1. San Francisco 49ers: Three NFC Championship game appearances in four seasons and one Super Bowl appearance in that span. I’ve always said when the legendary teams in any sport are relevant, it’s great for the sport as a whole. There was a Quarterback carousel in the beginning. Trey Lance was named the starting Quarterback to begin the season, then he gets hurt and Jimmy Garoppolo steps in as the starter. Then, Jimmy gets hurt and the last man selected in the 2022 NFL Draft steps in. Brock Purdy. Can we give Kyle Shanahan some love? He works with what he has around him and makes everyone productive. This San Francisco defense was the best in the league last season. This is a contender in the NFC and when they’re healthy, they’re a tough out. Nick Bosa was named Defensive Player of the Year for his 2022 season. The 49ers have won 11 or more games in nine of the last ten seasons.
2. Seattle Seahawks: Okay, so I need to ask this question. Whoever could’ve predicted that the Seattle Seahawks, a team that traded away Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos were expected to be as good as they were and better than Denver? The Seahawks made the playoffs, the Broncos struggled significantly. What a season Geno Smith had! I wonder if he wrote the people back who wrote him off? Watching this team last season reminded me some of the group that won the NFC two seasons in a row all those years ago. There was consistent play from the Quarterback, they ran the football and the defense played better than they have in the last few seasons. Geno was named Comeback Player of the Year. I can’t wait to see how this group builds off of last year.
3. Los Angeles Rams: They really surprised me last year. After winning that Super Bowl, the expectations were high once again. After you win a Super Bowl title, that bullseye will forever be on your backs. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Los Angeles Rams. The Offensive Line took a huge step back as Matthew Stafford was sacked 29 times in the nine games he played, Cooper Kupp had another strong season, but was limited to ten games because of an ankle injury and outside of Kupp, they had no other reliable offensive weapons. Aaron Donald was counted on to be the team’s best pass rusher. The Rams missed Andrew Whitworth who retired, but was a leader on that Offensive Line and they missed Von Miller. Last season was Sean McVay’s first losing year as the Rams Head Coach.
4. Arizona Cardinals: This is the only reason why the Rams didn’t finish in last place and there’s a very good chance history will repeat itself in 2023. Kliff Kingsbury was never the answer for the Cardinals as the Head Coach. Certain guys are either coaching material or they fit more as a coordinator. Kyler Murray tore his ACL last December and will miss some time to begin the season. The Cardinals hired former Eagles Defensive Coordinator, Jonathan Gannon to be their next coach. DeAndre Hopkins was released which shocked me because they couldn’t trade him. This is a very thin roster, especially on the offensive side of the football and their defensive will be counted on to keep them in football games. This is a team in the midst of a rebuild. It won’t be pretty.
2023 Predictions
1. 49ers (12-5)
2. Seahawks (9-8)
3. Rams (5-12)
4. Cardinals (3-14)
Like old times, the NFC West will come down to the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. I could make a case for both of them to win this division, but I have more faith in the 49ers which is why I’m picking them to win the NFC for the second consecutive season. Kyle Shanahan will work with what he has at Quarterback and will get the best out of his skill players such as Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk. This defense will be strong once again and I loved the signing of Javon Hargrave. He will be the man in the middle of this defensive line. There’s only a handful of teams that scare me in the NFC and the 49ers are one of them.
