ESPN the Mag Predictions (NFC West)

Quote:
NFC WEST

1. Arizona Cardinals
Projected record: 9-7

BEST-CASE SCENARIO
A mature Matt Leinart looks a little more like Kurt Warner than critics expected, while the defense looks exactly as it always does.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO
Leinart doesn't even look like Leinart, while D collapses into the hole left by departed LB Karlos Dansby (109 tackles last season).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Seattle Seahawks
Projected record: 7-9

BEST-CASE SCENARIO
New coach Pete Carroll jacks up the franchise with an influx of talent, especially rook S Earl Thomas.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO
Rookie LT Russell Okung fails to fortify a porous O-line, speeding QB Matt Hasselbeck's end, while the secondary shows it needs more than Thomas to make it whole.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. St. Louis Rams
Projected record: 6-10

BEST-CASE SCENARIO
QB Sam Bradford mimics Matt Ryan's first year: 3,440 yards, 61% completion rate. Better yet, DE Chris Long grows sick of being seventh-best on the team in stops.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO
Four words: a Steven Jackson injury. Because then the lack of a serviceable backup buries the O.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. San Francisco 49ers
Projected record: 6-10

BEST-CASE SCENARIO
Improving QB Alex Smith takes another big stride forward, and the Niners are happy to cash in on overall divisional mediocrity.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO
Smith and the Niners D -- which allowed 100 fewer points last season vs. 2008 -- forget all that they've learned.

Oh, and there were some stupid bar graphs that showed #of times each team won x games over the course of a season. Records came from an average of 10k "simulation" seasons

What a joke. Can we get a new sports leader? ESPN sucks at just about everything. And when are they going to replace this Sando nerd? He is awful also!

I don't get it
This is the stupidest sh*t I've seen all off season

I read that while I was on the crapper this morning. Felt like canceling my subscription until I ran into the Patrick Willis K-Swiss ad.

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:
What a joke. Can we get a new sports leader? ESPN sucks at just about everything. And when are they going to replace this Sando nerd? He is awful also!

It wasn't Sando - it was Football Outsiders. The thing that pisses me off is they give no information about how these calculations were run. It seems totally random. Not just for our division but for the rest of the league as well. Seems like they are trying too hard to be different.

Stuff like this usually doesn't make me this upset, but this is a major sports magazine, that we're suppose to take seriously - and they don't even give us a REASON why we're going to have the same record as the Rams? Really?

How can we be ranked behind the rams? How do writers like this have jobs?

I can see Cards being ahead of us based on a writer who is going of their reputation under warner and doesn't know how much they've really lost or their O-line shuffle or how we shut Fitz down with Spencer.

I can see Hawks based off a healthy Matt Hasslebeck being the best QB in the division. With the writer forgetting how crappy their line could be and not even looking at the defense.

But the Rams??? That just proves that this writer is smoking crack!

Just ignore that BS. We all know what the real deal is and besides that's why they play the game. Even if the 49ers don't win the division, they certainly will not be in last place.

Originally posted by Chrs0049:

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:
What a joke. Can we get a new sports leader? ESPN sucks at just about everything. And when are they going to replace this Sando nerd? He is awful also!

It wasn't Sando - it was Football Outsiders. The thing that pisses me off is they give no information about how these calculations were run. It seems totally random. Not just for our division but for the rest of the league as well. Seems like they are trying too hard to be different.

Stuff like this usually doesn't make me this upset, but this is a major sports magazine, that we're suppose to take seriously - and they don't even give us a REASON why we're going to have the same record as the Rams? Really?

I think all they did was simulate an entire season on Madden.

What garbage. Arizona doesn't even have a freakin' QB since Lienhart was demoted.

As if I need another reason to ignore ESPN the Magazine

Bad data in results in bad data out. I don't think anyone realizes just how good the 49ers are right now, especially the defense. If they are not top 5 this year, I will be shocked. Offensively, it is really hard to say where the 49ers are at. First preseason game struck me as more of last year. Second preseason game struck me as a much better team. If they have last year's offense, I would expect an 8 and 8 year. If they have a much better offense, I would expect 12-4.

P.S. I would be shocked if the Rams had 6 wins this year.

Originally posted by Chrs0049:

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:
What a joke. Can we get a new sports leader? ESPN sucks at just about everything. And when are they going to replace this Sando nerd? He is awful also!

It wasn't Sando - it was Football Outsiders. The thing that pisses me off is they give no information about how these calculations were run. It seems totally random. Not just for our division but for the rest of the league as well. Seems like they are trying too hard to be different.

Stuff like this usually doesn't make me this upset, but this is a major sports magazine, that we're suppose to take seriously - and they don't even give us a REASON why we're going to have the same record as the Rams? Really?

You take ESPN seriously? They're like a tabloid magazine with the way they try to manufacture stories. There are more than 1,000 players in the NFL, yet they seem to report on only the ones that are getting negative press; TO, Favre, Roethlisberger, etc. It is a joke. Give us the stories about Patrick Willis and how he overcame obstacles, etc. It makes for better reporting and it represents the NFL in a lot better light.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO
Improving QB Alex Smith takes another big stride forward, and the Niners are happy to cash in on overall divisional mediocrity.

Meanwhile, the majority of talking heads on ESPN are picking the Niners to take the division.

Those pages sound like toilet paper to me, fellas.

Originally posted by BETTERDAYZ9ERS:
BEST-CASE SCENARIO
Improving QB Alex Smith takes another big stride forward, and the Niners are happy to cash in on overall divisional mediocrity.

Here we go again....