Los Angeles Rams

2021 Record 12-5

Odds to win division +130

The defending Super Bowl champs come into the season a little weaker than last year. Von Miller left to sign a monster contract in Buffalo. Left tackle Andrew Whitworth retired. Odell Beckham is coming off a torn ACL and won’t be back until later in the year if he is even still on the Rams. They did sign some big name guys though to help. Notable names Bobby Wagner and Allen Robinson signed pretty big deals to come to LA.

Matt Stafford has battled some elbow issues this offseason but for now, it seems to not be an issue. The best wide receiver in the league last year Cooper Kupp returns and will try and duplicate his almost two thousand yard season again in 2022. The addition of Allen Robinson makes things intriguing. Coming off his worst season ever last year in Chicago, I expect a big bounce back for Robinson this year. Cam Akers will be a year removed from his torn achilles but I am still skeptical that he will look like he did before he got injured. From the sound of it, it looks like a split backfield this year with him and Darrell Henderson.

On defense, losing Von Miller is a pretty big deal. They still have the best defensive player of course in Aaron Donald and a shut down corner in Jalen Ramsey while adding Bobby Wagner to the defense. This will be a pretty good defensive unit once again because of the big names but if any of those guys go down, they could be in a lot of trouble.

While the Rams are a really good team and have the ability to repeat as champions, they are very top heavy without a lot of depth. If injuries start to pile up, things in LA could get ugly in a hurry compared to other teams who could handle losing a player or two. The Rams have one of the hardest schedules in the league this year which doesn’t help. Could a Super Bowl hangover happen? Perhaps. The team is still pretty loaded with talent and should contend once again in 2022. They’ll be the favorite to win the division and will be in the hunt to go back to the Super Bowl once again. 

Arizona Cardinals 

2021 Record 11-6

Odds to win division +400

Until an ankle injury derailed the season in 2021, Kyler Murray was on pace to be the league MVP. Arizona paid Kyler Murray handsomely this offseason and brought in his former teammate Marquise Hollywood Brown from Oklahoma. DeAndre Hopkins will be suspended for the first six games this season but looked to be falling off a bit last year anyway. Christian Kirk got sent to Jacksonville while 34 year old AJ Green and Rondale Moore look to help Kyler in the passing game. Chase Edmonds got paid to go to Miami so James Conner looks to be all alone in the backfield to try and hit his eighteen touchdown mark from a season ago.

On defense, top pass rusher Chandler Jones left for the Raiders. JJ Watt returns from injury but is 33 years old now. The defensive line doesn't look very intimidating and outside of Budda Baker, the secondary doesn't look very strong either. This will be a bottom half of the league unit in my eyes so I will be expecting a lot of shootouts for Kyler.

The Cardinals always tend to start hot but seem to stutter towards the end of the season. That is a stat that has been with Kliff Kingsbury since his college coaching days. If he doesn’t make improvements, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him fired. I'm pretty sure I predicted that same outcome last year and plan on riding it again this go around. Outside of Hollywood Brown, this Arizona squad didn’t get a lot better this offseason. It’s an older roster that looks like it will have a ton of holes to fill down the road on both sides of the ball. I haven’t been a believer in the Cardinals the last few seasons unlike others and don’t plan on being one this year. Kingsbury hasn’t been a very good head coach and that has shown down the stretch each season. I doubt they hit the eleven win mark, especially with their schedule being the ninth toughest in the league. They could very well end up a playoff team once again but as a true Super Bowl contender? I'm just not seeing it. 

San Francisco 49ers

2021 Record 10-7

Odds to win division +150

Watching the final few minutes of the NFC Championship last year, you can tell why the 49ers are moving on from Jimmy Garrapolo and turning the team over to Trey Lance. Jimmy G has won ball games but it was evident he was only going to take them so far. The two big differences is the cannon of an arm(Jimmy G one of the worst deep ball throwers in the league) and the rushing ability for Lance that could take this Kyle Shanahan offense to a whole new level. The offensive line has taken a step back but they still have three quality weapons in George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk. Elijah Mitchell returns for his sophomore season and will be a force in the backfield along with Trey Lance’s rushing upside.

The defense, led by Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, is a top five unit if they stay healthy. The defensive line is one of the best in football and should help make life easier for the secondary this season.

The hope for the 49ers is that Trey Lance is the one that gets this team over the hump. He should be able to open this offense up and even if he goes through some growing pains early, I expect Lance to succeed. He wasn’t drafted third overall for nothing. If the Rams slip a bit this year, there is a great chance that the 49ers could win the division. Unless injuries creep up like they have in the past or Trey Lance turns out to be a bust, San Francisco will be a playoff contender and a sleeper to get to the Super Bowl.  I'm calling my shot here on not only Trey Lance being good but the 49ers to win the division this year.

Seattle Seahawks

2021 Record 7-10

Odds to win division +2000

Finding a franchise quarterback in the NFL is hard enough as it is. Trading one away in his prime years to go with Geno Smith and Drew Lock is insanity. General manager John Schneider and Pete Carroll have not been good the last several years but instead of kicking them to the curb, they trade Russell Wilson instead. Just make it make sense.

Spoiler alert for anyone who needs it. The Seahawks aren’t going to be very good this season. Geno Smith is a fine backup in the league who has had some moments. Drew Lock is trash and the fact he has a chance to start shows how bad things are in Seattle at the moment. Rashad Penny when healthy has had some nice games but it’ll be hard to do when they’re down three scores and Pete Carroll feels the need to still establish the run. DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett will go to waste while quarterback hell is ensuing between Geno and Lock.

On defense, they released Bobby Wagner which officially ends the Legion of Boom era in Seattle. The Jamal Adams trade so far has looked like a disaster for how much they paid for him. There just isn’t a whole lot to like in Seattle at the moment. I don’t expect much out of the two quarterbacks they have and the defense isn’t anything special. This is a below .500 football team this year.

Division Winner: San Francisco 49ers

Los Angeles Rams

Arizona Cardinals

Seattle Seahawks