The 49ers have no shot at the NFC West? Question marks, indeed.
Truly, I’ve gotten the idea to write thanks to two comments in my standings predictions post. No offense by them, but the undoubted love that is being given to the San Fransisco 49ers is absurd. I’m positive that Seattle or St. Louis will knock them off this season, as they have done for the past four years. My idea that the Rams would win the NFC West came from this article from another blog (Nikki’s boyfriend Troy’s blog). Just an excerpt from it:
What’s stated is that the 49ers are still really immature and aren’t even half ready to take control of the NFC West division. It’s obvious that they’re still a year away as Alex Smith still needs more time to grow, and he’s without his silver spoon-man in Norv Turner. Quite frankly, paying a cornerback $80 million bucks isn’t worth it neither. I think the Rams improvements were highly more worthwhile than what the 49ers have done this season as the Rams have added guys like Bennett, McMichael, [Dante and James] Hall. And I’m not done. While it may look as if they have only added guys to their offense (albeit I did add James Hall — who is a defensive end.) They have added to their defense with Adam Carriker, Jonathan Wade, and Todd Johnson. (to special teams.) Carriker and Wade may be Rookies, but they are fierce, competitive, and are bound to become good players. The problem I see is rookies being jammed up on the interior of the Rams d-line.
As the off-season goes on, I’ll add more opinions.
One last note, these guys are idiots. I stopped watching when they mentioned that the Rams just had a decent QB.
- Kaitlyn
Again, comment here or send your comments to thesportschicks@hotmail.com. Thanks.
you are on one if you dont think the 49ers are gonna challenge their division this year..First off, immaturity? Alex Smith, while its only been his third year in the League,dramatically improved his sophomore campaign compared to his rookie year, and Norv Turner or not, I see him improving with a better receiving corps(not the best in the division by any means, but still very much improved), and a healthy, more experienced Vernon Davis(who is an Alge Crumpler with a 4.3 40 IMO)..not to mention Frank Gore and an excellent O-Line..I also think the rookie additions(speaking D)of Willis, McDonald, and Tarrell Brown were more impressive than St. Louis getting Carriker and Wade…Willis (4.37 40) is the fastest young linebacker I’ve ever seen, and he plays smart and knows where to be, he looks like a young, faster, more instinctive Ray Lewis to me..McDonald wouldve been a first-rounder if it wasnt for injuries, and Brown will make a long term impact…also, ‘overpaying’ Clements was surprising, but still, he’s one of the elite Corners in the League, and as this is a passing league, the demand for good cover corners is always there..trust me, the Ram’s improvements are NOWHERE near the 49ers, the 9ers defense has improved more to the point where the defense is faster, Lawson and Willis will be two stars in the making, and the secondary is built for contending in the NFC West(arguably the second[behind Champ N Bly] best CB duo in the League with Clements and Harris, then you have an EXCELLENT #2 in Shawntae Spencer, though he will be the Nickel back.).I actually think 49ers D will be better than Seattle’s….SF’s free agent pickups this year were compareable to New England’s(all their FA pickups are starters, with the exception of Lelie,who wasnt worth it IMO), coupled with the higthest-graded draft(out of all the draft grades I read, SF’s was consistently at the top of the lists or near it – for the SECOND year in a row), put in a new mentality this year, that they expect to win….the only negatives goin for them are lack of a superstar DL, the improvement of the NFC West as a whole, and like you said above, youth..but if they can step up from last year, then be afraid..also look at the formula for a successful offense: stud RB, stud TE, good to great receiving corps(not too important if you have a stud back n tight end), which is why I also think New Orleans will get even better as an offense. But look at KC of a few years ago, look at SD now..scary offenses with that formula. now SF has Frank Gore AND Vernon Davis..when those two potentials have been fully tapped in to, think of how e AND y this offense will be..
also, here’s my thoughts on St. Louis: I love their offense. This guy was right as far as their O goes…Their receiving corps is full of studs(even tho I’ll still take VD over McMichael and Klopfenstein-together), Marc Bulger..I’ve never seen a QB so unde . He plays very smart, and is, for the most part, clutch.Now Steven Jackson..This guy is an absolute BEAST. He is one scary dude to go up against. Plus he’s so multi-faceted in his game I see him a top 5 RB for years to come..their line will need work still and their D is atrocious, but hopefully their O will still try to score more points than they’re being scored on.My NFC West predictions(since its such a tough division to predict) go like this: Seattle(or SF), SF(or Seattle), St. Louis, Arizona
hi Robert,.the thing I noticed of your last post that stuck out like a sore thumb is that act as if the 49ers weren’t too far from the division crown, when the Rams were actually closer last season. It could have easily been the Rams sweeping the Seahawks instead of the Seahawks sweeping the Rams, but St. Louis’s defense floored the brakes. Yes, St. Louis did have a bad defense and it still needs improvement. But as mentioned, dumping off Jimmy Kennedy and Travis Fisher was excellent as they played as if they were liabilities to the team in which they were. Jerametrius Butler was also nice to see leave as he was never the same after an injury he suffered in 2005. Getting rid of ones who made bad mistakes on the field is a plus. Now they have kept the core guys who played better than ones that were released. I didn’t say played good, just they had played better than the garbage that was Kennedy, Fisher, and Butler. The Rams front 4 is now improved by adding Carriker, of course, and by adding James Hall. Hall only had 5 sacks last season but he has proved in his career that he’s a potential 10-sack player. We all know what kind of effort Leonard Little brings, and La’Roi Glover can still hold it down in the know. The Rams also have better linebackers than the 49ers. With Pisa Tinoisamoa — who played through two injuries last season — a young Will Witherspoon — who is an excellent athlete and student of the game — Brandon Chillar — a developing player that shown high regards and holds a nice future that was displayed last season — and Chris Draft — that the Rams added from Carolina. He’s a short linebacker, but won’t be spending too much time covering tight ends anyway, and instead he will be going after the run, and chasing down quarterbacks, which eliminates a little bit more of the rushing presence that will be shown by Seattle and San Fransisco when they think they can run all day on a team that was terrible at rush defense last season, St. Louis.
You guys certainly have drilled down into details as far as the teams in the NFC West. Just at a “50,000 foot view” without getting into specifics, I believe it will be the most competitive division in the NFL this fall. Admittedly, it will be because all the teams will hover around the “8-8″ mark. I still believe Seattle will have just enough to fend off San Fran and Arizona, with St. Louis just a step behind. I would not be surprised if all of them went 8-8.
alex smith has grown so much over the past 3 years,just look at his stats for the past 3 years and that will show you that he can take the 49ers the the div championship. he just did not have the help now he does.
i agree with the points you have made about the 49ers and most of the rams thoughts. wasnt 49ers the cinderella pick last year? they cant be 2 in a row! however, the defense and special teams are just too much of a problem for them to overcome. i have the seahawks taking the division. you can check out the rest in my preview on my blog. done most of the other divisions so far too.
“one last note these guys are idiots.”
Well let’s see, we said “Alex Smith is cool but run Gore”. Can anyone tell me who had the
big run against the Rams(0-2) for the 49ers? (2-0). Also did anyone catch the end of the Seahawk game against the Cardinals? Where on first and five at the Cardinals 36 yard line with the score tied less than a minute to go and guess what happened? Matt Hasselbeck(yes that same Hasselbeck from the “Hasselbeck Theory” that those idiots spoke about) botched the handoff to Shaun Alexander which the Cardinals recovered and beat the Seahawks.
I’ll just say this and leave it alone. Hey sports chicks go get some more hot winks then start on dinner before the nite game starts.
THE RAMS ARE:
“the sexiest offense in the whole NFL”, going into week 9
the Lambs are 0-8. Ladies are those hot wings ready yet?
Mark from the Chop Shop
Mark the Rams are the most injured team in the league. The Niners have the worst offense in the league and Alex Smith has been a huge bust. The Niners are 2-7 and could lose to the Rams on Sunday (just like they should have in week 2).