Rams expected to be back on top in NFC West title race

ASSOCIATED PRESS
The St. Louis Rams had their minds on the past when the 2002 season started, specifically to the previous Super Bowl, when they were upset by the New England Patriots.
The result was an 0-5 start that led to a 7-9 season for what had been the NFL's dominant team since 1999.
"You can't win when you're thinking backwards," says quarterback Kurt Warner, who after two MVP seasons in three years was 0-6 with just three touchdown passes and 11 interceptions and was plagued by pinkie and hand injuries.
The Rams should be back this season, clearly the class of the NFC West, where San Francisco is changing coaches, Seattle is moving up and the Cardinals have been a bad team for most of the past half-century.
For three seasons the Rams' offense was just about unstoppable. Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Az-zahir Hakim simply ran through, over and past people. Even in 2000, when the defense was down and they finished 10-6, they averaged nearly 34 points per game.
Then came last season, when they scored 74 points combined in those first five losses.
Warner, Faulk to stay healthy
None of that matters now. If Warner and Faulk, also banged up much of last year, stay healthy, Mike Martz's track team should be firing again.
The offensive line has added tackle Kyle Turley from New Orleans, although left tackle Orlando Pace didn't sign his tender and report until last week. Martz thinks rookie Shaun McDonald and veteran Troy Edwards can adequately make up for the loss of Hakim and Ricky Proehl to free agency although an even more promising rookie, Kevin Curtis, broke his leg.
The defense is more of a question.
Damione Lewis and Ryan Pickett, first-round picks two years ago, have matured and form a formidable tandem at tackle while first-rounder Jimmy Kennedy learns. Second-round pick Pisa Tinioisamoa figures to start at linebacker.
Erickson takes over
San Francisco, which won the division last season, came back from a 24-point deficit with 19 minutes to go to beat the Giants in an NFC wild card game. But a lot has changed in San Francisco since, notably the dismissal of Steve Mariucci and the hiring of Dennis Erickson.
One of Erickson's first challenges came from wide receiver Terrell Owens, who decided not to attend minicamps.
But San Francisco's biggest problem could be the aching back of quarterback Jeff Garcia, who engineered the comeback against the Giants. If he can play, there remains a question about his mobility.
Another challenge for Erickson is the defense, sliced apart for three quarters by New York and again by Tampa Bay in a 31-6 second-round playoff loss. It doesn't help that starting cornerback Jason Webster will be gone for up to eight weeks with a knee injured in training camp and Mike Rumph, much exploited as a rookie last season, will replace him.
Seattle is the sleeper team in the division -- 7-9 in its first season back in the NFC to mark the seventh time in eight years the Seahawks have finished between 9-7 and 7-9.
Holmgren just coaching
One major change is that Mike Holmgren is a full-time coach again, with Bob Ferguson, formerly of Buffalo and Arizona, among several taking over Holmgren's general manager duties.
"It's been a good camp. A very, very good camp," Holmgren said.
Holmgren isn't like Martz -- he doesn't exaggerate, and the Seahawks could well challenge the 49ers and Rams.
One reason for optimism is the work of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who finished last year with two 400-yard passing games in his final six. Running back Shaun Alexander also had a breakout season: 1,175 yards and 16 touchdowns.
The problem was defense.
Ray Rhodes, the former coach in Philadelphia and Green Bay, is now the coordinator and there's been a transfusion of veterans: tackle Norman Hand, linebacker Randall Godfrey and end Chike Okeafor.
The Seahawks have done that before. Most of their defense has been oldsters who gained their reputation somewhere else, and the approach hasn't stopped them from ranking near the bottom of the league.
Cardinals at the bottom
Often at the bottom of the NFL is Arizona.
Yes, Smith is in town, at 34 the showcase the Cardinals have never had in Arizona. Marcel Shipp is a good young back, and the offensive line is pretty good.
But Jake Plummer is gone to Denver, replaced at quarterback by career stopgap Jeff Blake. And the three top receivers are gone: David Boston to San Diego, Frank Sanders to Baltimore and MarTay Jenkins to Atlanta.
The defense isn't much better and Kyle Vanden Bosch, the promising defensive end, is out for the season with torn knee ligaments.
Dave McGinnis is a good coach, but he's likely to go the way of most Cardinals coaches -- out the door.