NFC West Week 1 Preview

Going into each week, I’ll be previewing all of the NFC West matchups. This week, there are three different matchups between NFC West teams.

Author:
Nicolas Newman
Sep 10, 2020 3:05 PM EDT

NFC West Week One Schedule

Sunday, September 13th @ 10AM (FOX): Seahawks @ Falcons
Sunday, September 13th @1:25PM (FOX): Cardinals @ 49ers
Sunday, September 13th @5:25PM (NBC): Cowboys @ Rams

General overlook:

Week 1 is an extremely important week. For the moment, every team’s playoff and championship hopes are alive. No team wants to start off the new campaign with a loss.

Especially the Cardinals and the 49ers, as they’re the only NFC West teams with a divisional matchup. Because it is a divisional matchup, the outcome carries more weight in comparison to the games of the Seahawks and Falcons, and Cowboys and Rams.

However, those games are still significant, because they could have playoff implications down the road.

Let’s take a deeper dive into this week’s NFC West matchups.

Seattle Seahawks @ Atlanta Falcons

2019 By the Numbers:

Record: SEA 11-5 (lost in NFC Divisional Round) - ATL 7-9 (missed playoffs)
Points Scored: SEA 25.3 (9th) - ATL 23.8 (13th)
Total Offense: SEA 374.8 (8th) - ATL 379.7 (5th)
Passing Yards: SEA 239.6 (14th) - ATL 294.6 (3rd)
Rushing Yards: SEA 137.5 (4th) - ATL 85.1 (29th)
Opponent Points Scored: SEA 24.9 (22nd) - ATL 24.9 (23rd)
Total Yards Allowed: SEA 381.6 (26th) - ATL 355.8 (20th)
Opponent Passing Yards: SEA 263.9 (27th) - ATL 244.9 (22nd)
Opponent Rushing Yards: SEA 117.7 (22nd) - ATL 111.4 (15th)

Last Matchup: Sunday, October 27th, 2020 (Seahawks @ Falcons)

Result: SEA 27 - ATL 20

General Storyline:

The past few years, there have been some very intense Seahawks/Falcons matchups. Including multiple Seahawks’ playoff losses on the road in Atlanta. Most recently, in the 2016 NFC Divisional Round, where the Kyle Shanahan led Falcons offense outscored the Seahawks 36-20.

Since they met in the 2016 playoffs, at least one of the teams have made the playoffs every year. The Falcons made the playoffs in 2017, while the Seahawks each of the last two years.

The battle of the birds will certainly have the attention from those affiliated with the NFC West and South divisions, as both teams have reputations of being very competitive.

Main Storyline: Has either defense gotten better!?

There is no question these two teams could move the ball and score. Both teams finished in the top 10 of total offense. The question remains, can they stop the ball!? Somehow, Seattle experienced a lot of success last year, despite finishing in the bottom quadrant in most defensive statistical categories. The Falcons were right there with them. The difference in their success was that the Seahawks had a plus-12 turnover differential, while the Falcons were minus-five.

Each team looked to improve on the defensive side of the ball this offseason as they made impactful transactions:

Noticeable Addition to Seattle’s Defense: Jamal Adams, Quinton Dunbar, Bruce Irvin, Jordyn Brooks (1st round pick)

Noticeable Additions to Atlanta’s Defense: Dante Fowler, Deone Buchannon, A.J. Terrell (1st round pick)

The team with the more improved defense will win this game.

Dallas Cowboys @ Los Angeles Rams

2019 By the Numbers 9:

Record: DAL 8-8 (missed playoffs) - LAR 9-7 (missed playoffs)

Points Scored: DAL 27.1 (6th) - LAR 24.6 (11th)
Total Offense: DAL 431.5 (1st) - LAR 374.9 (7th)
Passing Yards: DAL 296.9 (2nd) - LAR 281.2 (4th)
Rushing Yards: DAL 134.6 (5th) - LAR 93.7 (26th)
Opponent Points Scored: DAL 20.1 (11th) - LAR 22.8 (17th)
Total Yards Allowed: DAL 327.0 (9th) - 339.6 (13th)
Opponent Passing Yards: DAL 223.5 (10th) - LAR 222.6 (12th)
Opponent Rushing Yards: DAL 103.5 (11th) - LAR 113.1 (19th)

Last Matchup: Sunday, December 15th, 2020 (Rams @ Cowboys)

Result: Cowboys 44 - Rams 21

General Storyline:

These two 2018 playoff teams are trying to get back on track, and reach the postseason. The first step toward doing that is taking care of business throughout the first Sunday Night Football game of the season.

Mike McCarthy will be coaching his first game as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, while on the other sideline there is Sean McVay, who is coming off his worst season as an NFL coach.

Both the Cowboys and Rams will try to overcome their offseason losses, which includes some very noticeable players.

Rams Noticeable Departures: Dante Fowler Jr., Cory Littleton, Brandin Cooks, Todd Gurley, Greg Zuerlein, Eric Weddle, and Clay Matthews

Cowboys Noticeable Departures: Byron Jones, Travis Frederick, Robert Quinn, Jason Witten, Maliek Collins, and Randall Cobb.

Main Storyline: Which offense will put on a better show?

This matchup is every fantasy-football lover's dream. Two high-octane offenses who love to throw the ball but could also run the rock. This game features Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliot, Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, CeeDee Lamb, Jared Goff, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods.

This game has all the makings of a good ole fashioned shootout and is a great choice for the prime-time slot. Whichever team does a better job slowing down the other will win the game.

Bonus Storyline: The return of Aldon Jacarus Smith. Yep, that’s right. Aldon Smith made the Cowboys 53-man roster, and should be active Sunday night.

Cardinals @ 49ers

2019 By the Numbers:

Record: ARZ 5-10-1 (missed playoffs) - SF 13-3 (Lost Super Bowl)
Points Scored: ARZ 22.6 (17th) - SF 29.9 (2nd)
Total Offense: ARZ 341.7 (21st) - SF 379.7 (5th)
Passing Yards: ARZ 217.3 (24th) - SF 237.0 (13th)
Rushing Yards: ARZ 124.4 (10th) - SF 144.1 (2nd)
Opponent Points Scored: ARZ 27.2 (28th) - SF 19.4 (8th)
Total Yards Allowed: ARZ 402.0 (32nd) - SF 281.8 (2nd)
Opponent Passing Yards: ARZ 281.9 (31st) - SF 169.2 (1st)
Opponent Rushing Yards: ARZ 120.1 (24th) - SF 112.6 (17th)
Last Matchup: Sunday, November 17th, 2020 (Cardinals @ 49ers)

Last Matchup: Sunday, November 17th, 2020 (Cardinals @ 49ers)

Result: SF 36- ARZ 26

General Storyline:

The Cardinals played the 49ers extremely tough last year on two different occasions. The types of teams the 49ers struggled with most last year were teams with mobile quarterbacks. With the exception of Matt Ryan, all of the team’s losses came against mobile quarterbacks. Looking at Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes. Could Kyler Murray add to that trend?

Murray and head coach Kliff Kingsbury enter their second year together with a brand new weapon, DeAndre Hopkins. The Cardinals offense will not be the reason their season is unsuccessful, if that ends up being the case. It will likely be because their defense simply did not improve enough. In 2019, the Cardinals had one of the worst defenses in the league.

Main Storyline: How will the 49ers journey to get back to the Super Bowl begin?

This might be the biggest game of the year for the 49ers. If they don’t walk away from their first game with a win, immediately the “Super Bowl hangover” discussions will come up.

Luckily for the 49ers, if they lose, they have get-well games against the Jets and Giants during Weeks 2 and 3, respectively. Regardless, an opening loss against the Cardinals will have huge playoff seeding implications. With only the one seed being awarded a first-round bye (no longer the first and second seed), every regular season game means now more than ever. Every loss makes it that much harder to get to the Super Bowl.

It is a Super-Bowl-or-bust year for the 49ers, and Week 1 may say a lot about the journey.

SI Writers NFC West Pick ‘EM