NFC West Preview

The LA Rams made it all the way to the Super Bowl last year under HC Sean McVay and Jared Goff at quarterback. The team had a great defense with lots of defensive skill players. This year, some of those key players are missing. most predictions will be that there will be some regression with this team from the Super Bowl team of 2019. I like the head coach McVay and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.  QB Jared Goff has a lot to prove and RB Todd Gurley has knee issues that may be worse than we have been led to believe. If there is to be regression it might not show up in the division, unless other teams can show up and give the Rams some competition.  Key offseason acquisitions for the Rams were Blake Bortles to backup Goff and Clay Mathews at linebacker. The latter returning home where he went to a local high school and then was a standout at USC.  Vegas win total for the Rams is set at 10 ½ games with the over a +1.26. Because there is plus money attached, I would go over as a small play. 

The San Francisco 49ers have a solid HC in Kyle Shanahan, and he will be working with QB Jimmy Garoppolo. Jimmy was out for most of the last year, but he showed a lot of promise when he was playing and looks to be the QB of the future in the Bay area.  

This is a team that has a lot of rebuilding that must be done, especially on the defense which will have to prove itself on the field.  If Garoppolo can stay healthy, they have the talent to be very explosive under a Shanahan coached team. You may remember that when Shanahan was with the Atlanta Falcons, they went to the Superbowl and held a 25-point lead at halftime over the Patriots. He did a hell of a job that year with that offense and I believe he'll do the same with the 49ers. Vegas has a win total of f8-games on the 49ers with the over a heavy chalk of -1.46.  I believe this is the perfect number for the 49ers and will have a small lean to the OVER.

The Seattle Seahawks have one of my favorite quarterbacks in the NFL in the person of Russell Wilson. I like the way he handles himself under pressure and he's very durable. 

HC Pete Carroll is solid and has a great history of winning big games. Carrol has been to a couple of Super Bowls and should have bad back-to-back rings but for one colossal mistake we all remember. The Seahawks have lost a lot off that great defense. They also lost Doug Baldwin at the wide receiver spot, who was a favorite target of Wilson's last year. This division has many question marks.  If the Rams regress, as many expect, the door will be open for the young Niners and rebuilding Seahawks to step up in the NFC West.  Vegas has the win total for the Seahawks at 8 ½-games with the over at -1.13. I lean under here on the Seahawks as I expect them to have an 8-win season.

I could see this NFC being a 3-team race between the Rams, Niners and Seahawks if the Rams fall off at all this season. Otherwise, the Rams will take the division again, as they are just better put together than the others at this time.

I'm not going to give a lot of consideration for division success in Arizona, even though they have a they have the number one draft choice in Oklahoma QB Kyle Murry. Murray has looked very good in practices thus far he looks very good practice.  The Cardinals also have rookie HC Kliff Kingsburgy. This club is in rebuilding mode and likely will take time to put the pieces together. They do have the potential to score a lot of points this year and they could rise up and be interesting. The Vegas win total on the Cardinals tells us a lot of what's expected of them.  The win total on Arizona is at 5-games with the over set at -1.33. Again, a very solid number in my opinion. With the Rookie Head coach and Quarterback, I wouldn't bet this total unless it was 5.5 or 6-games. Then I would go UNDER with the team in a rebuilding mode.


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