NFC West 2009 Preview and Predictions

Arizona Cardinals: I am not going to beat around the bush. I am not saying the Cardinals were lucky to get to the Super Bowl last year, but they were very fortunate. That is not to take anything away from them, it just is what it is. If they have to play an NFC Championship game anywhere outside of AZ they stand an almost zero percent chance to win. That being said, I don’t see why the Cardinals shouldn’t win this division and make another run at the Lombardi Trophy.
Predicted Finish: 10-6



San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers showed improvement at the end of last season, winning 5 of their last 7. Much of the credit has gone to then interim and now current head coach Mike Singeltary. That is all well and good, but their QB situation is shaky and their first round pick Michael Crabtree is yet to sign or practice. The 49ers will seem better this year than last, because enthusiasm makes everything seem better.
Predicted Finish: 7-9



Seattle Seahawks: Prior to last season the Seahawks had made the playoffs for 5 consecutive years. Last year’s record of 4-12 can be attributed to injuries and a lame duck coach. Most likely more the former than the latter, but the combination of the two made for an ugly year in Seattle. Assuming the injury bug won’t devour the same team two years in a row, I believe the offense will be better. The defense however doesn’t seem to be much better than last year’s very bad defense. Only once did the Seahawks keep a team under 10 points, and that was the Favre misled Jets in a snow storm in Seattle.
Predicted Finish: 6-10



St. Louis Rams: The Rams had two wins last year and both victories were against teams from the NFC East. Granted it was neither the Giants nor the Eagles, but 2 wins in 2 tries against the NFC East and the Rams couldn’t win 1 game in 6 tries against their own in the NFC West?! The Rams were bad on offense and worse on defense last year. They got a new head coach in Steve Spagnuolo, former coordinator of the much respected NY Giants defense. Unfortunately, coach doesn’t block or tackle.
Predicted Finish: 3-13

See The Dean’s AFC West Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s NFC North Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s AFC South Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s NFC South Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s AFC East Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s AFC North Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s NFC East Preview and Predictions.

NFC North 2009 Preview and Predictions

Green Bay Packers: I liked what Aaron Rodgers did for the Packers last year, and expect him to build upon that this year. What did the Packers in was their defense and special teams which was addressed by bringing Dom Capers in as the defensive coordinator. The Packers open at home against the Bears, and while it may be a bit extreme to label the opening game a must-win, the Packers should be ahead of the Bears as a team at this point and must get that first division win and the home side of that series under their belts.
Predicted Finish: 10-6



Chicago Bears: The Bears went 9-7 last year and in theory they made themselves better in the off-season by upgrading at the QB position. The Bears should get at least 4 wins in the division and then are faced with playing the AFC North, NFC West as well as the Eagles and Falcons. I can see the Bears getting 5-6 wins out of their non-conference schedule.
Predicted Finish: 9-7



Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings represented the two best chances for the 0-16 Lions to get wins last year, and this year the Lions will get the Vikings at least once. I am not saying Brett Favre is going to ruin this team, but I am saying he’s not going to help them. Just like with the Jets last year, the Vikings could reach their full potential with either of the QBs they had on their roster. On top of it being unnecessary to bring in Favre, the way the Vikings handled it has caused and will continue to cause problems for the Vikings. If the Vikings two Williams’ are suspended for the first 4 games, it will not help.
Predicted Finish: 8-8



Detroit Lions: With the Lions its less of an exercise in how many games do you think they will win, and more like which game(s) do you think they can win. Like I stated above, the Vikings represented the two best chances for the Lions to get wins last year and the Vikings are in Detroit in Week 2. If Favre and the Vikings offense is not up to speed, and the Vikings are faced with defensive suspensions, we could see the Lions get that elusive win in Week 2. After that, the Rams come to town in Week 8.
Predicted Finish: 3-13

See The Dean’s AFC West Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s NFC West Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s AFC South Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s NFC South Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s AFC East Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s AFC North Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s NFC East Preview and Predictions.

AFC West 2009 Preview and Predictions

San Diego Chargers: The Chargers weren’t very good last year despite making the playoffs and beating the Colts in the first round at home, their only win against a team that made the playoffs last year. The Chargers benefited greatly from being the division winner of the very weak AFC West last year, and they will benefit again this year as well.
Predicted Finish: 9-7



Oakland Raiders: The Oakland Raiders will be better this year and should be within striking distance of the division title in the closing weeks of the season. The Raiders should sweep the series against both the Chiefs and the Broncos, and a split with the Chargers (which is very doable) will give them 5 wins within the division. Its not too much to ask this team to win 3 of their other games.
Predicted Finish: 8-8



Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs are going to be bad this year, again. They made some positive moves in the off-season but getting rid of head coach Herm Edwards is not going to make that much of a difference when you consider the Chiefs lost their best football player in Tony Gonzalez, and acquire an unknown quantity at QB. To make matters worse, Chan Gaily was relieved of his duties as Offensive Coordinator during the preseason, and Matt Cassel has a strained MCL. Its gonna be a long year in KC.
Predicted Finish: 4-12



Denver Broncos: It is hard to imagine an organization like the Denver Broncos having the drastic fall from grace that this year’s team is going to exhibit. From the Mike Shanahan firing at the end of last year, to losing their QB, to the fiasco that is Brandon Marshall, the Broncos are a nightmare. Josh McDaniels is the new coach and is already looking to be a mistake as a choice of head coach. Belichick disciples have proven to be overrated and McDaniels is definitely doing his part to progress that fact.
Predicted Finish: 3-13

See The Dean’s NFC North Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s NFC West Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s AFC South Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s NFC South Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s AFC East Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s AFC North Preview and Predictions.

See The Dean’s NFC East Preview and Predictions.

In Plaxico Burress’ interview with Jeremy Schapp the other day, the disgraced NFL wide-receiver replied to Schapp’s question of, “Why didn’t you have the gun in the holster?”, with the beautifully simplistic and succinctly accurate reply of, “Bad judgment”. Burress should get 3-4 months knocked of his sentence for coming to realize that.

Yesterday I was reminded of Bad Judgment, with Rick Pitino, head coach at the University of Louisville, married father of 5. Coach Pitino went and banged Karen Cunagin Sypher, in a restaurant, with his assistant coach as the lookout, 6 years ago. Who is she? Apparently she is someone that is really into Louisville basketball. This brings to question Pitino decision making on 3 accounts.

1. As the Head Coach of a major basketball program, Pitino is someone that needs to show parents that their kids should play basketball for him, that sponsors should give him money, and that alumni should continue to give buckets of money to him and his team. Why is he banging broads in public? To quote Plaxico Burress, “Bad Judgment”. If you were the father of a kid that was being recruited by Pitino, are you letting Coach into your house? You might think twice, because when you go to refresh everyone’s lemonade glass, Coach is going to be basketballs deep into your wife.

2. Not inviting his assistant coach to get a piece from the buffet is flat out wrong. To top it off, he makes the assistant coach stand lookout?!?! Pitino implicates the assistant coach by making him stand there, and then doesn’t even let him get in on the action. That is no way to keep unity on your coaching staff. Bad Judgment.

3. The chick ends up being loony. Go figure! We all know so many ‘sane’ girls that have nail-banging sessions on a restaurant table. I am not complaining, I am just saying. Watch Fatal Attraction, its a documentary on that type of ‘lady’. Anyway, Cyphers tries to get money from Pitino, blah blah blah, she gets arrested for extortion and lying to the police. It sure seems like her arrest is very much deserved. However, and according to Syphers, during the time she was attempting to extort money, Pitino’s words to her were along the lines of “your boy’s will end up in cement”, “you will end up in cement”, “your whole family will be in cement”. Now, I don’t know what to think. Is Syphers just pulling out blatant Italian mob stereo-types, or is Pitino a stereo-typical Italian mobster? Personally, I believe that Pitino would say something like that. I also don’t believe he would actually do, or have done for him, any of those methods of silencing people. But, I do know that he likes to scream and yell, and he is a little man. Pitino reacted angrily to the release of the Syphers police interview where she makes these claims. In a hastily called press conference Pitino angrily stated that its all a lie, a fabrication. He also brought up Sen. Edward Kennedy’s death and scolded the sportswriters for not covering the death of Kennedy. Acting like an idiot at the press conference you call to defend yourself against accusations from a crazy person that has zero credibility is Bad Judgment.