Opening night of the 2014 season and we will see the Green Bay Packers take on the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington. The game has a start time of 8:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on NBC. Current Vegas odds have the Seahwaks listed as 6 point favorites, while the total is set at 47.
Analysis: Despite posting an 8-7-1 mark last year and losing QB Aaron Rodgers for a good portion of the year the Packers still won their division. Their post season life didn't last all that long as they lost a hard fought 23-20 game to the San Francisco 49er sin the Wildcard round. The Packers averaged 26.1 ppg last year and had the 6th best passing attack in the league with 267 ypg Passing. This year they should top those numbers, especially if Aaron Rodgers stays healthy for the whole season. Helping Rodgers and the passing game is the fact that Eddie lacy has given a boost to a rush offense that hadn't finished better than 20th the last year years, as they averaged 134 ypg on the ground, which was 7th in the league. The defense allowed 26.8 ppg last year and was 25th in yards allowed (375 ypg), but they look much stronger this year, especially in the back 7.
Seattle begins their title defense tonight and they really look like their ready, especially the way they played in the Preseason. The Seahawks are up against a trend this year as no team that won the Superbowl has won a playoff game the next year, with the trend going back to 2007. I will call it here. This team will break that trend. They are loaded once again and are led by Russell Wilson, who may now be asked to do more in this offense. He has a solid set of WRs to work with and a powerful ground attack that is led by Marshawn Lynch. On the other side of the ball they look very stout especially in the secondary, where they just might have the best set of DBs in the league. The LB corps is also rated as one of the best in the league, while the defensive line is a top 10 unit. Very few question marks on this team this year.
Pick: I am looking at the OVER in this game (Not a Typo. LOL). Yes Seattle has a stout defense, while the Packer defense is improved, but still I see the offenses getting their chance at plenty of points here. Last year Russell Wilson was more of a game manager, but the Seahawks may be looking to open up the offense a bit more this year, and while the Packer defense is improved they certainly can be scored on and if they get scored on early then that should force them to use their air attack a bit more as the game wears on as they look to keep pace with the Seahawks. Both first team offenses looked very solid in the preseason and I expect that to continue in this one, especially with the new rules that just may have been designed to work against the Seahawk defense.
Get Stephen Nover's 3* NFL THURSDAY SIDES CRUSHER!!! For Free- No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
Stay on top of the latest odds and line moves for Football Season with our real-time odds from Las Vegas and offshore!
NFL Free Picks: Carolina Panthers vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Betting
What pro football bettors need to know about betting Carolina Panthers vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday (9/07/14) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Steve Fezzik with added insight from Scott Spreitzer.