National Football League

NFL odds: Run to bet against the Seattle Seahawks

Updated Aug. 27, 2022 12:21 a.m. ET

With one week left in the NFL preseason, only two QB competitions are still going on — rookie Kenny Pickett hard-charging against former Chicago starter Mitch Trubisky in Pittsburgh and the low-level battle between Geno Smith and Drew Lock in Seattle.

People care about the one in Pittsburgh — the Steelers have a formidable defense and could be a playoff team again if they catch a few breaks. On the other hand, the showdown in Seattle is about as interesting as the Emerald City's weather. No matter which quarterback gets the start, Seattle's outlook looks bleak.

The Seahawks have gone from being a perennial playoff team with Russell Wilson — eight trips in 10 years, including two Super Bowl appearances — to rebuilding with Lock or Smith. The Legion of Boom has left the building, the Jamal Adams trade has been a disaster and the offensive line is extremely deficient.

Gone are the days of 2019, as the defense will cripple Seattle this year. Last year, they threw everything at opponents — the 4-3, the 3-4, even a 5-2 with ends dropping into coverage. Nothing worked. Seattle’s defense was so poor that backup quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Nick Foles were able to carve them into pieces.

Defensive coordinator Ken Norton was fired after realizing a change needed to be made. Sean Desai comes in from the Chicago Bears but didn't have the best year as the defensive coordinator in the Windy City last season. The Seahawks then followed that up by doing absolutely nothing regarding talent to rectify the situation on that side of the ball.

Maybe the offense can win them some games? Good luck with that.

The projected starting tackles are two rookies being thrown into the fire. Whoever wins the starting quarterback job will have one of the best pairs of receivers in the NFL in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, but what good are they if you don’t have anyone to protect Smith or Lock?

Pete Carroll is clearly trying to build out the roster and hope for a chance to grab a quarterback at the top of the 2023 NFL Draft. That QB would then be able to slide into a ready-made squad, similar to the way third-rounder Russell Wilson did in 2012.

Regardless of the quarterback, this depleted squad is not winning many games this year. This is why I said on The Herd that I’d shave Seattle's logo into the side of my head if they finished over .500.

All of this was a long way to say, take the Seahawks to win under 5.5 games this season. This will be fun.

PICK: Seattle Seahawks to win under 5.5 games (+100 at FOX Bet, Bet $10 to win $20 total)

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