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By Ira Miller
Special to NFL.com
(With the NFL regular season set to kick off on Thursday, Sept. 9, NFL.com has put together an eight-part series previewing each team division by division. Here is the NFC West.)
Overview
Realignment has not been kind to the NFC West. The division produced eight Super Bowl teams in 21 seasons prior to realignment, but in two years since the league went to its eight-division format, the NFC West has failed to even advance a team to the NFC Championship Game.
St. Louis finished in first place last season with a 12-4 record, and Seattle also reached the playoffs as a wild-card team at 10-6. The Seahawks had a better record within the division -- 5-1 compared to the Rams' 4-2 -- but their poor record outside the division (5-5) and their poor record on the road (2-6) kept them from finishing first. Neither team advanced after their first playoff game.
The Seahawks lost an overtime thriller at Green Bay, and the Rams, who had won 14 consecutive home games, lost a double-overtime game at home against Carolina.
Once more, these appear to be the only true playoff contenders in the division. The ***** are in a total rebuilding mode, tearing apart their offense after a 7-9 season. And the Cardinals are starting over with new coach Dennis Green after going 4-12.
Seattle, which has built a strong offense and is showing signs of improvement on defense, is considered the division favorite. History also favors the Seahawks. No team has repeated as NFC West champion since the ***** won the last of four consecutive titles in 1995.
Arizona is the only team with a new coach. The ***** will have a new starting quarterback -- Tim Rattay if he is healthy, Ken Dorsey if Rattay is not. The Cards also have a quasi-new starter because Josh McCown started only three games last season.
Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Rams running back Steven Jackson appear to be the two most eagerly anticipated rookies in the division. Fitzgerald was the third overall pick in the draft and Jackson was 24th. The *****, having dispatched Terrell Owens in the purge of their offense, are hoping that first-round pick Rashaun Woods can pick up the slack. Seattle expects its top two draft picks -- defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs and strong safety Michael Boulware -- to play significant roles in improving its defense.
Movers and shakers
Green took his Minnesota teams to the playoffs eight times in 10 years with seven different starting quarterbacks. It would be hard to find a coach more qualified to wade into a long-time chaotic situation. With a new stadium under construction, the Cards are perfectly positioned to begin the kind of turnaround that Tampa Bay made under Tony Dungy about a decade ago.
There are new defensive coordinators in St. Louis and San Francisco, both of whom take over for men that got head-coaching jobs. Larry Marmie replaces Lovie Smith with the Rams and he is expected to bring a greater variety of coverages to the Edward Jones Dome. In San Francisco, Willy Robinson is expected to make greater use of the 3-4 defense than the ***** did under Jim Mora.
Both the Rams and ***** are undergoing subtle shifts in their offensive focus, too. With Marc Bulger established as the St. Louis quarterback, taking over for Kurt Warner, the Rams are expected to give more than lip service to the running game. Such a move is two-fold -- it would ease the burden on Bulger and perhaps permit the defense to spend less time on the field. The ***** are going the other way, moving away from their Bill Walsh West Coast offense roots to encompass more spread formations favored by second-year coach Dennis Erickson. They hope to take advantage of Rattay's ability to throw deep from the pocket.
Grant Wistrom, the defensive end with a nonstop motor, bolted from the Rams to the division rival Seahawks, where he's expected to bring life to a defense that has served as a boat anchor on the Seattle franchise. Green has upgraded his defense in Arizona with several free agents, including former Denver defensive end Bert Berry, who gives the Cards a legitimate pass-rushing threat for the first time in years. The Rams and ***** stayed under the radar in free agency, although St. Louis did sign a new veteran backup quarterback in Chris Chandler.
Expectations
It should be a two-team race between Seattle and St. Louis. The Rams and Seahawks were two of only seven teams in the league to score more than 400 points in 2003, with St. Louis tying Indianapolis for second place in the league at 447. Both of them have plenty of firepower again, which will make it tough on the division's defenses. All four teams could stand to improve there -- last year, San Francisco's 13th-place finish in defensive stats was best in the division.
Seattle clearly appears poised to take control behind Matt Hasselbeck, a maturing quarterback, and an offensive line anchored by Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. Shaun Alexander might have surpassed aging Marshall Faulk as the best running back in the division. Seattle's starting receivers can't match the Rams' Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, but the Seahawks may have better wideout depth than the Rams.
Interestingly enough, the two coaches under the most fire will also be the two coaches of the best teams. This is Mike Holmgren's sixth year with the Seahawks, and, while the team appears to be making progress, his five-year winning percentage is exactly .500 (counting two playoff defeats). And as Mike Martz heads into his fifth season with the Rams, his won-lost record is enviable, but the team still has not won a Super Bowl under him. The window of opportunity could be shrinking.
As for the ***** and Cards, their measurement will be strictly on player development. The coaches may talk about the playoffs for those teams, but that goal is not realistic.
Coachspeak
Dennis Erickson, on quarterbacks Tim Rattay and Ken Dorsey: "Their ability to run with the football is not the same as Jeff's (Garcia). I think it's going to be a little more of a timing thing with our offense running the football. Jeff made a lot of plays after he gave himself a second chance. That'll happen, not in steps -- they can move around, Jeff just ran. He's got an innate ability. Both Tim and Ken slide the pockets, step up, slide out; they'll make some things happen."
Dennis Green, on getting the most out of his players: "One of the problems I've always had as I've looked at the offensive lines here is that you have to be able to play with that tempo and intensity all the time. That's what I've not seen probably the last 12 years maybe. We're going to try to address that."
Mike Martz, talking about Marshall Faulk: "He looks like the Marshall of old out here, but we'll see. We're really cautious with him. He feels so good and when he's like that we try not to put a damper on it, but we also just want him to be cautious and take this thing in stride."
Mike Holmgren, on the difficult schedule: "We play six of the first nine on the road, and we were not very good on the road last year. That'll probably tell the tale a little bit, our start. But we know that and our team will know that, certainly.
Special to NFL.com
(With the NFL regular season set to kick off on Thursday, Sept. 9, NFL.com has put together an eight-part series previewing each team division by division. Here is the NFC West.)
Overview
Realignment has not been kind to the NFC West. The division produced eight Super Bowl teams in 21 seasons prior to realignment, but in two years since the league went to its eight-division format, the NFC West has failed to even advance a team to the NFC Championship Game.
St. Louis finished in first place last season with a 12-4 record, and Seattle also reached the playoffs as a wild-card team at 10-6. The Seahawks had a better record within the division -- 5-1 compared to the Rams' 4-2 -- but their poor record outside the division (5-5) and their poor record on the road (2-6) kept them from finishing first. Neither team advanced after their first playoff game.
The Seahawks lost an overtime thriller at Green Bay, and the Rams, who had won 14 consecutive home games, lost a double-overtime game at home against Carolina.
Once more, these appear to be the only true playoff contenders in the division. The ***** are in a total rebuilding mode, tearing apart their offense after a 7-9 season. And the Cardinals are starting over with new coach Dennis Green after going 4-12.
Seattle, which has built a strong offense and is showing signs of improvement on defense, is considered the division favorite. History also favors the Seahawks. No team has repeated as NFC West champion since the ***** won the last of four consecutive titles in 1995.
Arizona is the only team with a new coach. The ***** will have a new starting quarterback -- Tim Rattay if he is healthy, Ken Dorsey if Rattay is not. The Cards also have a quasi-new starter because Josh McCown started only three games last season.
Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Rams running back Steven Jackson appear to be the two most eagerly anticipated rookies in the division. Fitzgerald was the third overall pick in the draft and Jackson was 24th. The *****, having dispatched Terrell Owens in the purge of their offense, are hoping that first-round pick Rashaun Woods can pick up the slack. Seattle expects its top two draft picks -- defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs and strong safety Michael Boulware -- to play significant roles in improving its defense.
Movers and shakers
Green took his Minnesota teams to the playoffs eight times in 10 years with seven different starting quarterbacks. It would be hard to find a coach more qualified to wade into a long-time chaotic situation. With a new stadium under construction, the Cards are perfectly positioned to begin the kind of turnaround that Tampa Bay made under Tony Dungy about a decade ago.
There are new defensive coordinators in St. Louis and San Francisco, both of whom take over for men that got head-coaching jobs. Larry Marmie replaces Lovie Smith with the Rams and he is expected to bring a greater variety of coverages to the Edward Jones Dome. In San Francisco, Willy Robinson is expected to make greater use of the 3-4 defense than the ***** did under Jim Mora.
Both the Rams and ***** are undergoing subtle shifts in their offensive focus, too. With Marc Bulger established as the St. Louis quarterback, taking over for Kurt Warner, the Rams are expected to give more than lip service to the running game. Such a move is two-fold -- it would ease the burden on Bulger and perhaps permit the defense to spend less time on the field. The ***** are going the other way, moving away from their Bill Walsh West Coast offense roots to encompass more spread formations favored by second-year coach Dennis Erickson. They hope to take advantage of Rattay's ability to throw deep from the pocket.
Grant Wistrom, the defensive end with a nonstop motor, bolted from the Rams to the division rival Seahawks, where he's expected to bring life to a defense that has served as a boat anchor on the Seattle franchise. Green has upgraded his defense in Arizona with several free agents, including former Denver defensive end Bert Berry, who gives the Cards a legitimate pass-rushing threat for the first time in years. The Rams and ***** stayed under the radar in free agency, although St. Louis did sign a new veteran backup quarterback in Chris Chandler.
Expectations
It should be a two-team race between Seattle and St. Louis. The Rams and Seahawks were two of only seven teams in the league to score more than 400 points in 2003, with St. Louis tying Indianapolis for second place in the league at 447. Both of them have plenty of firepower again, which will make it tough on the division's defenses. All four teams could stand to improve there -- last year, San Francisco's 13th-place finish in defensive stats was best in the division.
Seattle clearly appears poised to take control behind Matt Hasselbeck, a maturing quarterback, and an offensive line anchored by Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. Shaun Alexander might have surpassed aging Marshall Faulk as the best running back in the division. Seattle's starting receivers can't match the Rams' Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, but the Seahawks may have better wideout depth than the Rams.
Interestingly enough, the two coaches under the most fire will also be the two coaches of the best teams. This is Mike Holmgren's sixth year with the Seahawks, and, while the team appears to be making progress, his five-year winning percentage is exactly .500 (counting two playoff defeats). And as Mike Martz heads into his fifth season with the Rams, his won-lost record is enviable, but the team still has not won a Super Bowl under him. The window of opportunity could be shrinking.
As for the ***** and Cards, their measurement will be strictly on player development. The coaches may talk about the playoffs for those teams, but that goal is not realistic.
Coachspeak
Dennis Erickson, on quarterbacks Tim Rattay and Ken Dorsey: "Their ability to run with the football is not the same as Jeff's (Garcia). I think it's going to be a little more of a timing thing with our offense running the football. Jeff made a lot of plays after he gave himself a second chance. That'll happen, not in steps -- they can move around, Jeff just ran. He's got an innate ability. Both Tim and Ken slide the pockets, step up, slide out; they'll make some things happen."
Dennis Green, on getting the most out of his players: "One of the problems I've always had as I've looked at the offensive lines here is that you have to be able to play with that tempo and intensity all the time. That's what I've not seen probably the last 12 years maybe. We're going to try to address that."
Mike Martz, talking about Marshall Faulk: "He looks like the Marshall of old out here, but we'll see. We're really cautious with him. He feels so good and when he's like that we try not to put a damper on it, but we also just want him to be cautious and take this thing in stride."
Mike Holmgren, on the difficult schedule: "We play six of the first nine on the road, and we were not very good on the road last year. That'll probably tell the tale a little bit, our start. But we know that and our team will know that, certainly.
