(Photo: Sports Illustrated)
1. San Francisco 49ers: They were hands down the best team in the NFC last year. From getting off to that strong 5-0 start, then losing three in a row, but still finding a way to win the NFC West and clinch the top seed in the NFC Playoffs for the second time under Kyle Shanahan. When they are healthy, there’s not a team that can beat them in the conference and when key guys were out, you saw the difference in production. This is the most physical football team in the league and their identity is to punch you in the mouth early on and wear you down. However, the 49ers can be had if you enforce their style of play on them. Many of you have echoed my saying: “The bully doesn’t like to be bullied”. The only issue I have with them is their inability to close out and put it all together when it matters most. In the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs, they had a ten-point lead, then got away from feeding Christian McCaffrey the ball. This is still who you must take down if you want to get anywhere in the NFC.
2. Los Angeles Rams: Sean McVay is still one of the best Head Coaches in the league and I remember seeing people on social media say that the Rams needed to move on from him. Yes, 2022 was a disaster, but they weren’t healthy. Matthew Stafford was in and out of the lineup as were Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald. Last year, those three I listed were all healthy and they added a newcomer to the fold in rookie Wide Receiver, Puka Nacua who immediately became Matthew’s top target. Puka reminds me so much of Wes Welker with the ability to create more down the field. The Rams returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2021 when they won the Super Bowl and fell short to the Detroit Lions. This year, they will be without the services of Aaron Donald who officially announced his retirement in March after ten stellar seasons. There is no replacing a Hall of Fame caliber Defensive Tackle. It will take a collective effort to fill his shoes. When the Rams are healthy, they are a playoff team.
3. Seattle Seahawks: After 14 seasons, the Pete Carroll chapter officially came to a close as both the veteran Head Coach and the franchise agreed that it was time for him to step down and now, he’s an executive with the team. On January 31st, the Seahawks hired former Baltimore Ravens Defensive Coordinator, Mike Macdonald as their next Head Coach and I like this hire. One, he’s young and right now, the wave amongst Head Coaches is younger guys being hired to lead teams and two, I saw what he did with Michigan’s defense under Jim Harbaugh, in Baltimore with John Harbaugh and I feel Mike can bring back the defense we saw all those years ago when Seattle won the Super Bowl. Their success this year will depend on which version of Geno Smith shows up.
4. Arizona Cardinals: They’re still undergoing a rebuild as we speak. They did exactly what many expected of them in the draft with the fourth overall pick and that’s select Marvin Harrison Jr from Ohio State, the son of former Colts Wide Receiver and Hall of Famer, Marvin Harrison. This instantly gives Kyler Murray a consistent number-one option. The one thing I will say about the Arizona Cardinals is they did play teams tough, they were just always on the losing side of things in 2023 quite a bit. But they weren’t the team that many expected them to be which was a struggle and served as a punching bag for their opponents. Let’s see what they do in year two under Jonathan Gannon.
2024 Predictions
1. 49ers (12-5)
2. Rams (9-8)
3. Seahawks (7-10)
4. Cardinals (4-13)
The 49ers will win this division once again for the third consecutive year and the only team I see challenging them is the Rams. The Seahawks will be undergoing some changes and Arizona is still in their rebuild. The only thing that can get in the way of the 49ers getting to where they want to be is health. Look what happened last year when Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams were gone. They struggled and when they came back, they found a way to get back to their winning ways. I will say this. If they don’t win the Super Bowl this year, it may be time to part ways with Kyle Shanahan. They’ve been to the big game twice and have failed to win it. A change could be what’s needed. I expect the Niners to have one of the best all around defenses in the league this year with Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead and Fred Warner anchoring things up front.
