2015 NFC West Betting Odds And Preview

Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks look poised for a run at their third straight Super Bowl appearance. (Photo credit: Keith Allison / Foter / CC BY-SA)


Five years ago, the NFC West was the laughingstock of the NFL. Then it became the home to some of the best teams in the league, qualifying multiple teams for the playoffs three years in a row. Now, it appears on its way to becoming one of the worst divisions in football once again.

Here’s a look at whether the Seahawks will face any challenges as they seek their eighth NFC West division title since 2004:

Seattle

The Seahawks came one yard (and one head-scratching play call) from their second straight Super Bowl title last season. Will they suffer a hangover from that loss, or will they return hungrier than ever?

That’s probably the biggest unknown about Seattle this season. They have a stud QB in Russell Wilson, stud RB in Marshawn Lynch, and a fancy new toy at TE after trading for Jimmy Graham during the off-season. Their offensive line is average at best, as is their WR corps, but that Seahawks defence — which returns 10 of 11 starters — doesn’t need much offensive support to win games.

Seattle has a very difficult schedule, slated to face 10 teams that made the playoffs last season, but the Seahawks will probably still win 11 or 12 games. Laying more than -300 with Seattle on the NFC West betting odds is more than we like to risk, but there don’t seem to be any better options.

Arizona

The Cards were a big surprise last year, starting the year with an 11-3 mark. However, Arizona couldn’t overcome injuries to starting QB Carson Palmer and backup Drew Stanton, losing its last three games — including its first-round playoff contest.

The health of Palmer is critical to Arizona’s chances of coming anywhere near that success this year. The team has bolstered its offensive line in an attempt to keep Palmer protected, but even then, he’s a 35-year-old coming back from a knee injury. Even with Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and promising sophomore John Brown to throw to, Palmer might have some struggles this year.

The Cardinals have concerns in their secondary and at inside linebacker, and they lost their starting nose tackle during the off-season. Defensively, Arizona probably won’t be as strong as last year, either.

Add to this a non-divisional schedule that includes games versus the Steelers, Lions, Ravens, Bengals, Eagles and Packers, and Arizona might struggle getting to 10 wins. That won’t be enough for the Cardinals to win the NFC South.

San Francisco

It’s hard to believe that the 49ers were in the Super Bowl three years ago. They tumbled to an 8-8 squad last year, and it appears very unlikely that this year will be a San Francisco treat.

Where do we start? How about the departure of coach Jim Harbaugh, without whom Colin Kaepernick will likely regress even more. RB Frank Gore and the team’s best run blocker are also gone, so the San Fran offence is expected to have some serious struggles. And defensively, the 49ers lost six starters (three of them to retirement).

The schedule makers haven’t made things any easier for San Francisco, especially early. Five of the team’s first seven opponents were playoff teams last year, and the 49ers could easily be out of NFC West title contention before the calendar turns to October.

St. Louis

The days of the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ with Kurt Warner at the helm are long gone in St. Louis. The Rams haven’t enjoyed a winning season since 2003 and haven’t been in the playoffs since ’04.

The Sam Bradford era in St. Louis is over as well. The Rams let the former Oklahoma standout QB go to Philadelphia and replaced him with ex-Eagles QB Nick Foles, who was effective in Chip Kelly’s system but, like Bradford, is injury prone. The Rams’ offensive strategy is to keep things close with a conservative game plan and run the ball a lot, which could be difficult behind a mediocre offensive line.

Fortunately for St. Louis, they have a good defence that will keep them in most games. The Rams allowed an average of less than 20 points a game in their final 10 contests last year, led by a strong pass rush.

The Rams will have a difficult five-game stretch to start the season, but their schedule will get easier after that. Still, a .500 season is probably the best-case scenario in St. Louis.

2015 NFC West Betting Odds at Pinnacle Sports

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