Sportsnet's Jim Lang previews each of the NFL's divisions leading up to the opening kickoff on Thursday, Sept. 10. Today is the NFC West and the offensive machine of the Arizona Cardinals.

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals

(2008 record: 9-7, won division)

Larry Fitzgerald has become the most feared and respected wide receiver in the NFL. Coming off of an excellent regular season, Fitzgerald put together the greatest post-season performance by a receiver in the history of the NFL. In four playoff games, Fitzgerald had 30 catches for 546 yards and seven touchdowns. Those numbers were almost good enough for the Cardinals to stun the world and beat the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. Unfortunately for Fitzgerald, Santonio Holmes ruined the Cardinals' dream season.

In the bedlam that followed SB 43, I was able to interview Steelers cornerback CB Deshea Townsend and talk about the wild win we had just witnessed. After asking him about the thrill of the win I asked him why the Steelers couldn't stop Fitzgerald in the second half. Townsend's eyes grew wide and he said Dick LeBeau and the No. 1-ranked Steelers defence did everything possible to slow him down but just couldn't do it. If a defence like the Steelers can't stop Fitzgerald, what hope does any other defence have? Fitzgerald's off-the-charts, record-setting performance in the playoffs is even scarier when you consider the man is just entering the prime of his career. With a burning desire to be the best and his incredible work ethic, it's becoming clear that Fitzgerald simply can't be shut down for an entire game.

I am not sure who is happier, Fitzgerald, Whisenhunt or quarterback Kurt Warner; but the bottom line is that Anquan Boldin is back in Arizona. Anquan Boldin might be grumpy about his contract, but he's the perfect complement to Fitzgerald and despite missing four games with injuries, still caught 11 touchdowns. I don't care if Warner is 38 years old. With targets like Fitzgerald and Boldin to work with, he's bound to put up big numbers. Last year, Warner threw for more than 4,500 yards and 30 touchdowns. This year he has even more options after the Cards drafted running back Beanie Wells from Ohio State. Wells and Tim Hightower will give the Cards a nice one-two punch on the ground.

Levi Brown and the Cardinals' offensive line are not great, but they still did a good enough job to let Warner put up all those huge numbers. With Beanie Wells in the backfield, the offensive line should have more opportunities to pound on defenders as Whisenhunt runs the ball a little more.

The Cards lost offensive co-ordinator Todd Haley when he took over the head coaching duties in Kansas City. However, when you have a quarterback like Warner, it's almost like having a coach in the huddle on every play.

Where Fitzgerald and the Cardinals offence did so many magical things last year, the same can't be said for the defence. A lot of people forget that there are some extremely talented players on the Cardinals defence, especially cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and safety Adrian Wilson. The Cards also added former Steelers corner Bryant McFadden. Another point overlooked on the Cardinals is the fact that defensive lineman Darnell Dockett tied a Super Bowl record with three sacks in their loss to the Steelers. Add to that above-average linebacker Karlos Dansby and the Cardinals have the potential for a solid defence.

Neil Rackers is a solid kicker and a fantasy football hero, Ben Graham, is the Cards punter.

After their glorious run to the Super Bowl, everyone across the NFL is waiting for the Cardinals to fall on their face. With talent like Warner, Fitzgerald, Boldin and Wells on offence, the Cardinals are going to score a lot of points. The big question is whether the defence can catch up to the offence. Week 3 of the season will be a good test to see if the 2009 Cardinals are for real as they host Peyton Manning and the Colts. Both the 49ers and the Seahawks will be better this year. Having said that, there's no reason why the Cardinals can't repeat as NFC West champions.

Cool fact: After dealing with Warner for a week during Super Bowl 43, I learned that he is indeed the real deal. A devout Christian, Kurt and wife Brenda go above and beyond when it comes to charity. Whenever Kurt and Brenda and their seven kids are out to dinner, they always pick up the tab of a complete stranger in the restaurant. Associated Press reported that on the Friday before Super Bowl 43, Kurt and Brenda and the kids picked up the tab of 20 unsuspecting Steelers fans.

San Francisco 49ers

(2008 record: 7-9)

Mike Singletary really should have been born in another era. The 49ers head coach isn't from the old school, he practically built it. Singletary is a firm believer in God, family, hard work, team work, and doing whatever it takes to win a football game. Singletary was the glue that held the Bears defence together during their run to the Super Bowl in 1985. Singletary has brought that same passion, work ethic and intensity to the coaching profession.

In fact, inspired by his old teammate with the Bears, Walter Payton, Singletary constructed a 45-foot high, 45-degree hill for training and conditioning runs. The players refer to it as "pain." Singletary ran training camp like Vince Lombardi or Chuck Knoll; he had his players in full pads for the brutal stretch of two-a-day workouts. To Singeltary, practicing in full pads is the only way to go:

"I think it's gone very well," he told reporters. "I'm thankful that the guys responded well and did not complain. I think this week we'll go through it and guys will get their legs back. There's no doubt we had a hard training camp. So, going forward, I'm very excited at how things have turned out."

Translation: the 49ers might get beat from a lack of talent, but they will NOT get beat from a lack of conditioning.

While there's no second coming of Sweetness by the bay, the 49ers do have a nice running back tandem in Frank Gore and Glen Coffee. Gore, the veteran, is coming off another 1,000-yard season. Coffee, the rookie out of Alabama, looked great in the pre-season.

That's the good news in San Fran; the bad news is the on-going Michael Crabtree hold out. Crabtree, a can't-miss prospect from Texas Tech, still hasn't signed a rookie contract. The 49ers desperately need Crabtree in their offence. Without Crabtree, the 49ers best receiver is 16-year warhorse Isaac Bruce. When Mike Singletary took over as head coach, tight end Vernon Davis learned real quickly not to mess with the man. Assuming Davis can get out of Singletary's doghouse, he has the makings of decent NFL tight end.

Beyond the Crabtree holdout, the biggest issue for Singletary on offence is quarterback Shaun Hill. Let's face it, when you play quarterback for the 49ers, you will always be compared to Joe Montana and Steve Young. Hill is no Montana or Young. Hill isn't on anyone's radar as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFC. But Hill is a winner and that's why Singletary gave him the starting job. Hill is 7-3 as a starter with the 49ers the past two years. Now he is in control of an offence that will run, throw high-percentage passes and above all else, keep turnovers to a minimum. The 49ers were dead last in the NFC last year with a brutal minus-17 in the turnover ratio. Under Singletary, turnovers will not be tolerated. That means Hill has to be safe with the ball and not be afraid to take a sack rather than force a bad throw.

Joe Staley and the 49ers' offensive line have a lot of work to do in order to stay out of Singletary's bad books. The 49ers gave up 55 sacks last year, dead last in the NFC. That simply can not happen if the 49ers are going to become a winning franchise again.

The best player on the 49ers is linebacker Patrick Willis. When people refer to Willis as having almost freakish sideline to sideline speed, they aren't joking. The 240-pounder ran a sub 4.4 in the 40 during his pro day at Ole Miss. Willis led the NFC with 141 tackles in 2008 and there's no reason to believe he won't put up even better numbers this year. Defensive end Justin Smith is Singletary's kind of player, high intensity and rarely takes off a play. Veteran corner Nate Clements and young up-and-coming safety Dashon Goldson round out the defence.

Joe Nedney has been in the league a long time, but he was still good enough to go a perfect 29-of-29 when kicking field goals inside 40 yards.

Singletary and the 49ers will find out right away whether or not they have the jam to compete for top spot in the NFC West as their first two games of the season are against the Cardinals and the Seahawks. With Singletary under contract, the 49ers have found their head coach. All that's missing is a few more key players and Michael Crabtree's name on a contract and the 49ers will be very tough to beat.

Amazing fact: A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Singletary will always be remembered as a player who never took off a play. He was born to play linebacker. In college, playing for the Baylor Bears (talk about destiny), Singletary once had 34 tackles in a single game against the University of Houston. Legend has it that Singletary was such a hard hitter that he broke 16 helmets during his playing career at Baylor.

Seattle Seahawks

(2008 record: 4-12)

After 10 years, 86 wins and an appearance in Super Bowl XL, legendary coach Mike Holmgren has stepped down. Taking over the reins in Seattle is last year's secondary coach and former Falcons head coach, Jim Mora.

Mora had a ringside seat last year to the devastating number of injuries that crushed any chance of the Seahawks having a winning season. Seattle set sort of an unofficial record when they were forced to place 14 players on injured reserve. The offensive line was ravaged by injuries. Like Holmgren before him, one of Mora's biggest worries is keeping franchise left tackle Walter Jones healthy. Let's face it, if Jones and the offensive line can't stay healthy, then there's little hope that QB Matt Hasselbeck can stay healthy.

I often think of Hasselbeck as one of the best-kept secrets in the NFL. When he's healthy, Hasselbeck consistently gives the Seahawks offence 3,000 yards passing and 20 to 25 touchdowns. I remember dealing with Hasselbeck in Detroit during Super Bowl 40 and it takes about 30 seconds to realize this is the kind of guy who walks into the huddle and his teammates immediately like the guy.

Hasselbeck has a sweet new target to throw to this year in former Bengal T.J. Houshmandzadeh. A consummate pro, Houshmandzadeh will join Bobby Engram and Deion Branch to give the Seahawks offence the potential for a very productive aerial attack. Even though he's only a second-year player, John Carlson has already served notice that he has the potential to be one of the better tight ends in the NFC.

Julius Jones is a good, but not great, running back. T.J. Duckett is a 250-pound short yardage specialist. Mora decided he didn't like what he was seeing out of his running game and stunned his players with the signing of veteran Edgerrin James. For Mora, it was move that he had to make:

"He's a heck of a ballplayer, and a good addition to this organization and this football team, a tough player," Mora told reporters. "We look to him to be a great complementary back to Julius. We just felt like, in order for us to get better, we needed to add another complementary back. We've got some backs that are role players, but in order to run the ball the way we want to run the ball, we needed someone to complement Julius."

Like a lot of his teammates, Pro Bowl defensive end Patrick Kerney suffered through injuries last year and had only five sacks; the year before he terrorized the league with 14 1/2 sacks. The real prize on the Seahawks defence is their first-round pick, linebacker Aaron Curry. Curry is a special talent and will be given every opportunity to have a huge rookie season. There's no doubt he will learn a lot playing alongside a proven veteran like Lofa Tatupu. Marcus Trufant and Ken Lucas provide the Seahawks' defence with above average talent on the corners.

The vaunted 12th man in Seattle will take a prolonged hiatus as the Seahawks have to play three consecutive road games in November. The first two are nasty as the Seahawks will be in Arizona and in Minnesota.

This is an interesting time for the Seahawks. While Mora had some success in Atlanta, in Seattle, he's taking over for a legend in Holmgren. That can't be easy. The Seahawks have a lot of talent in some key positions and are more than capable of giving the Cardinals a serious run for the NFC West title. After last year's disaster, staying healthy is the key.

Money talks: You could make a strong argument that the Seahawks' Paul Allen is the richest owner in the NFL. One of the brilliant minds behind Microsoft, Allen has an estimated personal wealth of more than $10 billion. He also owns a 416-foot long yacht that is equipped with two helicopters.

St. Louis Rams

(2008 record: 2-14)

The former defensive co-ordinator of the Giants, Steve Spagnuolo has his work cut out for him in St Louis. Since the highly touted Spagnuolo is all about the defence, that's where we will start with the Rams.

I was stunned to see Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis still available in the second round. The Rams must have been doing cartwheels in their war room because Spagnuolo wasted little time snapping him up. With Laurinaitis at middle linebacker, Chris Long at defensive end and safety O.J. Atogwe, Spagnuolo really has something to work with. Atogwe, a Windsor, ON., native, is the best Canadian-born player in the NFL right now.

Spagnuolo and the Rams' defence were really counting on the reliable Adam Carriker being a leader along the line this year. However, just before the start of the season, the Rams found out they've lost Carriker for the entire year after he had to undergo surgery on his right shoulder.

Spagnuolo will need to spend as much extra time helping out the defence as his schedule will allow. The Rams gave up 465 points in 2008 and only the Lions were worse. By the look of the Rams' secondary, drafting a cornerback in 2010 will be at the top of their wish list.

After putting up very good numbers in 2006, the past two years have been a disappointment for quarterback Marc Bulger. In fact, since signing a huge contract before the start of the 2007 season, Bulger hasn't even been close to the kind of quarterback that resulted in the lucrative deal in the first place. Part of the problem is the fact the Rams have given up 93 sacks the past two years, so maybe Bulger isn't quite so confident when he drops back to pass like he was in 2006.

When it comes to the running game in St. Louis, the Rams have a very good back in Steven Jackson. Despite missing four games last year, Jackson was still able to break the 1,000-yard barrier for the fourth consecutive season and he can also catch the ball. Weighing a solid 230 pounds, Jackson has more than enough raw speed to run away from most defenders in the NFL.

No longer the "greatest show on turf", the Rams' receiving corps is a work in progress. Young speed burner Donny Avery had a decent rookie campaign and has the makings of a good one. Avery is the leader of a young group of receivers in St. Louis. Tight end Randy McMichael is the most experienced pass catcher with the Rams and he's been in the league eight years.

The Rams' offensive line has struggled with injuries and inconsistency the past few years. With Orlando Pace gone, the Rams drafted behemoth Jason Smith out of Baylor with the second pick overall. The next time you watch a Rams game, pay close to attention to right guard Richie Icognito and all the ink on his arms. Icognito's 19-inch weapons of mass destruction are literally festooned with high quality tattoos. If he can block at the same quality of his tattoos, the Rams will be in good shape.

The Rams are beginning to assemble the building blocks for what, one day, could be a solid team. With just five wins in the past two seasons, the Rams are not much better than the Lions or the Raiders. Hopefully the hiring of Spagnuolo was the first step for the Rams to get back to playing respectable football.

Hollywood nights: What do former Rams defensive linemen Merlin Olson, Fred Dryer, and Rosie Grier all have in common? They all parlayed their football success with the Rams in L.A. with success in Hollywood.