Arizona Cardinals
Love - A Quietly Dominant Defense
As I mentioned in my end of season grades for the 2012 Arizona Cardinals, how about that defense? They ended on a subtle high note for this struggling club with top five rankings in interceptions, pass defense and total turnovers. That's no small feat when you're facing Colin Kaepernick/Alex Smith and Russell Wilson twice a season. Patrick Peterson and Daryl Washington lived up to their Pro Bowl honors, and the supporting cast of relative unknowns could make a big splash this year with any kind of sign of life on the offensive side of the ball.
I get that it was the financially low-risk best of a long bench of Arizona QB evils, but Carson Palmer is not the answer. Heck, the Cards would probably be better off this year picking up the Raiders' other scrap pile QB of old, Jamarcus Russell. At least he'd have your back for Taco Bell runs after practice. I don't discount that new coach Bruce Arians did wonders with Andrew Luck during his rookie season with the Colts that might be transferred in some small way to Palmer here. But the Arizona O-line still continues to be stagnant and we know how this be-frowned QB past his prime performs after injuries. (He doesn't.) Unless Arians is an evil genius setting the Cardinals up for a dynasty under #1 overall pick Johnny Manziel in 2014, these fans will be in for a season of Carson Palmer sad, sad has-been best.
San Francisco 49ers
Love - A Tecmo-Worthy Roster
Seriously, nobody has it better than the 49ers right now. Colin Kaepernick is playing out of his mind and should only get better with Anquan Boldin lining up alongside Vernon Davis & co. If that wasn't enough, this 2013 draft class holds tremendous short- and long-term potential within a roster that's already fathoms deep on offense and defense. In particular, who's to say where San Fran's ceiling will be with the running game if rookie Marcus Lattimore can get back to 100% under the tutelage of Frank Gore? Alongside one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the league today? It just makes you sick.
With a roster as loaded as this that was arguably a mere 5 yards away from a Super Bowl victory just a few months ago, anything less than a Lombardi this year will surely be a disappointment to the vast majority of fans. The 49ers under Jim Harbaugh have proven they can win in an obscene number of ways, but the team has also benefited from suffering very few injuries and having an edge in innovative play-calling over the past couple of years. Both of these factors will have diminishing returns at some point. How the Niners respond to the kind of adversity that has eluded them so far in the Harbaugh era could be a big factor in this team's ongoing success and how fans define that success. This year, it's just a sixth ring or bust in San Francisco, so no pressure.
St. Louis Rams
Love - Momentum Under Jeff Fisher
If you round up with the tie, the Rams improved by 6 wins under Jeff Fisher in 2012, largely with the same cast of characters that suffered a miserable 2 - 14 season under Steve Spagnuolo the year before. Even though the Rams will have a tough time breaking through in the suddenly stout NFC West, they've shown they can hang with some of the league's best with limited means. The Rams' defense has a lot of bright spots heading into this year, and I really like the move to reunite TE Jared Cook with his old head coach and give QB Sam Bradford new options in the passing game. If the Rams happen to get it together and squeeze into a wild card spot this year, I wouldn't be that surprised. But if they tanked on Fisher's watch, I'd be stunned.
The Rams might get the Lady Blitz bump since I made a similar argument last year about the Minnesota Vikings' playoff chances, but they are in a tough spot to improve as long as the 49ers and Seahawks continue to play lights out and the Cards' Carson Palmer has an even mediocre season to match a spectacular defense. (For the record, I think the Rams will outplay Arizona, but hey, I'm trying to make a contrarian argument here). In another division, St. Louis could scrap for a wild card spot with everything going right, but the talent just isn't there right now to match that of their western brethren.
Seattle Seahawks
Love - A Very Well-Rounded Roster
The Seattle Seahawks stack up pretty darn well in the arms race with the 49ers for the most loaded roster in the NFL. Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Sydney Rice and now Percy Harvin make for a formidable core of skill players on offense. Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and Chris Clemons were among many big time playmakers on defense in 2012, and they now add Cliff Avril to their elite ranks. The expectations will be just as sky-high for these guys as they are for their biggest NFC West rivals down the coast, but who isn't looking forward to this Pro Bowl-caliber divisional matchup twice this year? Heck, it should probably just replace the Pro Bowl altogether.
I get it. The Twelfth Man is a testament to a geographic fanbase that is arguably rivaled only by that of Boston. It's hard for opponents to win in Seattle because of a dungeness crab- and espresso-fueled rage of radioactive green and blue. But now that the Seahawks are winning like crazy and just opening their playoff window in the Wilson/Carroll era, we are all going to have to hear about it constantly and it will be a lot less sympathetic and a whole lot more smug than in the endearingly awful old days. The "Twelfth Man" is even trying to break the world record for crowd noise at their home opener with the Niners this year; if they succeed in being louder than the soccer hooligans of Turkey, (apparently,) the arrogance will be deafening.
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