Seattle Seahawks at Miami Dolphins Odds
The Miami Dolphins are just one game back in the AFC East, and if they can put together their first three-game winning streak in two years this Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks they will remain right in the thick of things. It appears the NFL odds makers are confident they will do just that as Miami is an 8-point favorite to do just that with the total set at 43.
Miami is coming off their second straight win when they took care of the Broncos in Denver, 26-17. The week before that they took down another division leader in the Buffalo Bills. They will warmly welcome a Seattle team that has lost four of their last five and was beat up pretty bad last Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. The offense was ugly with 11 straight punts to move the team to 2-6.
The Seattle offense has been absolutely terrible this year, but to be fair the injury bug has hit them pretty hard. At wideout the team has been without Nate Burleson, Ben Obomanu, and Deion Branch for almost the entire season, while quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has missed the last four contests with a back injury. He will most likely have to sit again for this one which would mean another start for Seneca Wallace. Seattle currently ranks last in the league with 141.3 passing ypg, but that number has dropped to 126.5 ypg without Hasselbeck. Rookie tight end John Carlson leads the team in receiving this year with 22 catches, 244 yards, and two scores. Julius Jones hasn’t been able to get much going out of the backfield either with just 39.4 ypg over the last four weeks, with Maurice Morris only chipping in 32.3 ypg over that stretch.
Injuries have hit the Seahawk defense pretty hard too, and their top two defenders will most likely be sitting on the sidelines for this one. Defensive end Patrick Kerney is battling a shoulder injury while linebacker Lofa Tatupu is battling a groin injury that forced him to miss last week against the Eagles. The pass defense has been especially bad for the Seahawks in allowing 258 passing ypg to rank next to last in the NFL.
Even though Miami has gained some attention with their Wildcat formation, the Dolphins are sixth in passing with 249.3 ypg and ninth overall with 349 ypg. Quarterback Chad Pennington is looking good lately, throwing for 293.5 ypg over the last four games. Greg Camarillo has caught 43 passes on the year and is coming off an 11 catch, 111 yard performance last week. Camarillo has been consistent with at least five catches in four out of the last five games. The ground game hasn’t been quite as productive with only 99.8 ypg, and Ronnie Brown is just averaging 44.8 ypg over his last four games. Ricky Williams is being used less and less with only 17 attempts the last three weeks.
The Dolphin defense is doing a good job of getting their offense the ball with 12 forced turnovers the last three weeks. Miami is ninth against the run 89.6 ypg allowed, and they rank 12th in the league with 20.4 ppg. Their pass defense benefits from a strong rush, and linebacker Joey Porter is leading the league with 11.5 sacks.
