Tony Cosentino (2 minute read)
Our final division in the NFC holds a special place in my heart. Not only because its home to the reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, but also because I love contract details and prolonged game film sessions. The Arizona Cardinals scratched both of those itches recently as they wrote into QB Kyler Murray’s contract that he must accomplish 4-hours of independent film study each week. The Cardinals have since removed that clause from the contract and that’s fine. I’ll live.
NFC West
The first team we’ll get into here is the Los Angeles Rams. The Super Bowl champs. Their over/under is at 10.5. They finished 2021 at 12-5 which included a three-game losing streak and a sweep by the San Francisco 49ers. Am I suggesting that they can finish with an even better record?? Not likely. Especially given who they open up against this season in the Buffalo Bills and the fact that the NFC West plays the AFC West this year which should present four potent matchups. The Rams do enter the 2022 season with the 11th ranked offensive line per PFF despite losing Andrew Whitworth to retirement. They also signed veterans WR Allen Robinson and LB Bobby Wagner. Wagner’s leadership and experience is going to be worth more than what he’s able to do on the field this season as the Rams currently have five rookies on the roster at the linebacker position. The path to eleven wins seems daunting but this is still a very talented team on both sides of the ball and with a few new faces they’ll enter 2022 still hungry. I like the over.
Next is the Arizona Cardinals. What they lack in contract negotiations they certainly make up for in trade negotiations. We all remember the trade for DeAndre Hopkins, but this offseason they were able to trade for Murray’s college teammate WR Maquise “Hollywood” Brown. That’s the good. The bad? They let WR Christian Kirk walk, Hopkins is suspended for 6-games due to a PED suspension, and the defense didn’t address the secondary or the departure of LB Chandler Jones. They also enter 2022 with the 25th ranked offensive line per PFF. Couple all of that with their opening schedule against the Chiefs, Raiders, and Rams and you can almost smell an 0-3 start coming. I’m in on the under.
The Seattle Seahawks have a line set at 5.5. Its low and I’d be willing to go even lower! They finished 2021 at 7-10. They traded Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos this offseason and will once again be relying on QB Geno Smith to keep the team afloat. In addition to losing their future Hall-of-Fame quarterback the team also opens up the season with the 32nd ranked offensive line and a defense that’s been slowly depleted of elite talent over the past several years. I almost feel bad for Pete Carroll but as a UCLA Bruin fan I’m reminded that that’s not possible. Give us the under here as well.
The final team we have here is the San Francisco 49ers. Kyle Shannhan led the 49ers to a 10-7 record last season and after putting all his chips in on Trey Lance in the 2021 draft, he looks ready to hand the reigns over to the young QB. The offensive line looks solid coming in at #14 per PFF and the team just resigned WR Debo Samuel. The defense is also ranked top-5 entering 2022 and with guys like DE Nick Bosa, DT Arik Armstead, NT Javon Kinlaw, CB Charvarius Ward, and CB Jason Verrett it’s no wonder why. The schedule also has the 49ers opening against the Bears, Seahawks, Broncos, Rams, Panthers, and Falcons. They also have matchups with the Commanders, Dolphins, and Saints which should all be games in which the 49ers are favored to win. Given all of that we like San Francisco to hit their over.
That’s the NFC! If you haven’t already go check out Episode 151 where we talked through all of these picks. If you disagree with our takes here and would like to absolutely destroy us, please do so over on Twitter where we’d suffer the most embarrassment. We love to be humbled! Thanks for reading and next up is the AFC North!
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