Surprise rival for seahawks...

jake206

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The team that will give seahawks biggest trouble won't be 49ers. In fact, I think hawks will take them down quite handily. Its going to be the St. Louis Rams. Quick receivers have given hawks secondary fits at times and rams WR will have one of the quickest tandems in Tavon Austin and Steadman Bailey, even if they are rookies. I have have a feeling that they'll start running no-huddle that Bradford used to play a lot in college too. It may be a shootout between hawks and rams.
 

RolandDeschain

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Bradford needs to take a big step if he wants to scare any opposing defenses; especially an elite one like ours. The Rams D-line is flat-out scary, though. It's almost unfair, the pressure they get with their base personnel.
 

pehawk

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Meh, we ran up and down the field on the Rams in game 1. It was just one of those odd games. In game 2, the Seahawks rolled out there with essentially a preseason gameplan.
 

hawk45

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The secondary is the unquestionable strength of the defense and Rams and Bradford are going to take it apart?

Not buying it. 9ers are the number one threat by far.
 
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jake206

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I don't get why ppl are giving the 9ers so much credit this year. Last year was their year and they blew it. This year, their WR corp is decimated. Its just vernon davis and Kaepernick. 9ers are starting to becoming very one-dimensional. Colin will regress, as teams will start scheming against the pistol better.
 

bestfightstory

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Yes and no. I will agree with the OP that by midway point of the season the St Louis Rams will be considered the Seahawks greatest intradivisional threat. But I think they will fade some down the stretch. And counting on 2 rookie WRs is a tall order-I get that.

Looking at their schedule I noticed an interesting phenomenon. They play the same teams home/away as we do from the NFC South and AFC South. Odd & Advantage: San Fran. The Niners, however, will lose their first two out of the gate (home vs pack and @ Seattle). Then, in week 4 they travel on a short week to St Louis for a Thursday night game.

THAT game will be critical.
 

pehawk

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Ill get flamed for this, but the Card scare me a lot more than the Rams. Palmer put up good numbers with a bad line in Oakland. And, he didn't have Fitz and Arians helping him do it.

The Rams last year, were the 2010 Seahawks. They'll be the 2011 version of the Seahawks this year. Offensively they lost their soul and heart in FA.
 

vanillasuede

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Jake - you are exactly right and forget about the rookies even though by the end of the year they will be contributing in droves. The 2 guys to worry about are Chris Givens and Jared Cook - After that Brian Quick and Pettis who all have experience and then you throw in the quick slot 4.3 WR speedsters Tavon Austin and Stedman.

Add in the fact they upgraded their OL with Jake Long and the center/guard from Alabama and now you have weapons with time for a very accurate Sam Bradford to throw the ball too.

Now with the defense they added a stud LB in Ogletree (who runs like a deer to hunt down QBs) in the first round and McDonald at safety to go with that unreal DL that led the league in sacks last year. Long an Quinn are unreal.

S.F. has issues at WR and DL - I think by mid season the Rams are going to be a force and better than SF.

Take them lightly and you will get destroyed. They were 4-1-1 in the division last year.

And to think they have 2 first round picks in 2014 and 2 more in 2015. This division is going to be unbelievably tough.

Just one man's opinion.
 
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jake206

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No way Cards are in the picture. Carson Palmer??? I don't care if they have Fitz. Rams on the other hand, did very well in the draft this year. And if hawks showed anything, playing rookies doesn't necessarily mean the team will have a mediocre season.
 

zerohero65

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The Rams are one of those teams that can sneak up you. They're the kind of team you should beat, even on an off week, but then they have the Sunday where they surprise even themselves with a win.
 

TeamoftheCentury

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No team in the NFC West is going to be a "surprise" rival. They are all formidable opponents. Perhaps what you meant to say (in the OP) is that the Rams will prove to be more formidable than the 49ers. I can see that. Seems like the Hawks and Rams are already rivals of sorts.
While I agree SF will fade, I do think both the Rams and Cardinals will be tough as well. It's probably the toughest division in football right now.

I've said for some time that I could see the Rams as the division runner up to the Hawks, so I agree (in general) with the OP. Niner fans don't like to hear that and scoff. But, it's not as far-fetched as they think. The Rams are well-coached, have a formidable defense and added weapons on offense. I seriously doubt that the Seahawks are looking past the Rams (or any other opponent.) So, again, there will be no surprises. The Seahawks are going to respect every opponent - perhaps especially within the division.
 

SouthSoundHawk

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I'm on board with there being no surprises out of the NFCW.

I will take the birth of a new rival the Nola Saints. We'll come off our bye week fresh and beat them down at CLink in week 13. Then we'll meet up again in the playoffs (here...again...and we'll deserve the home field...no one will question it), and it will be a much closer game. Of course, I have the Seattle as the owl favs, so they'll get the victory.

Thus, sowing the rival seeds.

Sorry Iron.
 

PlinytheCenter

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While I respect the Rams on defense, I just can't see two rookie WR causing season-long havoc in this division. The talent is there and they may get their lumps in, but consistant route running is going to be a problem as it has been for virtually every other rookie WR in this league.
 

Hawks46

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The Rams Dline worries me more than any other squad in the division. They owned our OL in the 2 games they played, but we have a lot more options and can move the ball in different ways. They also have a rookie safety and I think we can take advantage of that with our WR corps and Wilson working together for an entire offseason and the addition of Harvin.

The only reason the Cards don't scare me is that they haven't addressed their OL. They won't be running on us so they'll be forced to pass and become more one dimensional. Their OL is putrid in pass protection, and Palmer is not an elusive QB, so I see us beating the crap out of him. Fitz doesn't give us the same problems with Browner or Sherman on him as he did in previous years, and they really don't have a #2.

The Niners are still the most complete team outside of us. Their D is still going to be hard to move the ball on, I think, other than they also have a rookie safety and Harvin tore them up when he played them with Ponder throwing to him. As mentioned, they are going to be hurting on the offensive front with a noted lack of top shelf talent and depth at WR, and will have to rely on the run more. Problem is, even when we know they're going to run, we rarely stop it.
 

pehawk

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The Rams DLine was manhandled by our OLine in game one. Manhandled. Had to average, roughly, 5 or 6 a carry on 1st down. That was a poorly coached game for Bevell, really bad.
 

kearly

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Until the Rams score more than 1 offensive TD against us in a season, I'm not worried. The Rams might be good in a few years, but people are getting ahead of themselves if they are anointing the Rams as serious 2013 playoff contenders. That defense is pretty good, but their offense is very much in rebuilding mode and they pretty much wiped the slate clean with young players this season. I think they are built to be a pain for SF and SEA since they have built their roster with the division in mind, but they will still get curbstomped by tough teams out of the division just like they have been for years.

Last season they were not formidable- they were a pest. Thing is, bad teams can play tough in the division- it happens all the time.
 

bigtrain21

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kearly":2n86is0a said:
Until the Rams score more than 1 offensive TD against us in a season, I'm not worried. The Rams might be good in a few years, but people are getting ahead of themselves if they are anointing the Rams as serious 2013 playoff contenders. That defense is pretty good, but their offense is very much in rebuilding mode and they pretty much wiped the slate clean with young players this season. I think they are built to be a pain for SF and SEA since they have built their roster with the division in mind, but they will still get curbstomped by tough teams out of the division just like they have been for years.

Last season they were not formidable- they were a pest. Thing is, bad teams can play tough in the division- it happens all the time.


Did anyone ever see that bullcrap td they got when they resorted to hiding a player near the sideline? I have yet to see a good replay of that where you actually see what happened. Does it show up on the all-22?
 

kobebryant

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I disagree. It is the 49ers until someone proves otherwise. The talent,depth, and most importantly QB play on the 49ers is so vastly superior to that of the Rams. Harbaugh is a stud of coach; Fisher is an overrated guy who managed to keep a job forever while constantly hovering around .500 (career .538) aside from a random good or awful season. Chris Long gets abused by Breno in the run game every damn game.
 

ivotuk

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Op is correct, the Rams will be a formidable team with Long, Brockers and Quinn on the d line. I forget, do they still have Laurenitis at LB? I think their biggest weakness on defense will be at OLB and safety. They will be a good team to pound the rock against once we get though the front four, and that's where our strength will lie. Opening holes up the middle then ripping through the second level.

passing might be a little tough except for when we "pound the rock, then throw it over the top. I think St Louis will be susceptible to the deep ball but great against the short stuff.

Then there's Sam Bradford, who when he had time can be deadly accurate. Hopefully like last year he will sputter in the red zone and turn the ball over. Their run game w will be mediocre early in the year but will slightly improve over time. I just don't think they have the offensive line to open any holes our big boys. Outside runs will be dangerous if we don't contain so maybe it's a good thing Irvin has an early month off to watch and learn.

I could see the Rams going 2:0 vs 49ers and even 1:1 versus us.

We do have the better overall roster and SL is still up and coming but JeffFisher knows how to call games. Dude has a ton of experience. I think he can be predictable though. There is a lot of film on Fisher, and Pete better study it very closely.
 
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