NFC West could be a real dogfight in ‘18...

[Rams43]

All the offseason moves remain to be seen, of course.

But I expect the NFC West to be an extremely tough and competitive division this year.

Think about it.

The resurgent Rams are now a well balanced team with a stellar coaching staff led by a fine talent evaluating group. I see no reason not to expect another very good offseason to further improve them, either. They’re my admittedly biased pick to repeat as division winners.

Niners are positioned to improve this offseason via picks and FA to the point that they will be legit challengers. I project them finishing second.

Cards have a new HC in Steve Wilks, so who knows? But I see Keim bringing in a QB through FA for the near term and with a good draft they should be right back in the mix. Shouldn’t go to sleep on the Cards if they get that QB. I project them finishing in 3rd place.

Well, what do you know? That leaves the Seahawks finishing 4th, doesn’t it? Hard to type those words, but I think that the Seahawks are in for a struggle this year. Coaching changes, possible Carroll slipping, players getting long in the tooth, suspect OL, cap issues, lack of premium picks, and the entire division improving around them makes this ‘18 outlook a little bleak for them, if you ask me. Still, they are the Seahawks and an outside team that must play them would do well to bring it’s A game.

What do y’all think?

 

[DaveFan'51]

We, the NFC West, are all at 0-0 right now. The Rams are the Team to Beat, so all the others will be focused on how to Beat us. I don't see any of them coming close!!
* The Hag's Roster and Coaching Staff are a wreak!
* The Cards are in a Total rebuild mode!
* The 49ers May Have there QB, but not a lot more. Although they do have a lot of Cap space, I don't know if Lynch and Shanny know what to do with it!

McVay has proven he doesn't make the same mistakes twice, and he Plans several moves ahead, like a Great Chess Player! Snead works wonders with the Draft! And Phillip & Bones are the Best DC and ST Coaches in the League!

The Rams will repeat as Division Champs with No Problems! The Only question is, "How Far in the Post Season will they Go!?!"

ANSWER: THE SUPER BOWL!!

 

[jrry32]

Uh oh, 43, you just convinced Arizona to sign Mike Vick.

 

[gogoat1]

Dont think so, Rams win going away. Defense will only get better with Wade getting more players to fit his system. Offense, it will be year 2 for Goff and co. It will a big jump in all the fine details of the offense. And TEs will take more of a role.
Screw the Niners and Hags.

 

[bubbaramfan]

McVay with a year under his belt, the D not transitioning to a new scheme and the same playbook,(don't know if the playbook will change with a new OC), players have a whole season of playing together with not a lot of new faces will be a benefit. Big difference from learning a new system to refining it. Being able to go back and look at what worked and what didn't is something they didn't have last season.

Rams are team to beat in'18 and odds are they'll improve from last year.

 

[Merlin]

This offseason has plenty of potholes and opportunities to not take a step forward. Way too early to make assumptions but I see the division as a three team race pending offseason moves.

Cards are probably the basement team but even they have some good pieces.

 

[PressureD41]

Cards starring at 4th place unless they get a really good QB ala Cousins-ish type talent

 

[Loyal]

Meh...The Rams are the class of this division, period.

We destroyed the only team I feared last year, in their house with the playoffs on the line. Niners have hope with Jimmy G., but they have to hit on their draft picks, and even then they are behind us on the curve to maturity. Jimmy G.'s test in the NFL hasn't happened yet. We need to give him the Aaron Donald Test, which I doubt he passes.

Cardinals? lol

Sorry, I can't dredge up fear over these teams. We should sweep the division, imo.

 

[Merlin]

Sorry, I can't dredge up fear over these teams. We should sweep the division, imo.

I don't want to get all negative when the offseason hasn't even started yet. But for the sake of discussion IF the Rams don't properly address their defense they aren't going to win this division. And it's possible that happens what with all the potential problems created by FA.

Snead's up to bat. And we're going to find out over the next few months whether it was wise to keep him around as the GM. I mean I like the dude and he's had some good drafts, but this offseason is extremely demanding in terms of decision making. It's a crucial offseason from that crossroads perspective as they transition to this regime in the face of FA departures and OL stability with 2019 looming.

 

[fearsomefour]

I don't want to get all negative when the offseason hasn't even started yet. But for the sake of discussion IF the Rams don't properly address their defense they aren't going to win this division. And it's possible that happens what with all the potential problems created by FA.

Snead's up to bat. And we're going to find out over the next few months whether it was wise to keep him around as the GM. I mean I like the dude and he's had some good drafts, but this offseason is extremely demanding in terms of decision making. It's a crucial offseason from that crossroads perspective as they transition to this regime in the face of FA departures and OL stability with 2019 looming.

Hate to say it, if FA goes as all the teams want we may be looking at a three team race with Arizona on the outside.

 

[MrRiceGuyRJ]

I feel people are really really underestimating the 49ers for next year. I think they were really only 1 player away (a QB) from being a really good team, and they got that player. Maybe some aren't watching their games, but living near the bay area, they're always the primary televised games and they pass the eye test for me. It seriously concerns me how good they look.

Any team that puts up 44 points against the Jags, especially late in the season when playoff implications were alive, should be taken seriously.

Depending on who the Cards get, it could seriously be a toss up between the Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks at the least.

 

[snackdaddy]

The window's closing on the seahawks. Cards are rebuilding. 49ers have hope with their new QB, but before I believe they've arrived I need to see more. Wins over a couple weaker opponents and a couple others who already clinched playoff berths aren't convincing enough for me.

I see people using the wins over the Rams and Jaguars as proof the 49ers are for real. If they wanna think beating a team in preseason mode, and a team who found out they clinched moments after kickoff is enough proof for them, they might be very disappointed when the real games start.

 

[Loyal]

I don't want to get all negative when the offseason hasn't even started yet. But for the sake of discussion IF the Rams don't properly address their defense they aren't going to win this division. And it's possible that happens what with all the potential problems created by FA.

Snead's up to bat. And we're going to find out over the next few months whether it was wise to keep him around as the GM. I mean I like the dude and he's had some good drafts, but this offseason is extremely demanding in terms of decision making. It's a crucial offseason from that crossroads perspective as they transition to this regime in the face of FA departures and OL stability with 2019 looming.

Snead will confer with SonofBum for the right kind of guys he need for the defense. No worries.

 

[Rams43]

I don't want to get all negative when the offseason hasn't even started yet. But for the sake of discussion IF the Rams don't properly address their defense they aren't going to win this division. And it's possible that happens what with all the potential problems created by FA.

Snead's up to bat. And we're going to find out over the next few months whether it was wise to keep him around as the GM. I mean I like the dude and he's had some good drafts, but this offseason is extremely demanding in terms of decision making. It's a crucial offseason from that crossroads perspective as they transition to this regime in the face of FA departures and OL stability with 2019 looming.

I now have few worries about the S&M collaboration’s abilities to bolster the team via FA and the draft with players that are good “fits”, Merlin.

What they accomplished with last off season’s moves, both incoming and outgoing, was simply amazing. Took us from 4-12 to 11-5 (woulda been 12-4 if they played starters vs Niners) in one offseason on the fly.

These guys just flat out GET it!

 

[Merlin]

I now have few worries about the S&M collaboration’s abilities to bolster the team via FA and the draft with players that are good “fits”, Merlin.

What they accomplished with last off season’s moves, both incoming and outgoing, was simply amazing. Took us from 4-12 to 11-5 (woulda been 12-4 if they played starters vs Niners) in one offseason on the fly.

These guys just flat out GET it!

They do get it. And I am confident in their ability to handle this very tough offseason. But the amount of potholes they need to steer through is significant, and as good as McVay and Phillips are IF the Rams fail to get the talent right for them there will be dropoff. The talent does matter too.

I'm just saying it's not a sure thing. Not until we see how things break down at least a bit.

 

[Mackeyser]

I think the Rams are still the best team in the division, but as of '18, I don't think we'll have any teams win less than 6 games.

I think every game in the division is going to be a dogfight.

The only team that seems to thrive on a weak division is the Pats. Other than that, a tough division breeds post-season success.

I mean, one need only look at the AFC South to see that. And the AFC North wasn't much better when Cleveland and Cincy weren't good and the Ravens were mediocre or the Ravens were good and the Steelers were mediocre.

Seattle did okay in the NFC West, but they were built when the NFC West was Thunderdome and the Niners had been to 3 straight NFCCGs

 

[Steve808]

I see people using the wins over the Rams and Jaguars as proof the 49ers are for real. If they wanna think beating a team in preseason mode, and a team who found out they clinched moments after kickoff is enough proof for them, they might be very disappointed when the real games start.

Jimmy G got picked twice by the Rams practice squad player and Aaron Donald and most of the Rams starters didn't play.

It's quite possible that the 49ers signed the next Brock Osweiler, who by the way, had very similar numbers to Jimmy G after starting 7 games.