When you look at the close odds at the sportsbook site for teams to win the NFC West this season you will notice very competitive numbers. The San Francisco 49ers are 2-1 favorites to win the division at the sportsbook page while the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks are not far behind.
Sportsbook site odds on the 49ers, Cardinals and Seahawks are close with the Rams a distant fourth. The Cardinals are the defending division champs but most people don’t like their chances now that Kurt Warner is retired and Anquan Boldin is in Baltimore. The 49ers are favored but they still have Alex Smith at quarterback and he does not inspire a lot of confidence. He may be as good as the other quarterbacks in the division though and that is why the 49ers are favored.
Did you know that the NFC West has not had two teams make the playoffs in the same season since 2004? They have not even had two teams in the division finish with a winning record in the same season since 2003. The 49ers are favored in this division even though they have failed to make the playoffs in the last seven seasons.
San Francisco has a solid defense and a very good running game led by Frank Gore and that is enough for them to be favored in the NFC West. The Arizona Cardinals will be going with Matt Leinart at quarterback and that is reason enough to downgrade their chances this season. Seattle has a new head coach in Pete Carroll and many people believe he can turn around the fortunes of the Seahawks. That remains to be seen since Seattle still has an aging quarterback in Matt Hasselbeck and no running game. The Rams have number one draft pick Sam Bradford and running back Steven Jackson but not much else.
The 49ers are the pick by many at the sportsbook page to win the NFC West this season but they still have to prove they can win with Alex Smith at quarterback. The Cardinals have to prove they can win with Matt Leinart while Seattle has to prove that Matt Hasselbeck is not through. Quarterback play could end up deciding the NFC West in 2010.