NFL Week 2 and we will see the Seattle Seahawks travel to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California to take on the San Diego Chargers. The game has a start time of 4:05 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on FOX. Current Vegas odds have the Seahawks listed as 5.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 44.
Analysis: Seattle began the defense of their title with a thorough beatdown of Green Bay, by a score of 36-16. 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.
The San Diego Chargers surprised many last year by going 9-7 on the year and making it to the 2nd round of the NFL playoffs, before bowing out to Denver. This year they have started out on the wrong foot as they let one get away with their 18-17 loss to the Cardinals in the desert on MNF. Last year the Chargers offense was ranked 12th in scoring, at 24.8 ppg, while also ranking 5th in total yards (393.3 ypg), 4th in passing (270.5 ypg) and 13th in rushing (122.8 ypg). Philip Rivers had a very nice bounce back year under the guidance of Mike McCoy, who fixed some of Philips mechanics, while also giving him more freedom at the line of scrimmage. The biggest area of concern for San Diego was a secondary that was not very good last year, ranking 29th vs the pass. The Chargers used their first pick in the draft to take CB Jason Verrett from TCU. He is a bit undersized, but still he will help this unit out allot. The Bolts also helped add depth to a solid LB corps by drafting OLB Jeremiah Attaochu (Georgia Tech) and then the line got some help with 5th round pick NT Ryan Carrethers.
Pick: I will be taking the Over in this one. It just has the feel of a shootout. The Seahawk defense is tough, but away from home they will allow more points than at home and I do see a desperate Chargers offense throwing everything they can at the Seahawks in this one and at home the Chargers offense is usually very good, The Sehawk offense hasn't been stopped in the preseason or the regular season after game one, as they have vowed to open up the offense more this year and it seems to be working. they will be taking on a Chargers defense that may be a bit tired after playing a game in Arizona and then coming back on a short week. Let's also note that in the the Over is 19-4 last 4 years when all non-divisional home teams are off a road Monday night game that went Under the Total, plus the Over is 8-0 in week two of the season for San Diego, with an average of 56.4 ppg being scored. I see this one in the 50's as well.
-$25 of picks 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: Houston Texans vs Oakland Raiders Betting
What pro football bettors need to know about betting Houston Texans vs Oakland Raiders on Sunday (9/14/14) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Scott Spreitzer with added insight from Steve Fezzik.