2011 Seattle Seahawks Predictions
Odds to win the Super Bowl: 75-1
Betting on football this season? Get expert NFL picks at Touthouse.com

Can Rebuilding Seahawks Continue Positive Steps in Year-Two of Carroll Era Without Hasselbeck?

The rebuilding Seattle Seahawks (7-9 SU, 7-9 ATS, 11-4-1 O/U) had a great first season under head coach Pete Carroll and enter the 2011 NFL regular season looking to build on their surprising success from a year ago that included not only a playoff berth with a losing record, but a win over the defending Super Bowl champion Saints to boot!

Thanks to this expert NFL gridiron betting breakdown, NFL pigskin bettors everywhere will be able to break the books on Seahawks games all season long.

Seattle will undoubtedly have a different look in 2011 with longtime franchise quarterback Matt Hasselbeck bolting for Tennessee and the Seahawks bringing in Tavaris Jackson (huh?) to take over as the team’s new starting QB ahead of younger signal-caller Charlie Whitehurst.

The Seahawks added explosive wide receiver Sidney Rice and veteran offensive lineman Robert Gallery in free agency to help improve a passing attack that ranked 19th a year ago, but need to get some big improvement out of second-year wide receiver Golden Tate after he underachieved in a big way during his rookie season a year ago.

More importantly, the Seahawks want to address their anemic rushing attack which ranked a pitiful 31st last season (89.0 ypg). To this end, Seattle drafted guard James Carpenter with the No. 25 overall pick in the draft before adding another guard in John Moffitt in the third round.
Carpenter is projected to start at right tackle and Moffitt at right guard.

The Seahawks will also have a new offensive coordinator in 2011 in Darrell Bevell and will run a version of the West Coast offense that features shorter throws and more timing routes.

Seattle hired former Oakland Raiders’ head coach Tom Cable as offensive line coach and that should help spur some change and improvement. The insertion of veteran running back Marshawn Lynch should help shore up the team’s uninspiring rushing attack.

Defensively, the Seahawks ranked 27th against the pass and 21st against the run so they definitely have their work cut out for them on this side of the ball.

Seattle is really mediocre across the defensive line and linebacker Aaron Curry, the fourth player picked in the 2009 draft has been average at best, and that’s not the superstar caliber player Seattle thought they were getting with that high draft pick.

Longtime leader Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill were signed to long-term contracts and Aaron Curry entered the league as the No. 4 overall draft pick. The Seahawks also foolishly let go of longtime defensive leader Lofa Tatupu because of a silly contract squabble and this will hurt the team at some point.

I like cornerback Marcus Trufant a bunch and absolutely love hard-hitting safety Earl Thomas, a future pro bowler in the making if you ask me.

Outlook
Seattle kicks off its 2011 NFL regular season with a pair of road games at San Francisco and Pittsburgh before hosting Arizona and Atlanta and I’m expecting the Seahawks to get through this stretch at 2-2 at best with losses to the Steelers and Falcons.

The Seahawks then hit the road to face the Giants and Browns before coming back home to host the Bengals and I see Pete Carroll’s ballclub going 1-2 through this three-game stretch to fall to 3-4 after seven games.

A home date against Baltimore is sandwiched between road games at Dallas and St. Louis and I really think NFL gamblers will see the Seahawks go record a dismal 0-3 mark over this span to fall to a disappointing 3-7 after 10 games.

A trio of home games against, Washington, Philadelphia and St. Louis should see Seattle go 2-1 here to improve to 5-8 with just three regular season games remaining. The Seahawks close out their 2011 campaign with a road date at Chicago, a home matchup against division rival San Francisco and a road game at Arizona and I believe a 1-2 stretch leaves Seattle at 6-10 and out of the postseason after getting in last season with a losing 7-9 regular season record.

I’ve got to ‘keep it real’ by admitting that I am totally shocked that Pete Carroll went after veteran quarterback Tavaris Jackson, mostly because I see a mediocre signal-caller that isn’t going to get much better at this point in his career.

While the Seahawks had a fine 2010 campaign, I wouldn’t be fooled by their playoff win over the Saints. This team is looking at another 7-9 campaign in 2011, but could get into the postseason again with that record in a very weak NFC West.

By the Betting Numbers
Seattle’s 7-9 ATS mark in 2010 included an impressive 5-3 ATS at home, but just a 2-6 ATS mark on the road. With two rookie starters on the offensive line, a mediocre quarterback in Tavaris Jackson and a defense that looks like it has more holes than Swiss Cheese, the Seahawks should once again post an ATS record that falls right around .500. I wouldn’t expect more than eight (8) ATS in 2011.

Of course, along with its generous defense, I’m expecting the Seahawks to post a similar O/U number to the 11-4-1 O/U record they posted last season while going 5-2-1 O/U at home and 6-2 O/U on the road.

The bottom line here is that the Seahawks won’t be able to stop very many people in 2011 and could end up in a high amount of shootouts. -Eric Williams

Be sure to visit Touthouse.com this year for winning football picks and expert football betting information from our team of professional sports handicappers. If you would like more 2011 Seattle Seahawks Predictions and wagering advice, check out our partner sites: Accuwager.com and Handicapperspicks.com