The final story on the Seattle Seahawks in 2015 says that they reached the divisional round of the playoffs and lost to the eventual conference champs by just a touchdown. More realistically, they were never anywhere near the best team in their division, should've been beaten in the first round of the playoffs by Minnesota and were absolutely destroyed by Carolina. Are the Seahawks on the rebound in 2016, or are they destined to stay behind Arizona and be nothing more than a Wild Card contender?
Seattle Seahawks Regular Season Win Total Odds at BookMaker.eu
Seahawks Over 10.5 Wins ( -138 )
Seahawks Under 10.5 Wins ( +116 )
The Seahawks have a lot of what you like to see in a contending team. They've got a strong defense, one which probably underachieved last year in spite of the fact that they ranked No. 2 in the league in total defense and No. 1 in scoring defense. They've got a heady quarterback who can take good care of the football. They've got a great offensive line.
However, things just don't seem quite right in Seattle at this point without Marshawn Lynch. He's gone, and that shifts the pressure to Thomas Rawls, a man who busted onto the scene with a great rookie season but was still just an undrafted rookie free agent in 2015.
The Seahawks have an awfully high ceiling because of Russell Wilson, but they also have a lower floor than you might think if Father Time starts to catch up with this defense.
2016 Seattle Seahawks Schedule
Opening betting lines for the Seahawks in parentheses
Week 1: vs. Dolphins ( -8.5 )
Week 2: @ Rams ( -4 )
Week 3: vs. 49ers ( -14 )
Week 4: @ Jets ( -2 )
Week 5: Bye
Week 6: vs. Falcons ( -10 )
Week 7: @ Cardinals ( +1 )
Week 8: @ Saints ( -5 )
Week 9: vs. Bills ( -10 )
Week 10: @ Patriots ( +2 )
Week 11: vs. Eagles ( -9 )
Week 12: @ Buccaneers ( -5 )
Week 13: vs. Panthers ( -3 )
Week 14: @ Packers ( +2 )
Week 15: vs. Rams ( -10 )
Week 16: vs. Cardinals ( -3.5 )
Week 17: @ 49ers
There are some awfully dangerous games on this schedule for the Seahawks. Sure, they're favored in 12 of their 15 lined games and will surely be laying lumber at San Fran in Week 17 as well, that's still a lot of games to be dogs in for a team projected to win 10.5 games. In particular, the stretch of games from Week 7 through Week 14 are brutal (@ AZ, @ NO, vs. BUF, @ NE, vs. PHI, @ TB, vs. CAR, @ GB). None of those games are surefire victories (though you'd like to think home games against Buffalo and Philly would be), and that stretch alone could result in four losses very reasonably. At that point, if you're betting the over, you're hoping the Seahawks only lose one other game, and that's not a given.
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Let's not say that the Seahawks are terrible, because they certainly aren't. They've got at least four wins coming in division play, and they should take care of Buffalo, Philly, Miami and Atlanta without sweating. That, in and of itself, should lend the Seahawks to being playoff contenders.
However, asking this team to win 11 games is going to be tough. There are a lot of really hard spots on the schedule for some of these road games, and teams always seem to give Seattle their best shot.
If missing Lynch ends up being a massive issue for this team, can Wilson really put the team on his back and lead it to 11 wins when he still really doesn't have a receiver capable of being a No. 1 target on any other team in the league? That's what we aren't sure of. Seattle could be a fringy playoff team at about 9-7 this year if it isn't careful.
NFL Odds: Seattle Seahawks Under 10.5 Wins
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