Seattle vs Washington Betting?
Headline: Rookies Rise – Wilson and the Seahawks Take on Griffin III and the Redskins Wild Card Sunday
On paper, Sunday’s showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and the Washington Redskins could be the best game of the Wild Card Weekend. You have two rookie quarterbacks, terrific running games and two teams that have won seven of their last eight games going head to head.
Seattle Seahawks (11-5) vs. Washington Redskins (10-6)
Date/Time: Sunday, January 6, 4:30 PM ET
Venue: FedEx Field
Broadcast: FOX
Seahawks vs. Redskins Betting Lines from WagerWeb
Spread: Seahawks -3 (-110)
Moneyline: Seahawks -155: Redskins +135
Over/Under: 46 points
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight!
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Interestingly the Seattle Seahawks, a notoriously poor road team is a slight favorite Sunday but Robert Griffin III, Alfred Morris and gang should have something to say about that.
Nobody really took the Seattle Seahawks seriously until a Week 16 beat down of the San Francisco 49ers. Now, entering the playoffs, they are part of one of the highest profile games on the schedule. Seattle has gotten it done this season with an emerging passing game, a superb running game, a top tier defense and with a coaching staff that has brought the best out of absolutely everybody on the roster.
Seattle enters Sunday’s contest with the league’s 27th ranked passing game – a tad misleading when considering where Russell Wilson and his receivers were at the start of the season. Wilson ended the season with a passer rating of over 100 – terrific stuff for a rookie, along with his counterpart in this game, RG III. Sidney Rice, Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin and Zach Miller will all have a chance to shine against a Washington secondary that finished 30th in the NFL this season but improved down the stretch.
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The Seahawks are still a run first team led by Marshawn Lynch who finished third in the NFL in rushing this season with 1590 yards. All together, the Hawks ranked third in the league in rushing with an average of 161.19 yards per game. As always, Lynch will be a big part of the game plan Sunday but he will have his work cut out for him against Washington’s stout run defense.
Defensively, Seattle has been superb all season long – 6th against the pass and 10th against the run. Seattle was #1 in the NFL during the regular season in points against surrendering an average of just 15.31 points per game. Washington’s offense is potent, it is dynamic, it is balanced and is plain scary – the Hawks will certainly have their hands full.
Remember when the Washington Redskins started 2011 with Donovan McNabb at QB and Roy Helu at RB? It seems like a long time ago – this team has totally revamped itself and has become one of the most talked about teams in the nation. Offensively the Skins have been terrific this season – defensively they have been awful at times but have shown signs of improvement down the stretch. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
We don’t have to tell you about RG III and what he has meant to the Washington Redskins or maybe we do! He has transformed the Skins offense from a joke to the #5 overall unit in the NFL. Griffin III finished with a passer rating of over 100 this season and has given each and every defense he has played against absolute fits – it seems there is no way to defense this guy! Unless you get to practice against a similar type of Quarterback each and every week like the Seahawks do.
Washington finished the season as the #4 scoring offense in the NFL, the 20th ranked passing offense and with the best rushing offense in the league. RG III did his part but so did another rookie, Alfred Morris who capped off an outstanding rookie season with 200 yards and 3 TDs against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17. Morris finished the season top 5 in league rushing and he scored 13 times – amazing!
Washington’s defense has been a bit of a mystery – near the bottom of the league all season against the pass and very good against the run. This unit finished 30th versus the pass and 5th against the run which will come in handy against Marshawn Lynch and company. The Skins defense has gotten better as the season has rolled on but faces a Seattle offense that scored 170 points in their last four games.
Betting Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• Seattle is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle’s last 6 games
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Seattle’s last 5 games when playing on the road against Washington
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Seattle’s last 5 games on the road
• Washington is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
• Washington is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Washington’s last 5 games at home
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington’s last 5 games when playing at home against Seattle
There is absolutely no shortage of storylines ahead of Sunday’s clash of the rookies – both teams are so similar in so many ways. But the determining factor will likely be the defenses. Seattle boasts Richard Sherman, Brandon Browner and Earl Thomas in the secondary – they should be able to limit the big play ability of the Skins while Washington has an underwhelming DeAngelo Hall that they are forced to rely on. I love the way the Hawks have been playing, I love the balance on offense and I love the ball hawking attitude of the defense. Seattle wins their sixth straight in a scintillating game.
Pick: Seattle Seahawks -3
