Seattle Seahawks (3-7) 3-7 ATS, 5-5 O/U at St. Louis Rams (1-9) 5-5 ATS, 4-5-1 O/U, Week 12 NFL, Sunday November 29, 2009 1:00 p.m. EST
By Wilson of Predictem.com
Betting Line: Seattle -3/St. Louis +3
Over/Under: 42.5
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The showdown between the Seahawks and the Rams may not be the game of the week but for both teams it is a chance to build confidence and work on getting better. For Seattle, a team once in control of the NFC West, but now they are losers of 7 out of their last 9 games it is an opportunity to start a late season run and possibly scrap out a .500 season.
The Rams bright spot in their 21-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals was running back Stephen Jackson who carried the ball 24 times for 116 yards, 1 touchdown and a long run of 48 yards. Jackson is the first Rams rusher to gain over 1000 yards in five straight seasons. Rams QB Marc Bulger had a chance to tie the game late but threw an incomplete pass to Donnie Avery in the end zone which killed the come-back drive. This has been the Ram’s story all year- failed attempts. The last time the Hawks and Rams hooked up was in week one when Seattle still looked like they were a threat. The Hawk’s beat St. Louis 28-0 in Seattle.
Seattle stays on the road as they travel from Minnesota to St. Louis. In Minnesota the Hawks ran into the buzz-saw that is Brett Favre. Favre only completed 88 percent of his passes against the Hawks along with four TDs. The Hawks are struggling on both sides of the ball and even with the return of secondary star Marcus Trufant the defense is suspect.
Seattle will have to increase their offensive play totals if they want a chance to compete. The Rams are not the Vikings but the way Seattle has played it probably won’t matter. Seattle ran 44 offensive plays to the Viking’s 72; unless a team scores on every drive, 44 plays will usually not get the job done.
Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck was 19 of 26 for 231 yards and zero touchdowns. Running back Justin Forsett carried the ball 9 times for 9 yards! Ouch. In fact, the Hawks finished the game with an overall total of 4 yards rushing. The only good thing about that number is that it wasn’t negative yards- I guess that’s a good thing. Forsett did have 80 yards receiving but the Hawks just couldn’t get anything going on the ground.
Seattle comes into this weekend’s game averaging 19.6 points per effort but they allow 23.3 ppg to their opponents. The Seahawks give up 236.8 yards in the air and 110 on the ground.
St. Louis is averaging 11.3 points per game and allowing 27. The Rams allow 146 yards on the ground and 238 in the air. St. Louis operates in a more balanced offensive attack while Seattle has virtually a non-existent running attack as they only average 84 yards rushing per game and just 4 yards last week. The Hawks have had 13 players miss at least one game due to injury this season.
The betting line on this game opened at St. Louis +3 with a total of 42.5. Most oddsmakers from the online casinos are posting the Rams at +3 to +3.5 with the same total of 42.5 but a few are showing 43 as the O/U.
Seattle has gone backwards during the last couple of seasons as they are now fighting just to break even on the season. Seahawk fans are used to their team winning and going to the playoffs as are the Rams fans from not too long ago when Kurt Warner directed them to two superbowls. The Hawks made it to the Super Bowl but lost to the Steelers a few years back as well. With both teams in a funk and searching for offensive and defensive identity it should make for an interesting matchup.
Wilson’s Pick: Rams win straight up as an underdog.
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