Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers Line
The 5-9 Seattle Seahawks hit the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field Sunday when they take on the 9-5 Green Bay Packers in a Week 16 NFC non-division clash. Last week, Seattle was embarrassed 24-7 at home by the lowly Buccaneers while the Packers dropped a 37-36 heartbreaker in Pittsburgh. These two teams last met last season with Green Bay winning 27-17 behind a two-touchdown day from Aaron Rodgers. That win was Green Bay’s fifth in the last six meetings and its ninth out of 14 games in the all-time series. NFL odds makers are expecting Green Bay to continue its dominance over the Seahawks, listing the Packers as a 14-point favorite with the total set at 41.
The big question heading into this contest is how Green Bay will respond following a heartbreaking defeat on the final play of the game in Pittsburgh. The Packers certainly can’t afford a letdown here as New York’s Monday night win has kept the Giants in the hunt for one of the NFC Wild Card spots. Green Bay should have an excellent opportunity to bounce back against a Seattle team that is just 1-6 straight up and against the spread on the road this season.
Heading into the season, we expected to see Aaron Rodgers leading an explosive offensive attack, and he has. The Packers head into this contest averaging 27.1 points per game. What we didn’t expect was the defense to be so solid in its first season in a new scheme. The Green Bay defense has especially been good at home, where it is allowing just 18.4 points per game. A big reason for the success has been the outstanding play of rookie linebacker Clay Matthews, who is second among all rooks with 10 sacks. Matthews’ also has six passes defensed on the season and he figures to play a big role in this week’s matchup against a Seattle team that has given up a lot of sacks on the year. It is worth noting that the Packers enter this game on a 5-0-1 ATS run.
Will the Seahawks respond? Seattle was embarrassed by the 2-12 Tampa Bay Bucs at home last week and now Jim Mora is faced with the tough task of keeping his team focused the last two weeks of the season when they have nothing to play for. This is especially a tough task when you consider that Seattle is scoring only 15.3 points and allowing 30.3 points on the road this season.
One thing is certain, the Seahawks won’t be able to give Green Bay a run for the money without a good game from Matt Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck is coming off a four-interception game against Tampa Bay. It is worth noting that the Packers are just 2-10-2 ATS in their last 14 games as a home favorite of 10.5 or more points.
