NFC West Update week 10...SPECIAL EDITION

I like to put this out on Wednsday or so, but was unable to. Since alba is probably holding his breath until it gets posted, I figured I would put it up.

But first, a divisional rant.

If you look on that map we put up, you'll see that I am in Carbondale, IL. Not only is that prime Rams territory, but it is also Bears Country. If you listen to the hype they self produce:
~The Bears a legit Super Bowl contenders this year.
~Kyle Orton is the best Bears qb in 20 years.
~(and my personal favorite) the NFC Central is not as bad as the NFC West.

No, no, and couldn't be more wrong. (OK, so maybe Orton IS their best qb since their last title...) I won't go into why the Bears are not a legit contnder, but basically their argument is this: San Fransisco? Arizona? Come on, your division sucks.

To which I fire back, Green Bay (whose one win came outside the division)? Detroit (who while having a better record than Arizona is still led by Joey Harrington)? and Minnasota (whats not funny about their season? They are playing better though.)?

I'll let you make your own conclusions...

The standings:

Seattle 6-2 (3-0)
St. Louis 4-4 (1-2)
Arizona 2-6 (1-3)
San Fransisco 2-6 (1-1)

Team breakdowns

St. Louis Rams
Last week: Bye
Threat to win the division: Medium

The skinny: Everyone assumed that when Bulger went down, that would be two losses for the Rams. Instead, Jamie Martin held serve, and they won two straight. Now Bulger, Isaac Bruce, and comapny are all back.

Joe Vitt has also realized that running the ball is a great idea, and Stephen Jackson is getting a lot of touches.

The defense was impressive going into the bye, and now have Leonard Little back.

This week: at Seattle

Arizona Cardinals
Last week: 33-19 loss to Seattle
Threat to win the division: Low

The skinny: Remember when Arizona was going to make the playoffs this year? Remember when they were supposed to be real competetive last season? Remember when Kurt Warner was the answer to their problems?

Remember this when you're filling out your First Coach to Get Fired office pool next season. (You're welcome for the tip.)

This week: at Detroit

San Fransisco 49ers
Last week: 24-6 loss to New York Giants
Threat to win the division: Low (But threat to win the #1 pick is medium)

The skinny: I know Mike Nolan has his team playing well, but shouldn't he make a speech to his team that goes something like this?

"Alright men. We're making some great strides, but think of how much better we'll be with Reggie Bush on our team. For that to happen, we need to lose every game for the rest of the year."

It would inspire me to play my worst.

This week: at Chicago

SPECIAL EDITION PART!

Seattle
Last week: 33-19 win over Arizona
Threat to win the division: High

The skinny: The defense needs a little help, but have played well this season anyway. The offense is great. We all know about this team, so I'm going to bring up what I said to a couple friends this week.

This game does not scare me. At all. The Rams have all their weapons back, they had them when we beat them earlier in the season. This one's at home, and we play better at Qwest.

I won't even be scared if we lose this game. The wheels won't fall off this team. Last season, that loss to Washington would have spiraled us to a 6-10 season. Instead, we win the identical game two weeks later. The division might get a little tighter, but we can outlast the Rams.

Besides the fact that we still play San Fransisco twice. If we lose this game, we're likely to go 5-1 in the division.



And if we win, its a 3 game lead in the division, with 7 to play (and 2 against the 49ers) Who else likes those odds?

Enjoy the games.

And since we have two games against the NFC Central, root for Cards and Niners. I want to listen to silence on Monday from Bears fans.

Alan