Washington and the NFC West

Watching my Cardinals play the Rams this afternoon- while tracking the San Francisco/Seattle game- quite frankly, made me cringe. But, it also made me think…

The Cardinals/Rams game was, in essence, a tale of two quarterbacks: the Rams’ Sam Bradford and the Houston Texans’ Matt Leinart. Leinart, of course, was a Heisman trophy winner from USC,  and he was supposed to be the heir apparent to Kurt Warner after several years of tutelage (and not cutting it on his own). After Warner’s retirement, Leinart apparently never proved he was as good as advertised. He was beaten out in preseason by the much-maligned Derek Anderson, and Leinart was released shortly thereafter. Contrast that with Bradford, who, as a rookie, seemed to be confident- if not comfortable- in his starting role.

It reminded me of two presidents, Barack Obama and George Bush. Obama- like Leinart- was the much-hyped prodigy that, in retrospect, was never really ready for the role in which he was expected to excel. Bush, while steadfastly confident like Bradford- and maybe as maligned as Anderson- seemed to find his comfort zone while on a very steep learning curve.

As bizarre as that realization was, the other game also rang a familiar bell. San Francisco was supposed to be the team to move in and succeed where the depleted Cardinals were on the decline. Seattle was the team in disarray with a controversial new leader and a bunch of aging veterans. When the game was played, though, the 49ers came up lacking in a big way. I couldn’t help but compare San Francisco to the Democrats- intending to shake things up, but in over their heads when it counted. Seattle and its controversial leader seems to be a fitting comparison to the Republicans and the Tea Party movement.

The season is still young, of course, and things can still change for all of these teams and players. And, though this is generally a Republican year, both parties are still capable of self-inflicted wounds. But there is definitely a major shift in the NFC West this year- one so great you can see Washington in it.