On the Sunday Night Game of the Week, the Seattle Seahawks host the Indianapolis Colts. One would have to think that the NFL schedule makers wish they could redo this one. The Colts, without Andrew Luck, are an ugly team to watch. Seattle is a maddening team to watch as they have not played to their potential. Fortunately for the Seahawks and the 12th man, Indy is just what the doctor order to cure poor this young season’s performances. Kickoff inside CenturyLink Field is at 8:30 P.M. ET.
The Colts (1-2) earned their first win of the season in Week 3 as they defeated the winless Cleveland Browns at home 31-28. Indy has improved their on-field production after naming Jacoby Brissett the starter in Week 2. Brissett was acquired in a trade with the Patriots just before the season started and is still learning the offensive schemes. However, he has proven worthy of the playing time and the Colts are more competitive with him until Luck returns.
The Seahawks (1-2) have yet to look good on offense. Although they put up 27 points last week against Tennessee, Seattle was one-dimensional and quarterback Russell Wilson had to throw the ball over 40 times. Seattle looked anemic on offense the first two weeks of the season at Green Bay and home versus the Niners as they barely scored any points. This week, Seattle has the chance to right the ship on offense with the Colts coming to town.
The spread opened with Seattle an 11.5 point favorite. It has since gone up to 13. The Over/Under opened at 41 points and has slightly gone up to 41.5 total points.
It hurts me to pick Seattle winning by 2 touchdowns considering how bad they’ve looked on offense. But, the Colts have looked worse as a team except last week against the Browns. Additionally, the Colts were destroyed in their only road game of the season, which was Week 1 against the Rams 46-9. Seattle is a tough place to play and the Colts aren’t good enough to overcome the hostile environment.
Despite Brissett’s solid play, he will take a step back this week in Seattle. Brissett has yet to face a defense of this caliber, which feeds off its home crowd better than any other defense in the league. Additionally, Seattle was in a fight last week against the Titans, which they came out on the wrong side of things. Look for Seattle to bounce back with more energy and aggression. The Colts are scoring 17 points per game and I expect Seattle to hold them to less than that this week.
The Colts have yet to establish any kind of run game this year. On the season, they’re only averaging 81 yards per game. I don’t see them being able to run the ball this week in Seattle, which will put more pressure on Brissett. Look for Seattle to increase their season sack total and turnover total this week. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Seattle scored on defense in this one.
Offensively, Seattle really needs to commit to the run and not abandon it like they did last week in Tennessee. Part of that was due to the defense giving up 33 points, which is not the norm. With the defense smothering Indy all day, I expect Seattle to run the ball effectively with Chris Carson. This will open up the play action. Another reason for Seattle to commit to the run is that their o-line isn’t great in pass protection and their number one wide receiver Doug Baldwin is banged up. The Colts give up 383 total yards per game and I can see the Seahawks easily cruising past the 400 total yard mark in this one.
Seattle is 4-2 ATS in their last 6 home games and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 non-conference games. Seattle is also 5-1 ATS in their last 6 home games playing against a team with a losing record on the road. The Colts are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a SU win.
Look for Carson to get his first 100 yard game on the ground and at least one rushing touchdown this week. I expect this game to be a blowout as Seattle will thrive off the home crowd and beat a Colts team that just can’t hang without Andrew Luck. I can see this score being 34-10 as the Seahawks cruise to their second victory of the season.