Ready For Some Football, Part I

Hello again followers and friends. Thanks for coming back to the show, and as promised, the start of Reilly Sports Blog's NFL preview. We still got a couple of weeks til the Thursday Night opener on September 10th, so we're gonna take this slowly. I'm thinking one division per blog, complete preview of that division. I'm not gonna jam pack the whole thing into one or two blogs, because you guys won't have the capacity to absorb that much knowledge, and my fingers don't have the stamina to type all that knowledge...

But let's just jump right in. I realize about 85-92% of the readers of this blog care most about the AFC and NFC East divisions...so I'll do those last. Sorry to make you wait, but I want to make those the most detailed and informative. I'll practice on the other divisions first. Lets just start westward, do the good ol' NFC West division. After all, the champions of the NFC came out of this division, as Kurt Warner and the Cardinals shocked the world last winter. Can they do the same? You came to the right place to find out. Without further adieu...

NFC WEST (Projected Order of Finish)

1. Arizona Cardinals (9-7 Last Year)

If someone said in April of '06 that the Arizona Cardinals would be in Super Bowl 43, everyone would have one reaction: Damn, Matt Leinart must be a stud. The hot-shot quarterback out of USC seemed to start a new era for the Cardinals, filling in for the seemingly-finished Kurt Warner toward the end of his 2006 rookie season.

Well...the old-man wasn't finished. Warner has turned back the clock and now leads the best passing attack in football. He gets to air it out to his all-world buddies Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, while Leinart rides the bench and parties away his heartache.

Nobody seemed to take this team for real when they won the division early in the year, and then looked awful at the end of the regular season. But all that can change when you have a receiver like Fitzgerald, who made the 2008 playoffs into his own personal playground. He has created an insane amount of buzz for himself going into '09, but if anyone's able to meet those expectations, it's him. Boldin is just as important to the offense, as he keeps coverages honest so they can't put 8 guys on Larry. Both are easily top-10 NFL wideouts. Rookie running back Chris Wells joins the gang, as a first-round pick out of Ohio State. Edgerrin James has moved on to Seattle, and Tim Hightower is a low-yardage touchdown goblin. Wells should step right in and is certainly an early candidate for rookie of the year.

So what can go wrong? Rejuvenated, established quarterback, check. Promising rookie runner, check. Monstarz at receiver, check. But let's go over to the other side of the ball...

24, 56, 27, 37, 48, 35, 47.

Nope, not a crazy powerball sequence. Those there are the points scored by opponents in the 7 regular-season losses by Arizona. It kinda makes you wonder how they lost just seven, right? The Cardinals defense will naturally get better this season with some emerging players, but come on. 103 points allowed in two games against the Jets and Brady-less Patriots--both who weren't even playoff teams?? This is quite worrisome, but just for the playoffs; because as you will read later on, the Cards play in the NFL's pit-stain division. They will win the West, but they won't sneak up on anybody this year.

2009 Projected Record: 10-6


2. Seattle Seahawks (4-12 Last Year)

I like these guys! Sure, they got dunked on by Patrick Chewing last year, but Seattle has a good foundation on both sides of the ball. They're not great anywhere, but they're pretty OK everywhere. And in this division, that's all you need to compete. Though backup Seneca Wallace did everything he could last year, it's a healthy Matt Hasselbeck that makes this team go. He has back issues that could flare up at anytime for the rest of his career, but he has shown the ability to be an elite QB. He won a playoff game just two years ago, back when the Seahawks used to trounce this division year after year. For 2009 he's got a new toy in receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh, who's is ready to shine after being in the constant shadow of Chad formerly known as Johnson in Cincinnati. Add him to tight end John Carlson and veteran Deion Branch, and look at that nice little air assault. Julius Jones and newly-arrived Edgerrin James are also quite serviceable in the backfield. If Hasslebeck is good to go and pain-free, this 4-12 team from a year ago can't be disposed of.

But I won't let you get too drunk on my Seattle Kool-Aid. There's plenty of reasons why they were 4-12 last year. And it could have been even worse without face-saving wins over the St. Louis trash-heap. It would not surprise anyone if Hasselbeck struggled with his back again this season--he is at that point of his career. Not everyone is Kurt Warner and can sling it into their 60's. Aaron Curry will be a fantastic rookle at linebacker, and I like the Marcus Trufant/Ken Lucas secondary. But besides that the defense is a bit ho-hum. They are banking on new coach Jim Mora to kickstart the D, we'll see if he's got the personnel. As I said before: great nowhere, OK everywhere. We'll see where it gets them. But I like 'em!

2009 Projected Record: 7-9


3. San Francisco 49ers (7-9 Last Year)

I'm not sure if any Niner fans read the blog. I guess it doesn't matter, because they have now probably boycotted. Yes, San Francisco finished the season 3 games better than Seattle last year, and I rank them lower. Yes, they went 5-2 to finish the 2008 season. Yes, they have the crazyman/motivational genius Mike Singletary as coach. I have seen them as a sleeper pick in many-a-2009 preview...

But allow me to interject...

Number of wins they had against 2008 playoff teams: 0.
Wins against 2008 teams over .500: 1 (the 9-7 Jets...damn it.)

Games in 2009 against '08 playoff teams: 7

Sometimes, the schedule just gets the best of you. And I realize the same can probably be said about my upstarts in Seattle, but I'm not getting the same vibe from this Niner team. I see the Seahawks as a high-risk, high-reward proposition that I'm going in on, while I see the 49ers as a low-risk, low-reward that is ultimately done in by their schedule. It's just a vibe, and I know it's against the grain. But despite what players and coaches say, a worse record from season to season does not always represent a step back. Sometimes it just represents a wrong schedule at the wrong time.

As for actual analysis of the team, Patrick Willis is the team's superstar. The young linebacker is an absolute rock that can make up for mistakes all on his own. There are many ways he can turn a game. On offense, quarterback Shaun Hill can be good in the NFL, but he treats the football kind of like a hiking stick he found in the woods..."Yeah, it's pretty sweet to have, but I can live without it." He's gotta cut down those turnovers and treat the ball like it's his last boda of water in the woods--gotta cherish it. Look for Frank Gore to have a sneaky great year as he creeps back to his place among the NFL's top runners. And for rookie superstar-in-the-making receiver Michael Crabtree, (I can say this because I'm 11 days older than him) sign the deal, punk. You're too good for your head to get in the way. Sorry, Niners fans (those that refused the boycott,) but next year should bear a more fruitful schedule...

2009 Projected Record: 6-10


4. St. Louis Rams (2-14 Last Year)

I'm willing to stake the reputation of this blog on the fact that you'd all rather watch this than listen to me talk about the 2009 St. Louis Rams. Our spirits are with you, Steven Jackson.

2009 Projected Record: 1-15


We're crunched for time, so no What About Conor this week. I'll come extra special on that next Wednesday. Feel free to comment or post your own standings in the comments section. Thanks a lot for reading.