Bigger Trouble For The Seattle Seahawks – The Arizona Cardinals Or The San Francisco 49ers?

As the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks are the target of every team they play. However, the teams of the NFC West are especially heated rivals. Not so far removed from being styled the “NFC Worst,” the division is now undoubtedly the best in football. Even so, the Seahawks and the 49ers were the cream of that crop. However, the Arizona Cardinals have not been far behind. Although they missed the playoffs last year, they did amass ten wins, more than the Green Bay Packers and the same as the Philadelphia Eagles, both of whom did make the playoffs. Is it time to consider the Cardinals a bigger threat to Seahawk Supremacy than the Niners?

Quarterback

The Cardinals have started Drew Stanton under center after Carson Palmer went down with an injury. While they’ve notched 3 wins in 3 games with these guys, I wouldn’t be making a controversial statement to say that the Cardinals start a quarterback not in the NFL’s Top 10. The Niners have Colin Kaepernick. I’ve been harder on Kaep than many (read: I don’t like him. Sorry, Seahawk bias) for his occasionally reckless play but Kaep has won the Niners more games than they would have won with many lesser QBs.

Edge: San Francisco

Offense

This is quite a quandary. The Niners can be absolutely explosive on offense (see: the first half of games this season). The Niners can also be entirely atrocious (see: the second half of games this season). What offense is for real? Your guess is as good as mine. Overall, they rank 19^th in the league in yards per game, hardly a juggernaut. The problem? The Cardinals rank 24^th in the same category. That being said, consider that a backup has seen most of the action for the Cardinals and the offense seems slightly more reliable.

Edge: Hesitantly, Arizona, just due to reliability. I may regret this statement later this season.

Defense

For years, if you thought of the 49ers, you immediately thought of one of the most physical defenses in the league. While still solid, there are many who speculate that perhaps the defense just isn’t what it once was. Meanwhile, Arizona has been a sneaky good defense. Patrick Peterson has been engaging in more than just a Twitter war with Seahawk Richard Sherman. He is certainly one of the best in the league. While the Cardinals seem to be on the rise and the Niners on the decline, I am still more worried by the San Francisco (or is it Santa Clara?) defense.

Edge: San Francisco, slightly.

Coach

I’m going to be blunt. I don’t like Jim Harbaugh. Which is fine, he doesn’t need my approval. However, if you trust Deion Sanders (jury may still be out there), I am not the only one. According to multiple reports, Harbaugh has alienated just about everyone in the organization, down to the players. That said, I heard that last season too and the Niners were extremely competitive. On the other hand, Bruce Arians is completely under the radar but extremely solid.

Edge: Arizona

Road Worthiness

Until proven otherwise, one must assume that the road to a division championship and, quite possibly, a Super Bowl, will run through Seattle. The ability to win on the road is tantamount. Colin Kaepernick has yet to seal a win at CenturyLink Field. Several of these games, including the NFC Championship Game in the 4^th quarter, he has looked absolutely pedestrian. On the flip side, only one team has beat the Seahawks at the CLink since Russell Wilson has started. That team? The Arizona Cardinals. Nuff said.

Edge: Arizona

While one can never make the mistake of overlooking a team in the National Football League, I have to say that, as a Seahawk fan, I am more concerned with the Arizona Cardinals. That said, San Francisco can easily make me eat those words … Suffice to say, the NFC West is still the best division in football.