Ok, first real sports post. The NFC West is pretty wide open this year. The 2-time defending champs of the NFC West lost their Hall of Fame QB over the offseason and their #2 wide receiver. Yes, I declared Kurt Warner a Hall of Famer. That's another post in and of itself, this one goes a totally different direction. My points for the Hawks winning the NFC West are these:
1. They *clearly* have the BEST QB in the division. Sam Bradford is a couple of years from being an elite QB (but I think he's gonna be a great one), Leinart/Anderson are no competition, and former #1 overall pick Alex Smith is not a good QB. Hasselbeck is the only one in the group with a playoff win, and let's not forget he led the Hawks to the Super Bowl (and unfortunately with some bad reffing, lost that game) just a few years ago. Yes he's turning 35 soon, and he's been battling injuries the last few years, but he's still a good, smart QB that can succeed in this league. He's getting better with Housh, Branch is looking healthy and like the old Deion Branch, and the 3 young guys (Tate, Mike Williams, Deion Butler) could surprise some people and be able to make some plays.
2. Their defense is improving. Earl Thomas looks great, Trufant and Tatupu are healthy, Lawyer Milloy might be finding a fountain of youth(?), and the D Line is looking improved. The Minnesota game (it *was* preaseason, but still) proves the D Line is getting better, and that is a big boost for this defense. Aaron Curry is still needing lots of improvement, and our key playmakers need to stay healthy, but they can be a good defense in this division.
3. The O Line is better than last year. Yes, Okung is hurt, Ben Hamilton isn't healthy right now, but with Alex Gibbs, our O Line will be better. This will help Forsett and Leon get running room (yes, I didn't mention Julius Jones for a reason!) and they're guys that can make some exciting plays. With the running game (hopefully) improved, Matt can get some good play action going and our passing game will be better. Hass was at his best in '05 with a running game that was effective.
4. Favorable schedule. The only difficult road game is @ New Orleans in Week 11. We get San Diego at home, Atlanta at home, Carolina at home. With the schedule that we have, I can't imagine anything worse than 8-8. Yes, this is super optimistic, but we get the down AFC West, the NFC South (which is good, but shouldn't be that rough with Atlanta and Carolina travelling all the way here), and then Chicago and the Giants (both of whom are at best, 3rd in their divisions in my opinion).
I don't point these things out to say they WILL win the NFC West, and I'm not getting my hopes up for them to win, but I think it's a possibility and I have to write about it.
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