I can't buy into the Rams. Their D-Line is extremely good, but the rest of their team is just a sub-par collection of parts with no vision behind it, no cohesiveness, no plan, no chemistry.
The Rams ST also had an outlier season last year, ranking 4th after being 26th and 28th the two years prior. That will probably regress. No other team got a bigger positive swing from their ST last season, and even with that help the Rams still only barely posted a positive DVOA.
The Rams feel like the Mariners of the NFL and vice-versa. People keep thinking the Mariners will be good every year because they have a few superstars at premium positions, but in the end the crappy parts of the roster weigh the M's down. You take away the D-Line of the Rams and they might as well be the Raiders. That D-line carries them a long way but it can only take them so far.
The Seahawks baseline "expected wins" the last two seasons were 13 each season (per football outsiders). The Hawks underachieved that number in 2012 thanks to some close losses then nailed it in 2013. I think the baseline will probably remain at 13, but I see them overachieving it this year as their hardest games are at home and only have to deal with three 10am starts. They are currently favored to win 15 of their 16 games, and will probably benefit from improved OL play (no more McQuistan and Bowie at tackle) not to mention the huge impact Harvin will have opening up our offense if he lasts 13+ games.
Like Matt Miller I think Seattle has a very solid chance to go into the Thanksgiving game undefeated.
