2009 NFL Season Preview: NFC West

The NFC West should be rather unexciting this year, as the Cardinals cruise to another division championship. Arizona appears to be the only team poised to make the playoffs, as the other three teams continue to rebuild. Here is a breakdown of each team:

Arizona Cardinals

2008 Record: 9-7; lost Super Bowl to Pittsburgh Steelers

Strengths: The passing game, no doubt, will once again carry the Cardinals. Led by 38 year old quarterback, Kurt Warner, the Cardinals passing game will once again be hard to stop. Last season, Warner threw for an amazing 4,583 yards and 30 touchdowns, as the Cardinals ranked 2^nd in the league in passing. A lot of Warner's success is due to the fact that he has, arguably, the best receiving corps in the league. In 2008, three Cardinals receivers had over 1,000 yards receiving. They will once again be led by superstar Larry Fitzgerald, who was second in the league in receiving yards (1,431) and tied for first in touchdown receptions (12). As scary as Fitzgerald is, opposing defenses also have to worry about Anquan Boldin. Despite missing four games last year, Boldin managed to gain 1,034 yards receiving and added 11 touchdowns. With third receiver Steve Breaston contributing as well, the Cardinals will be next to unstoppable throwing the ball in 2009.

Questions: The big concern for the Cardinals is their running game, or rather lack of a running game. Sure, with Kurt Warner throwing the ball they don't have to run that much, but it would be nice to have the option. The Cardinals released disgruntled back Edgerrin James, during the off-season. He led the Cardinals with 514 rushing yards last season. Rookie Tim Hightower had plenty of opportunities in 2008, but proved that he is incapable of being a primary back. With that in mind, the Cardinals spent this year's first round draft pick on Ohio State running back Chris Wells. Wells is a talented runner, but struggled with injuries throughout his college career and has seen limited action this preseason due to injuries. The Cardinals hope he can stay healthy and add another dimension to the offense.

Outlook: The Cardinals should not have any problems winning the NFC West again. The rest of the division is not very good and will be unable to provide much competition. They probably won't win more than ten games, but they proved last year that they have what it takes to win in the postseason. The Cardinals should find themselves competing for another NFC Championship and perhaps another trip to the Super Bowl.

San Francisco 49ers

2008 Record: 7-9

Strengths: The 49ers are carried by their talented, but underrated running back, Frank Gore. Gore compiled 1,036 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns last season and was also the third leading receiver on the team. However, Gore did miss two games late in the season due to injury. If he can stay healthy in 2009 he should have another solid year, as he will be responsible for carrying the offense once again. The 49ers also have a good defense, led by linebacker Patrick Willis, who had 141 tackles last season.

Questions: The lack of a legitimate quarterback was the downfall for the 49ers last season and will likely plague them again this year. Shaun Hill beat out former first overall pick Alex Smith for the starting job this preseason. Hill took over the job in week 8 last year, but proved rather inconsistent, finishing with an 87.5 quarterback rating. However, the team did go 5-3 under his lead and hope to have the same kind of success this season. Hill has not been very good so far this preseason and won the job by being slightly less unimpressive than Smith. It will be interesting to see how long the 49ers will stick with him if he struggles during the season. Hill could be helped immensely by first round draft pick Michael Crabtree, but he refuses to sign with the team. He continues to hold out for more money, threatening to sit out the entire year. Whether or not we see him on the field this year remains to be seen, but the longer he holds out, the less likely it seems. It will also be interesting to see how Mike Singletary will perform in his first full season as head coach. He had some interesting confrontations with his players after taking over near the end of last season. Will he be able to unite the team and lead them back to the playoffs?

Outlook: This looks to be another rough year for the 49ers and they will likely finish with a sub-.500 record again. There are just too many questions surrounding the quarterback position to think they have a legitimate chance at making the playoffs this year. Even if Crabtree does sign, he's already missed so much time that we have to wonder when he would be able to make an impact for this team. Maybe the 49ers can return to the prominence they once had. Maybe next year, but certainly not this year.

Seattle Seahawks

2008 Record: 4-12

Strengths: It's hard to find strengths in a team that finished with only four wins last season, but their passing game certainly has the most potential. Matt Hasselbeck missed most of last season with injuries, but was a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback before that. If he can stay healthy and return to his previous form, it will go a long way to making the Seahawks relevant this season. The Seahawks picked up receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh during the off season. He is a big time receiver and if he can learn the offense and contribute right away, that too will greatly improve the Seahawks chances.

Questions: There are many concerns for the Seahawks. The running game is one of them. They signed Edgerrin James, who was wildly underwhelming last season, while calling for more carries. He will be added to incumbent starter Julius Jones, who himself had a mediocre 2008 with 698 rushing yards and just 2 touchdowns. If the Seahawks don't get improved output from those two, they could be in trouble. The defense is another area of concern. Will they be able to stop anyone this year? They were third worst in the league, allowing 378 yards per game. They spent their first draft pick on Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry. The team hopes he can start right away and help turn the defense around. The other question is how well new coach Jim Mora will do after Mike Holmgren's retirement. He does have previous head coaching experience, compiling a 26-22 record in three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.

Outlook: The Seahawks have the best chance at giving Arizona competition for the NFC West championship, but are by no means a lock for a winning season. How far the Seahawks will go this season will depend mostly on the health and play of Hasslebeck. Chances are good that they will win more games than last year, but chances are also good that they will once again miss the playoffs.

St. Louis Rams

2008 Record: 2-14

Strengths: A healthy Steven Jackson is the heart of this St. Louis team. Last season, Jackson gained 1,042 yards and had 7 touchdowns, despite missing 4 games with injury. Jackson is one of the elite running backs in the league and can be tremendous, if he can stay healthy. Any success the Rams experience this year will likely be due in large part to Jackson.

Questions: Marc Bulger is another former Pro Bowl quarterback who struggled last year. He is already out for the rest of the preseason with a broken pinkie. That is a bad sign for the Rams, who need him to be healthy if they want to have any chance this season. There is also concern over who Bulger will throw to. The Rams released veteran Torry Holt this off season and are left with second year player Donnie Avery as their primary receiver. Avery is very talented and showed loads of potential last season, but was also very inconsistent. They will need a steadier year out of him this season. The Rams struggled defensively last season and ranked in the bottom five in the league. They spent three of their first four draft picks on defensive players in hopes of being able to regroup this year. The Rams are also breaking in a rookie head coach in Steve Spagnuolo. Spagnuolo served as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants the last two seasons and hopes to bring some of his defensive prowess to St. Louis.

Outlook: This is going to be a long year for Spagnuolo and the Rams. I don't foresee a great turnaround for the defense and the offense will struggle once again. The Rams will probably finish last in the NFC West and be lucky to win five or six games.

SOURCES: NFL Player Statistics - http://www.nfl.com/stats/player

NFL Team Statistics- http://www.nfl.com/stats/team