NFL Betting – Seahawks Still Class Of NFC West?
- Are the Seattle Seahawks the team to beat in the NFC West?
- Can the Arizona Cardinals finally have a winning season?
- What impact will Mike Martz have on the San Francisco 49ers?
When handicapping the NFC West this year, most of the action is going to come in on the Seattle Seahawks, the team that the fans who bet sports online have pegged as the favorite. Listed at -115, the sportsbook community also agrees that the Seahawks are the favorite.
Last year, the Seahawks looked vulnerable as their running game collapsed. Former MVP Shaun Alexander slowed down significantly and was hitting the running lanes with the same speed as a turtle in molasses, with a piano on his back. The Seahawks rushing averaged dropped by 20 yards per game last year.
The Seahawks have made some critical offseason changes to amend that problem. They cut ties with Alexander and instead signed to capable runners in Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett, which should form a much more capable duo. One concern is the passing game. The Seahawks are desperately thin at wide receiver. Deion Branch tore his acl in the playoff game against the Green Bay Packers and is likely to miss at least the first six weeks. Bobby Engram is reliable, but also 35-years-old. Nate Burleson is much younger, but much less reliable.
Based on the lines, the Arizona Cardinals (+200) are expected to be the Seahawks main competition. But the Cardinals have had only one winning season in their last 23 years.
Their success will be dependent on the growth of Matt Leinart, who still has to prove that he was worth the 10th overall selection in the 2006 draft. He'll have plenty of help and should be poised for a good season. The Cards wanted to add speed at running back since starter Edgerrin James has only four rushes of 20 or longer last year but they failed to do so. That leaves the running game fairly limited but the fact that the five starting offensive linemen return in the same spots (for only the second time in franchise history), the Cardinals offense should start to gain some rhythm.
The St. Louis Rams (+500) and San Francisco 49ers (+500) have been – and might be again – the biggest enigmas in the division.
The Rams have a talented offense but much of it went to waste as their porous offensive line worked as five turnstiles. The line is again sub par but should be much better if Orlando Pace can stay healthy.
The offense tried to out-think itself too many times but that won't be the case this year and offensive guru Al Saunders takes over the offense.
For the rams to be competitive, though, their defense has to step up. The back seven lacks talent but maybe a healthy season is all they need. The rams were 3-3 when they had all four secondary starters in tact and were 0-10 without them.
Lastly, the San Francisco 49ers, the perennial rebuilding project, seems ready to show that they can be competitive. They were supposed to be at that level last year when they flopped badly and won only five games.
The 49ers brought in offensive genius Mike Martz, who has improved every offense he's been a part of. His first task will be to get Alex Smith's career back on track. Martz has done wonders with quarterbacks in the past (see: Jon Kitna) so Smith should be in line for his best season.
Although the 49ers are fresh off of a tumultuous season, don't forget that they were 7-9 two years ago and supposedly on the way up. Some confidence could take this team a long way.
The Seahawks are the favorite because they've done this thing before. The Rams, Cardinals and 49ers are all very much capable of taking the west this year but they will have to do something that nobody has done better than Seattle over the last four years: be consistent.
At -115, the Seahawks don't offer much value. A better pick might be to take a chance with the 49ers or the Cardinals and bank on the fact that one of those two young squads has grown up.
NFC West odds:
Seattle Seahawks -115
Arizona Cardinals +200
San Francisco 49ers +500
St. Louis Rams +500
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Stan Simmons first tasted football through the college game, but his football handicapping has strictly focused on the professional sport. Not many people devote as much time to the NFL as Simmons. For six days a week he works, labors and handicaps the sport, and on the seventh he rests as the games play out. Thoughts or questions?
