For the overall , and see the links at the bottom of the page for the rest of the divisional previews.
厂别补丑补飞办蝉听12-4
After representing the NFC in consecutive Super Bowls, Seattle has lost to the eventual NFC champion in the last two postseasons.
Russell Wilson is聽聽and many believe he’s got his best bounty of receivers yet.聽The Seahawks will need both to be true. An already suspect offensive line will miss left tackle George Fant for the season and the Seattle’s ground game is hoping either Thomas Rawls or Eddie Lacy will emerge as a consistent running threat.
The vaunted Seahawks defense has weathered a few offseason storms, most notably some聽. Second聽round pick Malik McDowell will miss the season because of an ATV accident but Seattle beefed up their line with a Friday trade for Sheldon Richardson. Earl Thomas’s return to the lineup will keep this defense among the NFL’s elite (though that assumption may run out after 2017 considering the relative age of the line).
The NFC is going to come down to the Seahawks and Packers. If the championship game is played in Seattle there won’t be a聽third straight playoff loss to the eventual NFC champ.
颁补谤诲颈苍补濒蝉听10-6
Arizona is becoming my NFC equivalent of the Bengals.
I’ve done these previews for nearly a decade, and every year I get Cincinnati loud and embarrassingly wrong. Last year the Cards did that to me too when I picked them to go to the Super Bowl.
This year, I think this is a playoff team. David Johnson is a legit threat to top 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving, and the Carson Palmer/Larry Fitzgerald duo has at least one good run left in them. The rest of the receiving corps is strong so this balanced attack should be among the league’s best.
The defensive line lost聽Calais Campbell to free agency but聽Robert聽Nkemdiche was drafted for the purpose of replacing that production. Free agency robbed them of聽a lot of depth in the secondary聽but the Cardinals still have playmakers at every level of the defense. I expect to see both sides of the ball rank in the Top 10 and for Arizona to return to the postseason.
搁补尘蝉听6-10
Los Angeles has something fun brewing.
Rams have the only staff with DC on Medicare and HC in Daycare
— Wade Phillips (@sonofbum)
Sean McVay — the 31 year-old former Redskins offensive coordinator — is the youngest head coach in the NFL, and the wunderkind has surrounded himself with some very good assistant coaches, none more impactful (or older) than 70 year-old defensive coordinator Wade Phillips (whose聽聽these days).聽Under his direction, the Rams D should be much improved (assuming聽Aaron Donald’s holdout doesn’t undermine Phillips’ efforts).
McVay聽and offensive coordinator Matt聽LaFleur will have the task聽of making Jared Goff look like an NFL quarterback, which he didn’t as a rookie in 2016. This year,聽Goff聽should have a healthy and productive聽Todd Gurley (the scheme alone should help the latter) and a much improved receiving corps: Sammy Watkins comes over in a preseason trade (he already聽) and third-round rookie Cooper Kupp聽.聽L.A. should get out to a strong start and be surprisingly competitive.
49别谤蝉听4-12
San Francisco gambled big on rookies at their two most important positions: General manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan each got six-year contracts to turn around the 49ers after a rock bottom 2016 season. Shanahan is聽聽but Lynch is聽.
Offense is Shanahan’s specialty, but it’s where the Niners聽engaged in some tomfoolery. Shanahan has no offensive coordinator聽and — perhaps worse — is relying on Brian Hoyer聽rather than Colin Kaepernick at QB.聽Hoyer is an obvious聽placeholder for either a young QB (third-round pick C.J. Beathard?) or Kirk Cousins, but San Fran spent big money on Pierre Garcon and Kyle Juszczyk –a 30 year-old WR and a fullback at a time when fullbacks are football’s equivalent to dinosaurs. This unit is almost sure to struggle.
If nothing else, the defense found what they believe will be the cornerstones of the unit for good draft value.聽The 49ers traded back and still got聽Solomon Thomas third overall, while 31st pick Rueben Foster was thought to be a Top 10 talent. Offseason acquisition Malcolm Smith is聽out for the season聽so they’ll need immediate contributions from Thomas and Foster to be even remotely competitive.
I expect Shanahan to do well in San Francisco. Just not聽well enough in聽2017 to make聽听飞谤辞苍驳.
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