dockett away from the rival Cardinals, but they took far too many hits. Unless Colin Kaepernick takes a massive step forward as a passer next season, the 49ers have to be considered heading in the wrong direction following four straight years as a Super Bowl contender.
Biggest Game-Changing Move – Jimmy Graham
The Seahawks weren’t content with being the NFC’s best for a second straight season, so they went out and traded for tight end Jimmy Graham in perhaps the biggest splash of the offseason. They did give up a quality center in Max Unger in the process but the truth is they played most of last season without him and survived, so they felt he was expendable.
Seattle was desperate to upgrade its receiving core and just to say they did that would be an understatement. They landed one of the game’s most dynamic receiving threats to add another dimension to their offense that they had been lacking. With Graham, Russell Wilson now has a legitimate, primetime mismatch that he’ll use over and over next season – especially in the red zone.
Post Free Agency NFC West Pick: Seattle Seahawks
Super Bowl Odds: 5/1
The defending NFC champions also brought back Marshawn Lynch at a reasonable price and the core of this team remains intact with the addition of Graham as perhaps the single biggest player personnel change of the offseason. Yes, they did lose cornerback Byron Maxell but even still, the Seahawks have everything they need to make another Super Bowl run. Clearly, they are still the favorites to win their division with the 49ers taking a step back while both the Cardinals and Rams aren’t ready to contend for an NFC West title just yet.
