Rams Remain Team To Beat In Intriguing NFC West

The NFC West outcome quickly became a foregone conclusion in 2018 as the Los Angeles Rams opened the season by winning 8 straight and 11 of their first 12. They reached the Super Bowl only to be shut down by the New England Patriots. The NFL betting odds board appears to suggest that the Rams could regress this year with their O/U win total set at 10. If that happens the NFC West could be extremely interesting and particularly if the Niners and Cardinals show improvement.

LOS ANGELES RAMS: Sports bettors are well aware of the ‘Super Bowl hangover’ concept but for whatever reason, teams that lose the previous year’s championship game have a tendency to struggle early in the following season. This phenomenon is typically focused on point spread performance but it can also spread to a team’s SU wins and losses. The good news for Rams fans is that the team is deep and talented and may have improved over the offseason. Clay Matthews may be ‘long in the tooth’ but should be a good fit on defense. Todd Gurley’s workload has been a big concern in the past but the Rams may have pulled off the ‘steal of the draft’ by taking Memphis RB Darrell Henderson with the #70 selection.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: Seattle signed QB Russell Wilson to a big money deal and as a result are hoping that several youngsters will be able to contribute immediately. The loss of Frank Clark and Doug Baldwin are big. The Seahawks drafted three WR in hopes that they can replace Baldwin by committee. They’re also hoping that first-round pick L.J. Collier can help mitigate the impact of Clark’s departure. There’s no longer any holdovers from the ‘Legion of Boom’ defense but credit to the Seahawks for putting together a decent rebuild on the fly over the past couple of seasons.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: Simple equation for San Francisco–if QB Jimmy Garoppolo stays healthy the Niners could improve dramatically. Garoppolo could use a few more weapons around him but he does have George Kittle who is a first rate tight end. If running back Jerick McKinnon is able to return from his ACL injury that would help immensely. The Niners’ focus was on defense during the off season acquiring talented young linebacker Kwon Alexander. They also drafted Nick Bosa out of Ohio State with the #2 overall pick in the draft and he’s expected to be a monstrous pass rusher that makes an immediate impact.

ARIZONA CARDINALS: So where do we start? Kliff Kingsbury is the new head coach and he’s going to try and recreate arguably the most potent passing attack seen in college since the days of LaVell Edwards and Norm Chow at BYU in the NFL. He’s got the #1 overall pick Kyler Murray who could be the perfect fit in Kingsbury’s system. He’s compared to Russell Wilson on a daily basis though he’s not proven himself to be as mentally tough and generally heady as Seattle’s QB. The offensive line was poor last year and even with Murray’s vaunted athleticism and running ability he needs protection. Larry Fitzgerald is getting up there in years but he’s still a solid receiver. Cardinals loaded up on WR in the draft and earlier today signed Michael Crabtree who played for Kingsburgy’s mentor Mike Leach at Teas Tech. Arizona did pick up cornerback Byron Murphy out of Washington and he could make an immediate impact paired with Patrick Peterson. So much could go right, so much could go wrong. At any rate, the Cardinals will be fun to watch.

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH:

1. LOS ANGELES RAMS
2. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
3. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
4. ARIZONA CARDINALS

BET SEATTLE SEAHAWKS +275 TO WIN NFC WEST
BET SEATTLE SEAHAWKS TO MAKE PLAYOFFS +150
BET LOS ANGELES RAMS OVER 10 WINS -115
BET SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS OVER 8.5 WINS +100
BET SEATTLE SEAHAWKS OVER 8.5 WINS -125

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