Pre-Training Camp Prediction of the NFC West and Seahawks Records

What does a prediction of how the NFC West and Seahawks will finish in 2017 pre-training camp mean? Nothing. But here’s a guess anyway…

Doesn’t it just feel like the Seahawks always win their division in recent years? Seattle just seems like the much better team of the four teams in the NFC West. In 2015, though, the Seahawks were three games back of the first-place Arizona Cardinals. Crazy.

The Seahawks have finished first in their division in three of the last four seasons, however. Seattle has the talent, leadership and coaching to win the NFC West again in 2017. Their toughest competition this season should again be the Arizona Cardinals. Here’s a too-early prediction of how the division will finish this coming year.

First: Seattle Seahawks 12-4

I write about the Seahawks all the time, of course. Am I biased a bit? Yeah, probably. But I promise you that if I was a 49ers fan, I would not be saying they will finish first in this division. Seattle has the best quarterback in the NFC West in Russell Wilson. The core of the team has won a Super Bowl. The Seahawks have man-for-man the best roster in the division. They should win the NFC West again this coming year.

Second: Arizona Cardinals 10-6

The Cardinals got a bit of the bad end of scheduling. They begin with two road games, against the Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts. They finish with the final four games: at home against the Tennessee Titans, away against the Washington Redskins at a 1 pm ET start, at home versus the New York Giants and then finish on the road in Seattle. That is certainly not the easiest schedule. Still, the Cardinals have veteran leadership (they are a bit old) and have talent. Arizona is the greatest threat to Seattle in the division. The Cardinals do not have the overall talent to dethrone Seattle, though.

Third: Los Angeles Rams 6-10

The Rams may have a good defense. With Aaron Donald in the middle of the defensive line, they can cause problems for opposing offenses. Los Angeles has issues on offense themselves, however. Jared Goff is still waiting to win his first game as a starting quarterback in the NFL (he is currently 0-7). Asking someone who has never won a game to make a leap to winning his division is not going to happen. How good will Goff be? No one knows. Especially Goff and the Rams.

Fourth: San Francisco 49ers 3-13

I think Kyle Shanahan might do a good job with the 49ers, but it won’t show in 2017. The team does not have a good quarterback or decent offensive or defensive lines. In fact, they are not really good anywhere. In 2018, Kirk Cousins will probably be in San Francisco and the team can start to improve. But in 2016 they were terrible. They will be terrible again in 2017.