Play on Seattle ML

Record: 16-22, +1.87


Today I recommend a play on the Seattle Seahawks visiting the San Francisco 49ers. Bith teams won last week in impressive ways.

We saw the Seahawks winning 28-0 against St Louis that did look bad, but Seattle is still a very good team though they went 4-12 last season. Hasselbeck who missed most of last season because of injuries seems to be the key here. As he threw two early INTs, he went on to 25-26 for 279 yards and 3 TDs(and the 2 picks) in the end. He got great protection from his line and great help by RB Julius Jones who ran for 117 yards on 19 carries. The receiving corps with Carlson, Burleson and Houshmandzadeh looked good, too. If they can add Deion Branch today, this is a very dangerous crew. The defense that allowed most passing yards last season looked improved, too. Of course, after one game it is difficult to say if that's for real but I'll take it as it is.

The 49ers impressed with a win at Arizona, 20-16. They played nice defense then and held the passing game of the Cards to just 288 yards although they were without Steve Breaston. Their offense, however didn't impress me at all. Shaun Hill did a good job preventing mistakes. Average QB play is what San Francisco looked for after bad performances by Alex Smtih the last seasons. Hill went 18-31 for 209 yards along with a TD and no INT. That IS average. The running play didn't work as well as Frank Gore had a bad game despite his TD in the end. His longest run was for 6 yards on 22 attempts. He finished with only 30 yards. And don't forget Arizona's defense isn't one of the feared in the league.

So as Seattle really impressed me, and I'm sure they will play a nice role this season as before last season they won four straight division titles and had a SuperBowl appearance. One bad season doesn't make a team bad. San Francisco won on defense, but if you look deeper it wasn't that much impressive to beat Arizona. The Cardinals went only 8-8 last year in this weak division, then got a run in postseason and almost won the SuperBowl. No wonder, this team had to go downwards. You often see bad teams playing over their heads the right time. This season they should fall back on earth. San Francisco on the other hand was very motivated playing the reigning NFC Champions. Especially their defense showed up. This week you shouldn't expect them to repeat this. Play on Seattle ML at 1.98 or -102 with 4 units. Good Luck.

DG