NFC West
Arizona Cardinals 10-6: Statistically speaking, the Arizona Cardinals were the NFL’s best team to miss the playoffs in 2013. Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald are quickly reaching the end of their shelf life (if they haven’t already), but the team has talent in the areas that matter most. They benefit from playing a third place schedule (despite the tough NFC West), but should have the luxury of Seattle and San Francisco coming back down to earth. Ten wins couldn’t get them a playoff spot in 2013, but it buys them an NFC West title in ’14. Worth noting: Arizona is hosting the Super Bowl this season.
Seattle Seahawks 9-7: As far as trends go, no team has won a playoff game in the season following their Super Bowl victory since the Patriots in 2005. In most cases, they fail to make the playoffs altogether. Seattle has one of the best all-around teams to have stepped on a football field in the past two years, but the Super Bowl hangover is more than a mystical curse. In a league where physicality is present at every corner, playing 36 games over the last two seasons is viewed more as a negative than positive. Marshawn Lynch appears to be the poster-boy for a potential decline, as back-to-back seasons of 300 carries often yields a regression in the third year. Everything went right for the world champions last year, but it is naive to approach the sequel without hesitation. A year without a playoff appearance is not out of the question.
St. Louis Rams 7-9: Perhaps the most talked-about team during the offseason, the Rams enter the regular season mere weeks after losing quarterback Sam Bradford for the entire year. The media has dedicated countless hours to Michael Sam’s pursuit of making the team, and it is possible that his release has caused more of a distraction than his presence did. The Rams are well-coached, however, and a breakout season would not be completely surprising, but it’s tough to imagine it happening with Shaun Hill at the helm instead of Sam Bradford.
San Francisco 49ers 6-10: Two years removed from their loss in Super Bowl XLVIII, the 49ers enter 2014 in a similar fashion as their rivals from Seattle: overworked. The difference between the two teams? Injuries and suspensions. Defensive mainstays NaVorro Bowman and Aldon Smith will miss six and nine games, respectively, to start the year. Frank Gore falls into the same “potential breakdown” class as Marshawn Lynch, although with more years on his legs. Unless Colin Kaepernick can explode in 2014, it’s starting to look like the 49ers may have missed their shot at a title with this core group.
