2005 NFC West Football preview

OVERVIEW: NFC West

The Arizona Cardinals have posted a mark of 22-42 straight up over the past four seasons which is by far the worst win/loss record of any team in the NFC West, however, that's all about to change in 2005 as I fully expect these Cardinals to win this division and make the playoffs, remember that you heard it here first!

Cardinal HC Denny Green had another fantastic draft highlighted by picking CB Antrel Rolle and RB J.J. Arrington with his first and second choices followed by selecting CB Eric Green and LB Darryl Blackstock with his third and fourth picks, Rolle and Arrington will in all likelihood be immediate starters while Green and Blackstock will add depth to a defense that improved from 26th overall in 2003 to 12th overall in the league in 2004.

Denny Green got a draft steal in the forth round by picking up OG Elton Brown out of Virginia who may very well be another immediate starter, Brown is a mountain of a man at 6'4 and 339 lbs and was a two time recipient of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy which is given annually to the ACC's top blocker.

The Cards did very well in the free agent wars by signing two time league MVP Kurt Warner to lead the offense and play catch with WR's Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin who comprise one of the best WR tandems in the NFL, to help protect Warner in the pocket the Cards signed OG Oliver Ross away from Pittsburgh and for good measure also brought in OT's Ian Allen and Adam Haayer for added depth.

Arizona has managed to interject a lot of young talent on their roster via excellent drafting as evidenced by the fact that 13 of the Cards 14 draft choices from 2003 and 2004 are on the roster for 2005, and to think that 7 of those 14 draft picks from 2003 and 2004 are starters!

Seattle can't seem to get out of their own way with regard to posting an overall win/loss mark of 35-31 over the past four years which has led to them being what is referred to as a "middle of the road" team, not bad enough to be in line for higher draft picks but yet not good enough to capitalize on opportunity when it knocks on their door.

The Seahawks finished 2004 with an offense ranked 8th overall in the league but defensively fell from 19th overall in 2003 to 26th overall in 2004, the Hawks really didn't help themselves too much in the draft and instead concentrated on free agency to shore up their defense as 8 of their 11 free agent signings were defense related as they picked up two DE's, two LB's, two CB's, a DT, and a Safety.

The Hawks brought in WR's Joe Jurevicius and Jerome Pathon to ease the release of problem child WR Koren Robinson who had an off season DUI, the loss of backup QB Trent Dilfer to Cleveland will hurt the Hawks tremendously if QB Matt Hasselbeck goes down to injury and RB Shaun Alexander is threatening to sit out most of training camp in protest of the Hawks not honoring him with a new deal, ahhhhhhh nothing but problems problems problems for HC Mike Holmgren.

St. Louis by far has the best four year record of any team in this division with a win/loss mark of 44-26, however, the continued bad play calling and terrible clock management by HC Mike Martz has led to this team falling well short of expectations given this teams immense talent level over the past few years.

The Rams have made the playoffs four of the past five years during Martz's tenure, however, bone headed play calling in 2000 led to a first round loss at the hands of the Saints 31-28 and to think the Rams were 6.5 point road favorites playing at New Orleans, the following season saw these Rams completely out coached when they were installed as 14 point favorites in the Super Bowl against New England but lost 20-17.

2003 saw these Rams once again exit the playoff picture in a 29-23 first round loss to Carolina in a game played at St Louis with the Rams installed as 7 point home favorites, then of course how can we forget the 47-17 pasting the Rams absorbed last season in the playoffs against an Atlanta team that was nowhere near as talented as the Rams?

The Rams had a very average draft and didn't really help themselves in the free agent wars other than picking up LB's Dexter Coakley and Chris Claiborne to help shore up a defensive unit that ranked a shoddy 29th in rushing yards allowed in 2004. I fully expect to see these Rams finish below the .500 mark in 2005 and if Georgia is smart she will give Martz the ole boot at seasons end.

The Niners had a pretty good draft but they are still at least two years away from being able to compete for the divisional crown, HC Mike Nolan has already stated that his intention is to go ahead and start the NFL's first overall draft pick QB Alex Smith under center and let him gain experience, meaning of course that the Niner organization is expecting nothing from this team in 2005 and neither do I.

In closing, obviously I am very high on Arizona this season and expect big things from them in 2005, with that being said I will recommend two "Futures wagers" on the Cardinals,( A.) To win the NFC West and (B.) To go OVER the posted seasonal win/loss total of 7.5.

In addition to the reasoning I laid out above as to why these Cards will win this division its also noteworthy that Arizona will face the league's 2nd easiest schedule when considering that the Cards 2005 schedule is comprised of teams that tallied a combined straight up win/loss record of 120-147 last year which equates to a winning percentage of only .449.

Jim Campbell is one of the nations most respected Sports Handicappers, he specializes in College and Pro Football, you can visit Jim at his website located at footballforecastor.com for all of your handicapping needs including free play selections, College and NFL stats, trends and award winning analysis on upcoming games.

With over 30 plus years experience in the handicapping profession Jim has built a solid reputation, his web based handicapping service at footballforecastor.com as been in existence since 1997 and year after year proves to be one of the very best handicapping services in America.

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Google News Updated : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:49:35 GMT Where Angels go...heartbreak follows - Baltimore Sun Los Angeles Times Where Angels go...heartbreak follows Baltimore Sun - 3 hours ago If you didn't stay up to watch, the Angels came back from a 2-0 deficit last night and had the go-ahead run on third base with one out in the top of the ninth, only to have the situation blow up in their faces when manager Mike Scioscia (right) called ... Oh, what a ninth! Sox-Halos a classic MLB.com Angels seething after being squeezed out ESPN Boston Globe - FOXSports.com - USA Today - Los Angeles Times all 569 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:42:08 GMT Pentagon denies US jet forced to land in Iran - guardian.co.uk Daily Mail Pentagon denies US jet forced to land in Iran guardian.co.uk - 36 minutes ago The Pentagon today denied a report that a US plane had been forced to land in Iranian territory. Iran's Fars news agency claimed that five US officials were questioned and released by the Iranian authorities after the plane they were flying in ... Iran says it forced down Western plane The Associated Press Iran says US plane violated Iran's airspace Reuters Bloomberg - BBC News - AFP - United Press International all 270 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:12:58 GMT Nobel Prize awarded for AIDS, cervical cancer research - Los Angeles Times CTV.ca Nobel Prize awarded for AIDS, cervical cancer research Los Angeles Times - 7 hours ago Luc Montagnier dedicated his award to AIDS sufferers and predicted results on a "therapeutic vaccine" for the pandemic within four years. 2 AIDS researchers receive Nobel Prize Chicago Tribune Three Europeans win the 2008 Nobel for medicine International Herald Tribune Detroit Free Press - People's Daily Online - The Associated Press - WTOP all 1,190 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:01:27 GMT The Ike Whitaker Saga - Washington Post Washington Post The Ike Whitaker Saga Washington Post - 40 minutes ago In case anyone missed Zach Berman's story in today's paper, Ike Whitaker appears to be done at Virginia Tech. I raise the story in this forum because Whitaker chose Virginia Tech over Maryland amid the usual fanfare that accompanies a top-level recruit ... Va. Tech WR Whitaker faces misdemeanor charges SportingNews.com More alcohol woes for Tech wide receiver Whitaker Richmond Times Dispatch Virginia Tech Collegiate Times Online Edition - The Virginian-Pilot - Daily Press - Washington Post all 32 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:08:42 GMT Fed creates commercial paper-buying facility - Reuters Reuters Fed creates commercial paper-buying facility Reuters - 32 minutes ago By Mark Felsenthal and Glenn Somerville WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Tuesday announced it would create a special-purpose facility, with the Treasury Department's blessing, to begin buying commercial paper in yet another emergency move ... Euro, Dollar Gain on Fed Move Wall Street Journal Fed to Purchase US Commercial Paper to Ease Crunch (Update1) Bloomberg Washington Post - MarketWatch - New York Times - International Herald Tribune all 1,209 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:17:04 GMT US, Britain, and UN weigh options amid rising violence in ... - Christian Science Monitor AFP US, Britain, and UN weigh options amid rising violence in ... Christian Science Monitor - 40 minutes ago By David Montero Against the backdrop of a string of suicide bombings in Pakistan, British, American, and United Nations officials are grappling with the idea of a negotiated settlement with the Taliban. UPDATE 1-Afghan govt denies Saudi meeting was peace talks Reuters India Afghan official: no talks held with Taliban Xinhua AFP - Minneapolis Star Tribune - The Associated Press - Hindu all 453 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:09:17 GMT McCain aims to slow Obama momentum in debate - Reuters BBC News McCain aims to slow Obama momentum in debate Reuters - 51 minutes ago By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent NASHVILLE (Reuters) - Republican John McCain hopes to halt Democrat Barack Obama's momentum and gain new life in the White House race on Tuesday when the presidential rivals meet in their second debate. A little word makes big waves on campaign trail CNN Political Ticker Tonight's debate is in McCain's favorite style The Associated Press CQPolitics.com - Washington Post - New York Times - AFP all 1,928 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:57:52 GMT RSS to HTML Increase Online Traffic

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