NFC West Preview

Last week, the Sports Guys previewed the AFC. Now it’s time to turn our attention to the NFC, the stronger of the two conferences. We started yesterday with the NFC East, now we’ll flip it and cover the NFC West… Home of the Super Bowl Champions!

NFC West

Division Winner: San Francisco 49ers

Division Cellar: St. Louis Rams

Other Playoff Teams: Seattle Seahawks (Both) – Wildcard #1

1. San Francisco 49ers

2. Seattle Seahawks

3. Arizona Cardinals

4. St. Louis Rams

Andrew – This is a tough division to predict, as this is the best division in football. San Francisco and Seattle are two of the best teams in the league. Arizona is another very good team that could make the playoffs. And St. Louis is a team on the rise that I love as a sleeper this season. What holds the Rams back is a consistent offense. Arizona is built similarly to the top teams, but don’t have as much talent yet. San Fran will beat out Seattle due to more weapons overall on offense.

Greg – This is without question the best division in football this season. The defending Super Bowl Champs did get appreciably worse this year on offense, but the defense should still be the hallmark of their team. The 49ers will be right there this season as well, but the question marks for them are actually on defense. The Cardinals should have made the playoffs last season with a 10-6 record, but just missed out. I'm not sure they can replicate that performance. Jeff Fisher's Rams are hoping the division crown is based upon the level of media frenzy around the teams, as theirs is by far the most after the addition of Michael Sam in the draft.

Preseason Division Awards

Offensive MVP: Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco) – We both agree that Kaep has the best chance to lead his team to the division title. He’s surrounded by a bunch of weapons, especially compared to the other teams in the division. He just got paid in a big way, now it’s time to back it up.

Defensive MVP: Richard Sherman (Seattle) and Patrick Peterson (Arizona) – Just like the Twitter battle these two have online, we are in disagreement as well. Andrew likes Sherman, who frankly takes WR’s out of games. Greg likes Peterson, who is much more of a playmaker. Both are very good and among the best in football, so this is a battle that will be fun to watch.

Rookies to Watch: Aaron Donald (St. Louis), John Brown (Arizona), Paul Richardson (Seattle), Carolos Hyde (San Francisco)

Free Agents to Watch: Jared Veldheer (Arizona), Antonio Cromartie (Arizona), Antoine Bethea (San Francisco), Kenny Britt (St. Louis)

By: The Sports Guys