Category: Arizona Cardinals

The bright future of the NFC West quarterbacks

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
NFC West / AFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

Lets just put this out there before we even begin. The NFC West is one of, if not THE best division in football. In fact, I can’t think of a single division that is as competitive top to bottom as the NFCW.

Yes, I realize that that the Arizona Cardinals have had a bit of a slump as of late, but if we try to peer into the future just a bit, the West could steal the name “Black and Blue Division” from the NFC North. A lot of this success, past, present and probable future, is due to the quarterbacks. Let’s take a look at the four signal-callers, and why they will be leading their teams for years to come.

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Panthers fire Rivera – Who’s next?

Kate Arhar
Senior Sports Editor AFC North and NFC South

By Kate Arhar // @ClvlndK8 

In news that shocked me this week, the Carolina Panthers have fired head coach Ron Rivera after nine seasons.If a guy can coach a team to 5-7 while their star quarterback (Cam Newton) has been out since week 2, is any coach safe in this league?

It seems as if once one team fires their head coach before the season ends, a couple of others decide to follow suit. Who else could be on the head coach chopping block before the end of the year?

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NFC West: Most important players for each team going forward

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
NFC West / AFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

One of the most common things I see on social media are arguments between fans about who is the most important player on a team. Is it the franchise quarterback? Is it the leader on defense? Is it the coach? It seems only fitting that with today being Russell Wilson‘s birthday, that we should take a look at this question inside the NFC West.

Going into week 13, two teams stand heads and tails above the other two, and above most teams in the NFC. When looking at all four franchises, there seem obvious answers to the question I posed above, but is it really so cut and dry? I’m not so sure.

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Week 11 in NFC West came with expected outcomes, but a few surprises

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
NFC West / AFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

Oddsmakers had the San Francisco 49’ers winning against the Arizona Cardinals. Most also expected the Los Angeles Rams to beat the Chicago Bears. Everyone knew the Seattle Seahawks would rest up and get healthy, with it being their bye week and all.

All of these things happened. Yet in all these expected outcomes, a few things stood out that were unexpected.

Let’s take a look at week 11 for the NFC West and peek into week 12.

Since the Seattle Seahawks were on their bye in week 11, I’ll start there. After beating the San Francisco 49’ers in week 10 on Monday Night Football, it was a prime time to get the bye week and rest up. The most significant thing we are waiting for more about is the injury wide receiver Tyler Lockett sustained at the end of that game. While head coach Pete Carroll said they expected him to be fine, no official word has come out.

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Midterm Review: the 2019 NFL’s eight “Rookie” head coaches

Kate Arhar
Senior Sports Editor AFC North and NFC South

By Kate Arhar // @ClvlndK8 

It’s hard to believe we are at the mid-point of the NFL season. As such, there were eight teams starting the year with brand new head coaches. Six of them are in their first head coaching position, while two have held the job before.

In the competition to see who made the best hiring decision, the clear – and only – winner at this point is the Green Bay Packers. Matt LeFleur has this team leading their division at 7-1. Now, perhaps it’s the Aaron Duo – quarterback Aaron Rodgers and running back Aaron Jones – who deserve some credit, but there are other teams in this group with talented players who are not even close to being .500. That means I’m giving the Packers an A on the hire. Trust me – other coaches might have found a way to screw up this team so I’ll give credit to LeFleur because he hasn’t.

Let’s take a look at the other seven teams to see how they are faring…

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Previewing week 8 for the NFC West

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
AFC and NFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

It has been said a lot this week that the NFC West could be one of the most competitive divisions in the league. With San Francisco being undefeated, both Seattle and Los Angeles right in the thick of it, and Arizona beginning to shine, the NFC West isn’t a division anyone else in the league wants to face anytime soon.

Looking at week 8, two of the teams face opponents that are struggling to find wins, the other two face teams that will give them some serious competition. By the end of the week, will we still believe in the strength of the division? Let’s take a look at this week’s matchups.

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Signal callers may be the key to the NFC West

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
AFC and NFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

I’m going to be straight with you. The subject of this article is quarterbacks and that isn’t usually my favorite subject to write about. I am a defense lover and don’t try to hide it.

However, when looking at the NFC West, one can’t ignore how the division is being dictated by the success, and lack thereof, of the quarterbacks. Because 3 of the 4 teams have fantastic defenses, its the consistency of the QBs that is really what the season will come down to. Lets take a look at these QBs and what they are bringing to the table.

Seattle Seahawks

There is a reason Seahawks QB Russell Wilson is constantly in the conversation for MVP this season. He is playing the best football of his career, and Seattle is benefiting greatly from it.

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Talking NFC West with The Hawks Playbook Podcast host, Bill Alvstad

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
AFC and NFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

After the Thursday night game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks, the NFC West got really interesting. With the slugfest that happened in Seattle, it showed that fighting for every game is going to be key in this division. San Francisco 49ers are on top of the division, but with their early bye week, they have a very long road of games ahead of them. Arizona is still trying to find their identity, but if they figure it out, they could play spoiler down the way.

I decided to get a second opinion on the division and thought who better than Bill Alvstad. Bill hosts The Hawks Playbook Podcast along with Keith Myers, and I have to say, if you want brutal honesty, they are the guys to talk to.

I started with the Thursday night game, asking if Bill thought that Seattle had taken over as division favorites or if it was still way too early to tell. He said he didn’t think so.

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NFC West week 4 in review: A crazy game in LA, a needed win, and a bye week

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
AFC and NFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

The San Francisco 49ers are the lone remaining undefeated team in the NFC, and they stayed undefeated by staying home. It was the dreaded week 4 bye for the 49ers, but it worked out well for them. They headed into their week off on top of the division, and are still sitting there and the end of it.

While San Francisco didn’t have to do anything to stay in their top spot, the rest of the NFC West played what turned out to be important games in week 4. An inter-division match up in the desert between the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals, and what many thought would be an easy win in Los Angeles for the Rams…that turned into a slugfest.

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So far this season, NFC West is the best in the league

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
AFC and NFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

There are 9 teams in the NFL that are 2-0 going into week 3 of the 2019 season, with 5 being in the NFC, and 3 of them are in the NFC West. No other division can make that claim so that makes one wonder, will the NFC West be the best division in the league in 2019?

Yes, its only 2 weeks in. Yes, one could say that the NFC has had an easy start to their schedule. However, neither of these questions takes away from the fact that the NFC West is winning and sometimes winning big.

When people discussed the NFCW during the preseason, there were lots of questions. Could the Los Angeles Rams come back from their Super Bowl loss and be just as dominant? Will Seattle’s defense recover from losing the Legion of Boom and will quarterback Russell Wilson start throwing the ball more? Could the San Francisco 49ers be a contender with a healthy QB and team? Could a new head coach and rookie QB be the spark Arizona needed to save their team?

The answer to all of these questions, so far, has been a resounding yes.

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