For the past few years, professional football in Missouri hasn’t been too stellar. The last time both the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams made it to the playoffs in the same year was 2003, when both won their divisions. There have been coaching changes, draft picks that didn’t pan out and plenty of missed opportunities. This leaves us die-hard Chiefs or Rams fans severely disappointed.

But last year showed new hope for fans from Kansas City and St. Louis. Both teams have some young talent that could be a force in the NFL for many seasons. Last season showed both teams competing all year to win the conference. This season, I expect more of the same from both teams.

The Chiefs had a great season with their two new coordinators, Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis. The offense and defense had a new energy and the team improved throughout the year. This year they’ll have to try and continue the same success without Weis at the offensive coordinator position. Bill Muir is replacing him, while they also added former Redskins coach Jim Zorn. The Chiefs also made a real effort to find quarterback Matt Cassel a couple more weapons.

Dwayne Bowe was pretty much the only receiver Matt Cassel threw to last season. This year, he’ll have a couple of new targets in Jonathan Baldwin out of Pittsburgh University and Steve Breaston, who played under coach Todd Haley in Arizona. With the return of the stellar running game with Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, there should be another great year for the Chiefs offense. But with a tougher schedule that is ranked second in the league, the Chiefs are looking at a major challenge.

While young talent is thriving in KC, you don’t have to go far to see another young team that up and coming. Last year, rookie quarterback Sam Bradford had a great year. He threw for over 3,500 yards and also completed 60 percent of his passes. He developed throughout the season and spread the ball around the field to his many talented receivers. The only part of the offense that may have had a dip was Steven Jackson. His yards per carry went down to a career low of 3.8 yards. He did have over 1,200 yards rushing and there’s no reason not to expect another solid year out of him.

But seeing this may have had the Rams ready to get some backup for him. So, they signed a couple of free agents in Jerious Norwood and Cadillac Williams. They also brought in a slew of veteran defenders in order to have some leadership and give the younger guys some teachers on the field. Combine this with the fact the NFC West isn’t necessarily the best conference in the NFL. Last year 7-9 nearly got them in the playoffs and with the improvement, I can definitely see the Rams winning the NFC West and making the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Missouri pro football has been down the past few years. But both teams have some great young talent that will only get better over the 2011-2012 season. I could see both of these teams being in the playoffs at the end of the season. But more importantly, I think both are teams are ones to be watched for the future.