All the teams in the NFC West have played seven games so far and it’s safe to say that the standings aren’t anything like most people expected after seven games. The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers have each already lost three games a piece. Last season they lost three and four games, respectively, for the whole year. Both of these teams, who were preseason Super Bowl picks by many, sit two games back of the Arizona Cardinals, who are 6-1. Here is a midseason progress report for each team in the NFC West:
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams have been ravaged by injury. They’re currently using their third string quarterback Austin Davis and will be without their best offensive lineman, Jake Long, and best wide receiver, Brian Quick, for the rest of the season. Their best defensive lineman, Chris Long, has missed a lot of time already and will miss even more moving forward. They are at the bottom of the league in sacks after being among the top teams last season.
Sitting at 2-5 the Rams are most likely already paying attention to which college quarterback they plan on drafting in the 2015 NFL Draft. At this point, they’re already playing the role of spoiler for other teams’ playoff hopes. A lot of people had lofty expectations for the Rams coming into the season and they will most likely meet none of them.
Seattle Seahawks
I think it’s safe to say that no one expected the Seattle Seahawks to be 4-3 after seven games, to already have lost one game at home, be 0-1 in the division, and to be in third place in the division. Not only that, but this team is in complete turmoil right now. The Seahawks made a stunning trade of wide receiver Percy Harvin a few weeks ago and basically got nothing in return. Following the Harvin trade the team has had to face a multitude of rumors, some of which questioning quarterback Russell Wilson and others questioning the team’s patience with running back Marshawn Lynch.
With as much talent as Seattle has it’s hard to believe they’ll continue like they’ve been playing. The biggest issue they have is their offense and it’s predictability. Without teams being forced to prepare for the threat of Harvin on offense, they have become very one-dimensional. Outside of Lynch, they lack an offensive weapon that can consistently threaten the defense. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell is a very smart coach and I’m sure he will figure out a way for this offense to start clicking again. Look for Seattle to have a better second half of the season and make a serious push for the playoffs.
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are another team that’s been decimated with injuries. At one point they were missing starting nickel cornerback Jimmie Ward, starting cornerback Chris Culliver, starting cornerback Tramaine Brock, linebacker Patrick Willis, linebacker NaVorro Bowman, linebacker Aldon Smith (he’s out due to a nine game suspension), nose tackle Glenn Dorsey, cornerback Chris Cook, running back Kendall Hunter, starting left guard Mike Iupati, starting center Daniel Kilgore, starting right tackle Anthony Davis, and their top two tight ends Vernon Davis and Vance McDonald. That is a list of injuries that is unrivaled by any other team. With all those injuries they were still able to get to a 4-3 record.
The hardest part of their schedule was in the beginning of the season when they had the most injury. After suffering an embarrassing loss to the Denver Broncos they were able to go into their bye week and get healthy. Coming out of their bye they’ll likely be getting Culliver, Ward, Brock at full strength again, Willis, Iupati, Anthony Davis at full strength, and Vernon Davis at full strength back. All of these additions make them that much more of a dangerous team. Also factor in that they’ll be getting Aldon Smith back in no more than two games and Bowman back in about three weeks. This is a team that’s going to be getting completely healthy at the right time and will make a strong push to win the division.
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals have been a tough team to gauge. While they have the best record in the league and have a two game lead in the division, their stats just don’t back it all up. According to PFF (subscription) the Cardinals have the fifth worst overall offense in the league, eighth worst passing game, the worst running game, tenth worst offensive line, ninth worst overall defense, second worst pass rush, and the twelfth worst team in pass coverage. How does a team that seems to be playing so poorly have such a good record? Well, it’s quite simple: they’ve taken care of the ball.
The Cardinals have 10 interceptions and four fumble recoveries while only throwing one interception and four lost fumbles. These numbers completely go against how the Cardinals usually play. Case in point: last year alone Carson Palmer threw 22 interceptions. I don’t expect Arizona to keep taking the ball away from teams like they have and I also expect them to start turning the ball over a lot more. While the Cardinals are a strong team, I don’t expect them to win the division this year.