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The Seattle Seahawks are off to their traditional sluggish start. Seattle is 3-2 with road losses to the Titans and Packers, and just barely squeaked by San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams earlier this year. Now Pete Carroll’s boys must avoid a letdown against a New York Giants squad that is looking feisty all of a sudden. New York turned a lot of heads with its surprise win over Denver on Sunday night, and the defense looked solid for the first time all year.
This contest in Week 7 of the regular season will go down Sunday, October 22, 2017, at 4:25 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The game will be broadcast on CBS.
NFL Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Seattle Seahawks -6
New York Giants +6
Over/Under 38.5
Odds Analysis
The line in this one initially opened at 7.5, but that changed following the Giants victory on Sunday night. Action came in on the Giants after the stunning win over the Broncos in Mile High, where they forced three turnovers in order to get the win.
Key Injuries
The New York Giants were supposed to have one of the best receiving corps in the NFL this season. Odell Beckham Jr. is already an elite receiver, and the addition of Brandon Marshall along with Sterling Shepard entering his second season seemed to bode well for the unit’s success this year.
Unfortunately, disaster has struck and this now resembles a MASH unit. Beckham and Marshall have already underwent season-ending surgeries, and No. 4 receiver Dwayne Harris fractured a metatarsal in his foot and will be out for quite some time too.
Additionally, the Giants had two receivers go on injured reserve in training camp because of lower-body injuries.
The one hope this unit has is Shepard. He is considered questionable for this game with an ankle injury and was sidelined in last week’s win over the Broncos. Shepard has the potential to be a great slot receiver and can give Eli Manning a solid option.
Key Stat
Seattle has typically boasted one of the top run defenses in the NFL. The Seahawks have a fantastic front seven with talented players like Michael Bennett, K.J. Wright, and Bobby Wagner patrolling the line of scrimmage, but this season they have not fared well when other teams run the ball.
Opponents have averaged almost five yards per carry this season and have already had seven runs of 20 or more yards against this unit. That’s a bit concerning considering Seattle’s recent success at stopping the run.
According to Football Outsiders, the Seahawks have been one of the three best teams at stopping the run over each of the last three seasons. Seattle’s performances against Tennessee and San Francisco were abysmal and that’s something to watch for here.
Free ATS Pick
Seattle is still searching for a running back. Chris Carson seemed like he had won the job, but then suffered a season-ending injury and put the Seahawks back at square one. It sounds like Eddie Lacy and Thomas Rawls will split the carries from this point on, but there’s no reason to have faith in either running back.
Lacy and Rawls have been bad this season. To be fair to them, the Seahawks might have the worst offensive line in football, but Carson was able to have some success behind the same group of guys. Lacy is averaging three yards a carry, while Rawls is currently averaging less than two yards per carry. That’s a major concern going forward.
The under is the play to make in this one. Both offenses are flawed and each defense will hone in on that weakness and exploit it. Because it should be low scoring, take the Giants if you’re looking for a side, but the under is the best bet.
NFL Odds: Seahawks 20, Giants 16
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