Richard Sherman's Appeal Date Is Set for December 14 and More NFC West News

It has been nine days since we all found out about the impending suspensions of cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner. Since then everyone has voiced their opinion on what possibly happened, when each player should take their suspension and how it will effect the Seahawks' defense as a whole.

Luckily, some of the speculating can now be put to rest as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweeted out yesterday the hearing date for Sherman.

"

Appeal of Seahawks CB Richard Sherman’s four-game suspension is scheduled for Dec. 14, which means he will play Sunday against Arizona.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 3, 2012"

As you can see in the tweet it does mention that Sherman will play in Seattle's Week 14 game against the Arizona Cardinals, which will only help the Seahawks' playoff bid considering there are only four games remaining in the 2012 season.

Unfortunately, if Sherman loses the appeal date, he won't be able to return to the club until the team's third playoff game—if Seattle does indeed make it that far. Moreover, there hasn't been any word as to fellow cornerback, Mr. Browner.

They are still in the process of trying to figure out when they can schedule his appeal date. I'm not sure if this is by design or not, but I like the idea of the players trying to space out their suspensions from one another.

Losing both players at one time would be a huge blow, but if they could space it out a bit like they are trying to do, it would soothe the pain a bit. Regardless, Walter Thurmond and Jeremy Lane will need to both step up if the suspensions do indeed hit after the appeals process.

Arizona Cardinals

Kase Brammer of RantSports.com says the Arizona Cardinals would be crazy to trade wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

Tobe Moore of Bleacher Report gives us his thoughts on the Cardinals and says they are who we thought they were.

San Francisco 49ers

Daniel Brown of the ContraCostaTimes reports on Jim Harbaugh declaring Colin Kaepernick the starter heading into Week 14.

Scott Semmler of Bleacher Report begs the question, are the 49ers bordering on a divided locker room?

Seattle Seahawks

Danny O'Neil of the Seattle Times breaks down Russell Wilson starts and proclaims he is getting better week by week.

Todd Pheifer of Bleacher Report examines the potential Pro Bowl candidates for the Seattle Seahawks.

St. Louis Rams

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tells us that the Rams aren't thinking playoffs, they are taking things one day at a time.

Ryan Bothmann of Bleacher Report gives Rams fans five potential players to watch during bowl season.