Tag: Cardinals

49ers are heavy NFC West favorites heading into free agency

Coming off a run to the Super Bowl, the 49ers are heavy favorites in the NFC West before the start of free agency.

One of the first big pins of the NFL offseason is about to fall with the start of the free agency period. However, before the start of free agency, FanDuel Sportsbook released updated offs for NFL divisions, including the NFC West.

To no surprise, the San Francisco 49ers are heavy favorites in the NFC West at -220 coming off a run to the Super Bowl. The Los Angeles Rams, who punched a ticket to the playoffs last season, trail the 49ers at +420. The Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals round out the rest of the NFC West at +750 and +1100.

Via @JoshDubowAP on Twitter:

The 49ers have won the NFC West in back-to-back seasons, including three times since 20219. They lead the division with 22 division championships since 1967.

After coming up short in the Super Bowl, the 49ers will likely bring back most of their core around Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner, Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams.

While free agency will help pain of better picture of what the NFC West will look like next season, it will likely take multiple high-end moves to knock the 49ers off as favorites in the division.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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2024 Mock Draft Round-Up: Where Notre Dame players are projected to go in April

How many Notre Dame players will get drafted this spring?

Four more NFL teams see their seasons come to an end this weekend; four others will remain alive for a chance to win Super Bowl 58.

As more and more teams enter the offseason, more and more heads to turn to those offseason and NFL draft plans.

Notre Dame has what certainly seems like a top-10 pick: offensive tackle Joe Alt. Just how high will Alt go? Could he crack the top-five?

And what about the other former Golden Domers? Audric Estime and Blake Fisher expect to hear their names called. but what about some others?

We took a look at a handful of mock drafts to see where they project the former Fighting Irish stars to get drafted.  Here is what our first look at the NFL mock draft roundup found:

Chargers’ home, away opponents for the 2024 NFL season

Check out the full list of upcoming opponents for the Chargers in 2024.

The 2023 season is in the rearview, and all eyes are set on what the 2024 season will hold for the Chargers.

Los Angeles knows who they will have to go through during the regular season as they look to make a potential deep run to Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans, LA.

The actual schedule that dictates the order of the games won’t be revealed until later this offseason.

Here’s a look at the 14 teams on next year’s list of opponents

Giants interview Saints RB coach Joel Thomas for a possible lateral move

The Giants are interviewing Saints running backs coach Joel Thomas for the same position. Approving a lateral move suggests changes are coming for New Orleans:

This is interesting: NFL Network’s Ian Rapport reports that the New York Giants are interviewing Joel Thomas for their open running backs coach job. That’s the same position Thomas has held on staff with the New Orleans Saints, meaning the team has given him permission to seek a lateral move — which suggests changes are on the way on Airline Drive.

Thomas is one of the longest-tenures members of the Saints coaching staff, having held his current post since 2015, and he’s the only position coach that Alvin Kamara has had during his storied career. Moving on from him would be a big shakeup.

But the New Orleans rushing attack has struggled to get going in recent years. As a team, they averaged the second-fewest yards per carry (3.6) in 2023. The Saints ranked 21st in rushing yards per game (102.5) and they didn’t have a single carry gain 20 or more yards by their running backs all season. It’s true that their offensive line hasn’t met expectations, but their running backs haven’t done enough to make a difference, either.

Thomas has drawn attention from other teams before. He interviewed for the Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator job last offseason. Before that, he was a candidate to take over as head coach at his Idaho alma mater. He’s a respected coach and this interest from the Giants suggests he’ll land on his feet if the Saints are intending to make a change in the weeks ahead.

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40 photos from Seahawks vs. Cardinals regular season finale matchup

Here are some of our favorite photos from today’s game.

The Seahawks escaped State Farm with a 21-20 win over the Cardinals today, thanks to a missed field goal by Matt Prater at the last second. However, they were still eliminated from the playoffs via the Packers defeating the Bears.

Here are some of our favorite photos from today’s game.

Bucs win the NFC South, here’s how Saints can reach playoffs

Bucs win the NFC South, here’s how Saints can reach playoffs

The New Orleans Saints won against the Falcons and even though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the NFC South, are still alive in the playoff hunt. Of course, to make it at this point they would need some serious help in the afternoon window.

The game that they have the best chance of getting to fall their way is the Chicago Bears (7-9) over the Green Bay Packers (8-8). The Packers are three-point favorites at home, but the Bears will have some motivation as Justin Fields fights to show the team that he is the quarterback of the future.

The less-likely one that they also need to have happen is the Arizona Cardinals (4-12) over the Seattle Seahawks (8-8). The Cardinals are home underdogs by three points, but are coming off of a big win against the Philadelphia Eagles.

If the Bears and Cardinals win, the Saints make the playoffs as a wild card. If either team loses, their season is over.

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5 things to know about the Seahawks and Cards going into Week 18

Here are five things to know heading into today’s game.

The Seahawks may be playing their final game of the year today. A win over the Cardinals won’t guarantee them a spot in the playoffs – but it would at least match last season’s record of 9-8.

Here are five things to know heading into today’s game.

2024 NFL draft order: Where Chargers are projected to pick after Week 17

How the loss to the Broncos impacted the Chargers’ current draft positioning.

The Chargers fell to 5-11 after losing to the Broncos.

After the loss, Los Angeles is still projected to have the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

Here is a look at the top 10 selections after Week 17:

1. Chicago Bears (from CAR, 2-14)

Panthers’ strength of schedule: .518

2. Washington Commanders (4-12)

Strength of schedule: .515

3. New England Patriots (4-12)

Strength of schedule: .518

4. Arizona Cardinals (4-12)

Strength of schedule: .562

5. New York Giants (5-11)

Strength of schedule: .514

6. Los Angeles Chargers (5-11)

Strength of schedule: .526

7. Tennessee Titans (5-11)

Strength of schedule: .529

8. New York Jets (6-10)

Strength of schedule: .507

9. Atlanta Falcons (7-9)

Strength of schedule: .423

10. Chicago Bears (7-9)

Strength of schedule: .463

Chargers’ 2024 opponents announced

The Chargers now know which teams they’ll be playing in the 2024 NFL regular season.

With the NFL’s 2023 regular season nearly in the books, teams now know who they are slated to play in 2024.

The Chargers will play their annual home and away series against the rest of the AFC West and cross-divisional games against the AFC South and NFC South. In addition, L.A. will play the fourth-place teams after finishing fourth in their respective divisions.

That said, here are the teams the Bolts will play next season.

Home:

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Away

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

New England Patriots

Arizona Cardinals

The exact dates for each game will be announced later this year.

Saints need a win in Week 18 and a lot of help to clinch a playoff berth

Winning their remaining games won’t be enough to clinch a Saints playoff berth. They need a lot of help from other teams:

The New Orleans Saints took an important step toward reaching the playoffs by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, but that alone won’t get them over the hump. Neither will a win in the regular-season finale next week against the Atlanta Falcons.

Because they tripped up and lost games to other teams in the wild-card race earlier this year, like the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams, the Saints are not in control of their own fate. So how can they get into the playoffs?

They’ll need a lot of help. As has been the case all year, their easiest path runs through the NFC South. The Saints must defeat the Falcons next week and hope for a Carolina Panthers upset over the Bucs. That’s easier said than done — this same Panthers team got shut out 26-0 by the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17.

So what if the Saints don’t win the division? Could they still get in as a wild-card team? Technically, yes, but that window is rapidly closing and becoming less likely by the minute. The Rams survived a comeback effort by the New York Giants, so they’ll win any tiebreaker with the Saints at the end of the season. That means the Saints need the Seattle Seahawks to lose twice (to the Pittsburgh Steelers today and against the Arizona Cardinals next week) while also getting some help from the NFC North. And if the Seahawks beat the Steelers on Sunday afternoon, all of this is moot.

Whichever team wins on Sunday night — the Packers or Vikings — would be in conflict with the Saints in Week 18, and they each own head-to-head tiebreakers over New Orleans. So the winner of Sunday night’s game must lose next week, with the Seahawks also losing, while the Saints beat the Falcons team that got the better of them earlier this season. The Packers will host the Chicago Bears, while the Vikings visit the Detroit Lions.

If all three of those levers are pulled, the Saints will clinch the seventh playoff seed in the NFC. So it’s possible. It could happen. Stranger things have happened before in the NFL. But it isn’t likely given all of the different factors at play and each team’s schedule. The Saints made this bed for themselves. Now they have to sleep in it.

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