The St. Louis Rams will win the NFC West

I am almost sad that this debate is about to be concluded. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed this debate thoroughly.R1: QuarterbacksAlthough multiple concussions in a season can be scary, there is no need to fear the results of a concussion from a year ago. Especially since Kolb has already played multiple regular season games after this injury. Plenty of great players of come back from single or multiple concussion seasons to succeed (most notably Aaron Rodgers and his recent Super Bowl). As for my opponents claim that the Cardinals offensive line will be weak, well, the Cardinals made some recent free agent acquisitions. They added guards Daryn Colledge and Floyd Womack to boost their line from last season[1]. I'd also like to remind you that the Rams had a worse offensive line last season and did nothing to alleviate this problem.My opponent misunderstands my arguments if he thinks I said Jackson is a better passer than Bradford. However, there is much more to a QB than how good of a passer he may or may not be. Jackson's mobility is far superior to Bradford, and less pressure will be put on him for the overall result of a game. Seattle will rely much more on their superior running game to lead them to victory.While Alex Smith has not lived up to his expectations, the same could be said for Sam Bradford. Each QB's best season have practically the same stats. I say this to remind the readers that just because someone is expected to succeed does not guarantee success (Vince Young, Reggie Bush, Steve Slaton, etc...).R2: Wide ReceiversThe fact of the matter is that the Rams WR's were ranked 26th in the league last year. Conversely, Sims-Walker (even with his dismal stats), came from the 12th ranked team[2]. I don't know how my opponent expects one of the worst wide receiving cores in the league to turn completely around in one season, especially with their best addition being a mid-level, journeyman receiver. The Rams WR's have proved that they are ineffectual before, and there is no reason to believe that they will turn it around.I would like to take this moment to point out that the Cardinals have recently caught a great pass-catching tight-end in Todd Heap. Despite the Raven's run-first offensive mentality, Heap still put up impressive enough numbers to be considered an elite tight-end in the league. Putting him on the same field as Larry Fitzgerald will have all defenses shaking in fear. That's not to mention the fact that the Cardinals are right now in the front-running for Braylon Edwards, another wide receiving threat that will help take pressure away from Fitzgerald [1].Lastly, my opponent did nothing to refute that the WR's of the other NFC West teams are better than that of the Rams. As I believe I have already proved this to be the case, my opponent's lack of response to my arguments seems to have proved them true.R3: RunningbacksMcDaniels' last coaching job was as head coach of the Denver Broncos. Despite that team's lack of a feature back, they still had almost 380 rushing attempts that season[3]. With the Rams having their own feature back that my opponent values so highly, there is no doubt that McDaniels will use Jackson again for 300+ carries. Such a workload could very well be put on the last legs of an aging workhorse. While Tim Hightower has been released, this only shows me how much faith the Cardinals have in rookie Ryan Williams. While Wells will surely have a leading role this year, Williams will definitely be able to pull up the slack and keep a dangerous RBC in Arizona.My opponent seems to have given up on proving that Jackson is better than the RBC in Seattle.R4: DefenseThe Cardinals have also picked up a new cornerback to replace Rogers-Cromarte in Richard Marshall. I feel that the rankings I posted in the previous round and my explanation of the defenses explain well enough how I feel about this subject. I cannot contend that anyone of this divisions defense (including the Rams) will be a dominating force and so it all comes down to offensive firepower. Luckily, I believe I have shown quite thoroughly that the Rams are not as good as my well-meaning but undoubtedly biased opponent thinks they are.R5: CoachingWhile I cannot argue against the fact that most of the coaches in St. Louis are good, it is hard to see why they can be considered special for any reason, especially when you look at the other coaches in the division. Both the Seahawks and the 49ers have head coaches that dominated the college game and have a pedigree for success in the NFL (whether through their own coaching experience or that of their siblings). Also, the majority of the Cardinals coaching staff has already been to a Super Bowl (3 years ago) and clearly have what it takes to succeed while the Rams coaches remain either untested or failures (including my opponent's highly touted McDaniels that has caused irreparable damage to a once dominant Broncos team). The Cardinals head coach, Ken Whisenhunt, has not only lead his team to the Super Bowl, but won it as a coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers under Bill Cowher[4].Conclusion:My opponent is clearly very passionate about this debate and I applaud the effort he put into his arguments. However, he is clearly too close to his team to see the truth of their predicament. While Bradford may be a great QB someday, that someday is not next year. Kolb has been proved to be clearly better than Bradford, Smith is on the same level, and Jackson is a different type of quarterback that excels at being a limited passing, mobility-based QB (Vick anyone?). Jackson is now past his prime and missed his opportunity to be a great runningback on a winning team. Runningback-by-committee has been proved to be a better way to do a running offense and my opponent has failed to show how the other RBC's in the division are inferior to his "feature back." The Rams WR's are, for lack of a better word, horrid. Their is absolutely not comparison from their WR's to that of the other teams in the division. With the other teams in the division having superior offenses (especially the Cardinals) and equal to or better defenses, there is very little hope that the Rams will pull out a NFC West championship banner this year. I have refuted all my opponents arguments and given arguments that he has not been able to refute. I thank my opponent immensely for this fantastic debate, but in light of the facts that have been presented, urge you to VOTE CON on this resolution.[1] http://espn.go.com... [2] http://espn.go.com... [3] http://espn.go.com... [4] http://en.wikipedia.org...