Green Bay @ Seattle (-5.5)
NFL Season Opener
By Tony George Sports
A line drop on Thursday as heavy money and heavy opinions coming in on Green Bay tonight as the NFL Kicks off their season opener in Seattle, home of the 12th man in the NFL in a star studded national TV event tonight. The Super Bowl Champs get a very tough assignment tonight against a Packer team hell bent on redemption as they look to regain their stature as one of the NFL’s elite teams in 2014, and let’s not forget the last time these two hooked up at night on national TV, as we all remember the “Fail Mary” play to end that game on a Monday Night, clearly in my mind a game the Pack should have won, (Guess where my money was at in that one !)
While there is a ton of media hype, and the unveiling of the Super Bowl Champions Banner tonight, one has to look at this game for what it is. You need to ask yourself the basic handicapping questions. Who can run the ball better, who has the better defense, who has better special teams, who takes care of the ball better, and who has the better coach? Well, all of those items are CLEARLY on the side of the Seahawks. The KEY ingredient there is head coach. Pete Carroll in no way will not have his team prepared tonight despite all the hoopla surrounding tonight’s game and he is the better coach. They looked great in week 3 of the preseason, which is the dress rehearsal for the regular season and let us not forget that home field advantage in Seattle is worth 4 points on any power rating sheet in America. Yes Aaron Rodgers is the better QB but the surrounding cast for him is not as strong as what QB Wilson has around him, and Rodgers will face the best secondary in football here, no doubt in catch up mode at some point unless the wheels come off for Seattle and I just do not see that happening, even with CB Lane out tonight for Seattle.
Also in question is Green Bay’s running game, and their ability to run it against the NFL’s best defense. There is also a question of Green Bay’s ability to stop the run, and Julius Peppers is not the answer, and while he is still a good player, he not 27 years old anymore. I would expect a ground game to open up the pass game for the Hawks, and also Russell Wilson’s ability to scramble gets a ton of 3rd down conversions, which in fact does keep drives alive and wears down a defense coupled with a brutal ground attack being presented to them by RB Lynch. Also of note, a key player on any NFL team is the center position on offense. Green Bay starts a rookie center tonight in the most hostile environment he has ever seen. That is a KEY disadvantage for Green Bay here.
Seattle 31 Green Bay 24 – Seahawks your free point spread Winner
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