Predict The Final 2023 NFC West Standings

[AROS]

Why not? I'm bored.

Here's what I have. What about you?

NFC WEST

49ers 12 - 5
Seahawks 10 - 7
Rams 8 - 9
Cardinals 7 - 10

 

[Mizak]

That 5 game stretch of Rams, 49ers, Cowboys, 49ers, Eagles is gonna be depressing in 2 months.

 

[AROS]

That 5 game stretch of Rams, 49ers, Cowboys, 49ers, Eagles is gonna be depressing in 2 months.

It will be a gauntlet no doubt. I’ll be okay with 2-3 in that window.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

I'd be happy with 1-4.

 

[AROS]

I'd be happy with 1-4.

Why on earth would you be happy with 1-4? That would be a shit show and likely doom our playoff hopes.

 

[rjdriver]

San Fran 13-4 (Had them losing to Dallas but not anymore)
Seahawks 10-7
Rams 9-8
Cards 5-12

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Why on earth would you be happy with 1-4? That would be a shit show and likely doom our playoff hopes.

Because it's not crazy to believe this team could drop all 5. I have no reason to believe will win against the Rams, Eagles, Cowboys or 49ers and wouldn't be shocked if we split with the Cards.

I still think this is an 8-9/9-8 type of team that's fully capable of going 5-12 based on our schedule.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

The defense is just so bad that it doesn't inspire any confidence in me. The Seahawks remind me of those 1990's Kansas City teams ultra talented on offense and totally horrible defenses.

 

[bileever]

I think the NFC West is stronger than advertised. The Rams, even though they are 1-2, have already shown that they are going to be competitive. The Cardinals have been in every game and Jonathan Gannon has them playing the right way. (It shows you how dumb viral videos can be in giving you a false impression of what's really going on.) Let's hope that they win just enough to lose out on the Caleb Williams sweepstakes.

 

[Jerhawk]

49ers 13-4
Seahawks 9-8
Rams 8-9
Cardinals 5-12

 

[FlyingGunHawk]

49ers 13-4
Seahawks 9-8
Rams 8-9
Cardinals 5-12

I agree with this list. I think the 49ers defense is just too good. Purdy can win games by running the ball and throwing screen passes.

That Gauntlet of 49ers, Cowboys, 49ers, and Eagles is going to be insane. The Seahawks need to win as many games as possible beforehand. Not like they're not trying to already. Even if they go 2-2 in that stretch I would be impressed. Going 3-1 would be awesome. Because that is NOT an easy schedule by any stretch. Not for any team.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

49ERS (PUKE) 12-5
Hawks 10-7
Rams 8-9
Cards 6-11

 

[oldhawkfan]

I’m not worried about that stretch at all. Yet. Maybe when we get there. As it stands now, I’m looking at this team to really be rolling by then. I see a split with the digits and a sweep of the eagles and cowboys.

 

[pittpnthrs]

49ers and then everybody else. Seattle probably falls in second by default, but I wouldnt be surprised if they were even further down the list.

 

[Lagartixa]

I think the NFC West is stronger than advertised. The Rams, even though they are 1-2, have already shown that they are going to be competitive. The Cardinals have been in every game and Jonathan Gannon has them playing the right way. (It shows you how dumb viral videos can be in giving you a false impression of what's really going on.) Let's hope that they win just enough to lose out on the Caleb Williams sweepstakes.

Who cares if the Cardinals get the top draft pick? Even if they took Caleb Williams, they'd still be just hitting the expensive years of Murray's contract.

Assuming Williams is the top pick, he'll make more than Bryce Young is getting from his rookie contract. Young's cap hits for his four fully guaranteed years are $6.90M, $8.63M, $10.35M, and $12.08M. By keeping only until the digit representing tens of thousands, I ended up rounding up more than down, but I expect next year's first overall pick to make more than the difference, so we can take Young's numbers and use them as an estimate for Williams's, and we should be safely under what Williams's real numbers will end up being.

For 2024-2027 (the first four years of Williams's hypothetical NFL career), Kyler Murray's cap numbers are $51.86M, $45.61M, $55.55M, and $43.54M.

That means that the Cardinals would be using $58.76M, $54.24M, $65.90M, and $55.62M of cap space on QBs if they were to keep both. If they were to cut Murray, they'd have to accelerate the cap hits for all the parts of Murray's signing bonus not yet accounted for on the cap to either one or two years, depending on whether they designated him as a pre-June-1 cut or a post-June-1 cut.

In 2024, who would trade for Murray with a fully guaranteed $35.3M salary?

After 2024, the Cardinals could realistically get some one-year cap relief with "just" $13M in 2024 dead money if they could find a trade partner and designate Murray as a post-June-1 trade, but then there'd be an additional $34M in dead money on the 2024 cap. And given what we know about Murray before his injury, and given that we have no idea what will be left of him when he returns, who's going to want to take the kind of risk that trading for Murray would represent?

By having over $58M of cap space spent on the QB room in year one of Williams's career, I don't see how the Cardinals could put a decent OL in front of Williams, nor have decent "weapons" for him, nor field anything even approaching a decent defense. Further, they'd have to deal with Murray, who already appeared to have problems focusing on football, and who would additionally be angry at the team for drafting another QB. His response to that situation would make finding a trade partner in 2025 or later even harder.

Drafting Williams would not bring for the 2024 Cardinals one of the biggest advantages of drafting a QB: the relatively low cap hit, allowing a team to be built around the drafted QB. Even in 2025 or 2025-26 (depending on whether Murray was traded or cut with a pre-June-1 or post-June-1 designation), the dead money left over from Murray's contract would make the cap hits for the Cardinals' QB room too large for them to be able to field a decent team.

Further, even for teams who can follow the model of drafting a QB and taking advantage of the low cap hits for their QB to build a stronger team, as I've shown elsewhere, drafting a QB #1 overall is very far from being a guarantee of changing the team's fortunes in a positive way.

I don't like the Cardinals, so I'd love for them to draft Williams, but I can't believe they'll do it.

 

[Mad Dog]

As Chuck Knox said, "It's not who you play but when you play them." November is a long time away. CMC and Kittle go down and Purdy gets hurt and suddenly SF looks vulnerable. Stafford goes down and the Rams are a 5 win team again.

The best teams are top heavy with stars and their depth is questionable. I like the Hawks depth so far. We've seen a ton of injuries and still function at a similar level.

 

[WmHBonney]

That 5 game stretch of Rams, 49ers, Cowboys, 49ers, Eagles is gonna be depressing in 2 months.

I hope Hurtt watched the Bengals defense vs the Rams. Watched and learned a thing or two.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

I think the NFC West is stronger than advertised. The Rams, even though they are 1-2, have already shown that they are going to be competitive. The Cardinals have been in every game and Jonathan Gannon has them playing the right way. (It shows you how dumb viral videos can be in giving you a false impression of what's really going on.) Let's hope that they win just enough to lose out on the Caleb Williams sweepstakes.

That's guaranteed the real issue issue is will we finish 3rd or last in the division? We're not bad enough for Caleb but we are bad enough for John to tell Pete STFU and draft a top tier quarterback my choice is Rattler currently because I don't trust Penix in the 1st due to offensive scheme, arm strength and injury history but there is Purdy right here for the next 15-20 years it seems. So you got to start taking shots every year because neither Geno or Locke get you anywhere. Neither will more safeties Earl was generational Pete quit ******* around and build a modern NFL defense ie. DL out the current rules demand you must rush the quarterback end of story.

 

[TwistedHusky]

How will be beat the Rams for #2 in the NFC West?

We likely lose the next game we play against them.

How do the games played so far indicate we would be better than them?
Curious about this logic.
Are we just assuming our defense will get better then?

 

[Mad Dog]

How will be beat the Rams for #2 in the NFC West?

We likely lose the next game we play against them.

How do the games played so far indicate we would be better than them?
Curious about this logic.
Are we just assuming our defense will get better then?

Because every other team knows how to play against McVay. Pete is the only coach not to have figured it out. I think Rams film review interferes with his nap time.