The Seattle Seahawks really outdid themselves last weekend when they participated in what can only be described as the most boring game of the 2016 season. In recent years, the Seahawks offense was feared around the league for its big-play capabilities. But this year, the Seahawks are flying with clipped wings. Seattle’s offense has been so pitiful that they couldn’t even outscore in the Rams in Week 2. In Week 7 the Seahawks and the Cardinals put on such a poor offensive showing that the game ended in a 6-6 tie, after 90 minutes of football.
To say that the Seahawks offense has been a disappointment would be a gross understatement. Seattle may be sitting at 4-1-1 but the offenses lack of firepower is the antithesis of what we’ve come to expect from a Russell Wilson led offense. When a team fails to live up to their expectations, the sportsbooks will usually start pegging them as the underdogs. Take the Panthers for example; at 1-5 they’re now listed as underdogs against the Cardinals. But unlike Carolina, the Seahawks are pegged as the favorites this Sunday.
NFL Odds – Week 8 – Sunday, October 30th
Seattle Seahawks -2 ½ (-115) 48 (-110) -145
New Orleans Saints +2 ½ (-105) 48 (-110) +125
Perhaps the sportsbook took the Saints’ terrible defense into account when putting together these lines. If the Seahawks offense has been terrible this season, then the Saints’ defense has been atrocious. No team has let up more points than New Orleans so far this season. Coming into this game the Saints will house the 29th worst total defense, the 30th worst pass defense, and the 23rd worst rush defense. So even though Seattle has had difficulty putting points on the board this season, they should have little difficulty scoring against the Saints.
Currently the Saints only have 2 wins to 4 losses. However, they’ve only lost one game his season by more than 6 points. So even though teams have been running up the scoreboard on the Saints, New Orleans has remained competitive in every single matchup. That’s all thanks to Drew Brees. Right now Brees leads in the league in touchdowns, is second in passing yards – although he’s first in passing yards per game, and has the third highest completion percentage amongst quarterbacks with more than 100 pass attempts.
Behind Brees’ impressive efforts, the Saints have the best passing offense in the league, the second best total offense in the NFL, and the third best average for points scored per game. If the Saints had more wins, or a better defense, the sportsbooks would certainly be favoring them this Sunday.
Neither team has proven worthy of being picked for your bet on NFL money lines, but if you had to pick between Drew Brees and Russell Wilson, who would you choose?