NFC West Preview with Alex Bleuel

In this episode, Alex Bleuel and I preview the NFC West where the LA Rams won followed by the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. We start with the reigning Super Bowl champs. After 70 titles without a title in Los Angeles, the Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals to win the Super Bowl. Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp's connections led to LA's strong passing offense in 2021. Last year, Kupp caught 145 passes for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. The former Eastern Wahsington receiver followed with six more playoff touchdowns. On defense, the Rams are led by aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey. Donald solidied himself as the NFL's best defensive player and one of the best interior defenders with wrecking offensive lines. While Super Bowl repeats are uncommong in the NFL outside of New England, we debate LA's chances of hoisting another Lombardi Trophy. After the Rams, we head to Seattle. After a decade, the Seahawks traded Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. Geno Smith and Drew Lock will look to replace Russ as Seattle's starter. During this conversation, we learned Seahawks running back Chris Carson will retire. We both believe Seattle will struggle and will look to the NFL Draft for its next quarterback. Alex believes the Hawks will be the most unforgettable team in 2022. Other than DK Metcalf and Jamal Adams, Seattle's talent is nowhere near the previous teams that usually challenged for Super Bowls. From Seattle, we look at the Arizona Cardinals, which gave Kyler Murray a massive contract. Alex explains that Kyler is what teams want in the athletic NFL with his dual-threat ability. I stated how I would take Kyler over Aaron Rodgers as my QB. While Arizona has started well the past few seaons, the Cardinals have not played well in December and January. We look at whether Kliff Kingsbury can lead Glendale to playoff success. To conclude our teams, we head to the Bay Area. The 49ers made news by stating this is now Trey Lance's team. With this news, by discuss SF's chances of more playoff success after two NFC Championships appearances in three years. While Alex is more egative and wants the 49ers to struggle with Miami owning SF's first-rounder in 2023, I have more faith in the 49ers. Lance possesses tons of talent. Now, he gets to lead a offense with Elijah Mitchell, George, Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk. I try and stump Alex with some NFC West trivia from Arizona's 1998 NFC Wild Card win over the Dallas Cowboys. We end this episode by both picking the Rams to win another divisional title in 2022.