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Seattle Seahawks - 2005 Record: 13-3 straight up; 9-6-1 against the spread
Odds to win the 2007 NFC West Championship: 1/4
The last five Super Bowl
losers have been under .500 the following season.
Amazing as the trend is, what would be doubly
amazing is if the streak reached six.
The Seahawks return with
MVP running back Shaun Alexander, Pro Bowl quarterback
Matt Hasselbeck and All-Pro tackle Walter Jones
- three big reasons Seattle averaged a league-high
28.2 points per game in 2005.
The addition of receiver
Nate Burleson should help a passing attack that
produced 25 touchdowns last year. While 10 of
those were to Joe Jurevicius (now with Cleveland),
the return of Darrell Jackson, who played just
six games in 2005, should more than make up for
the loss.
Of course, with Alexander
in the mix, the Seahawks' bread and butter will
once again be the run. Oddly enough, despite scoring
the most rushing touchdowns (29) in the NFL last
year, it's the running game that's under the microscope
at training camp. That's due to the loss of guard
Steve Hutchinson, who signed with the Minnesota
Vikings.
Hutchinson and Jones were
Alexander's best friends in 2005, opening up massive
holes on the left for the league's top rusher.
Will Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack make a
suitable replacement? Or, will 2005 first-round
pick Chris Spencer be the answer? Or, will it
be none of the above?
As for the defense - which
led the NFL with 50 sacks last year - the addition
of linebacker Julian Peterson gives Seattle one
of the best front sevens in the league. It should
be fun to see if surprising linebacker Lofa Tatupu
can take his game to the next level in his sophomore
year and emerge as one of the best in the business.
The Seahawks don't have the
easiest start to the schedule. Two road games
in Detroit and Chicago, plus home contests with
Arizona and the New York Giants, could very well
result in a .500 record if Seattle rests on its
laurels.
"Every year I think
you need to improve," Hasselbeck told ESPN.com.
"That's a no-brainer, and I don't care who
you are."
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The Bottom Line
The loss of Hutchinson hurts, but
with all those weapons on offense,
coach Mike Holmgren should be able
to plan around it. If the Seahawks
stay healthy, it will be shocking
if they don't win the division.
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Arizona Cardinals- 2005 Record: 5-11 SU; 6-10 ATS
Odds to win the 2007 NFC West Championship: 5/2
No doubt the biggest offseason
news in the division was the signing of running
back Edgerrin James in Arizona. All of a sudden,
a team that was six games below .500 a year ago
is being given an outside chance of winning the
division, and even the Super Bowl.
Are the expectations realistic?
If they are, the offensive line will have to play
out of its collective mind. Arizona gave up a
less-than-impressive 45 sacks last year, and that
wasn't because the linemen were too busy opening
holes for the runners. The Cards ranked dead last
in the NFL with a paltry 71.1 rushing yards per
game. They had just two - count 'em, two - rushing
touchdowns all year.
To address the O-line problems
Arizona added guard Milford Brown from Houston
and tackle Brandon Gorin from New England.
"I think everybody realizes
the scrutiny we're under," new offensive
line coach Steve Loney told the Associated Press.
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The Bottom Line
The Cardinals have a potentially
explosive passing game with quarterback
Kurt Warner and receivers Anquan Boldin
and Larry Fitzgerald. Their defense
was also the eighth-ranked unit in
the NFL last year. But even with James,
the run is still a question mark.
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St. Louis Rams - 2005 Record: 6-10 SU; 5-11 ATS
Odds to win the 2007 NFC West Championship: 5/1
The Mike Martz era is over.
And with it goes the "Greatest Show on Turf".
With new coach Scott Linehan in charge fans will
see a much more conservative approach to offense.
"It's not a simple offense,
but you know exactly what it is. There is not
as much thinking. Coach Linehan wants you to go
out and just play football," wide receiver
Torry Holt told ESPN.com.
Fans might see a running
play once in a while too - an offensive dimension
that seemed an afterthought in years past. St.
Louis averaged just 23.8 rushes per game in 2005.
That was almost a third less than division rival
Seattle's 32.4 average.
Running back Steven Jackson
is more than capable. Last year, in Week 8, he
rushed for 179 yards on 25 carries and caught
a 19-yard pass for a touchdown against Jacksonville.
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The Bottom Line
More than enough offensive talent
remains on the St. Louis roster. Plus,
new defensive coordinator Jim Haslett
and his aggressive play-calling should
be a welcome addition. A run at the
postseason is not completely out of
the picture.
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San Francisco 49ers - 2005 Record: 4-12 SU; 8-8 ATS
Odds to win the 2007 NFC West Championship: 20/1
If Kevin Barlow were a betting
man he probably wouldn't be backing the 49ers
to win the NFC West, even at 20/1. The former
49ers running back, now with the Jets, recently
told the Contra Costa Times exactly what he thought
of San Francisco coach Mike Nolan.
"Nolan just doesn't
know what he's doing. He's a first-time head coach
with too much power," Barlow told the newspaper.
"He has too much power as a first-time head
coach. He walks around with a chip on his shoulder,
like he's a dictator, like he's Hitler. People
are scared of him. If it ain't Nolan's way, it's
the highway."
Not exactly a ringing endorsement,
and neither was Nolan's first year in the Bay
Area.
Quarterback Alex Smith, the
first overall pick in the 2005 draft, sunk like
a slab of cement after being thrown in the deep-end
that was the San Francisco offense. It didn't
help that his protection was a joke and his receivers
were too slow, but Smith finished with a passer
rating of 40.8. Only four quarterbacks finished
worse, and one of them was teammate Cody Pickett
(28.3).
Unfortunately, things don't
look much better on defense. The 49ers lost the
aforementioned Peterson to Seattle and, so far,
their starters have yet to register a sack in
two preseason games.
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The Bottom Line
Question marks surround every facet
of the 49ers. They had the worst offense
and defense in the NFL last year.
Even worse, they'll be hard-pressed
to match their 2005 record in 2006.
If there is a bright side, the development
of rocket-like tight end Vernon Davis
could be interesting.
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TOP PHOTO: Shaun Alexander
goes into 2006 on a stacked team but without his
favorite left guard. (AI Wire photo)
Note: All
NFL lines subject to change.
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