NFL Teams Betting - Seattle Seahawks - NFC West

The Seahawks sent three of the starters in the secondary to the Pro Bowl last season and the unit should continue to improve this season. They boast the best young safety duo in the league in Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor, who combined for 191 tackles last season. Pete Carroll's defence places an emphasis on press corners and the 6-foot-4 Brandon Browner and 6-foot-3 Richard Sherman are one of the more physical groups in the NFC. Add former All-Pro and nine-year-veteran Marcus Trufant into the mix and Seattle has one of the NFL's most complete secondaries.

The Seahawks, in Pete Carroll’s third season of rebuilding, have one of the league’s most physical running backs in Marshawn Lynch. They’ve invested a number of high draft picks on offensive linemen. Their secondary is surprisingly good. They made inroads on the road last year, namely upsetting the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants in New York. Yet until Carroll unearths an able-bodied quarterback, the Seahawks are no better than the two 7–9 teams he’s fielded.

After getting nowhere — not even a courtesy interview — in the Peyton Manning quarterback sweepstakes, the Seahawks turned to Matt Flynn, hoping he’s the second coming of Matt Hasselbeck: A learned Packers backup capable of invigorating the Seattle franchise. Flynn had two starts on his Green Bay résumé, including a record-breaking 480-yard, six-touchdown passing effort against Detroit that showed he had game. Otherwise, Flynn was asked to be patient as Aaron Rodgers’ stand-in for four seasons, making him virtually untested.

Hasselbeck, pulled from the shadow of Brett Favre 11 years earlier, eventually led the Seahawks to Super Bowl XL. More patience will be required with Flynn at the helm. There are far too many defensive shortcomings to expect more than gradual improvement.