Prime-Time First TD Bets — Sunday Night Football, Week 16
Alex Christenson
The Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts open their 2021 season with a Week 1 clash of a high-profile offense colliding with a stout defensive unit. Both teams also have plenty of question marks surrounding them heading into the season. Will the Seahawks let Russ cook? Will their defense tread enough water to take pressure off the offense? Will Carson Wentz be healthy for the Colts? Will he return to his near-MVP form?
All of these questions will be answered throughout the course of the season, starting with their Week 1 matchup.
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Seattle Seahawks vs. Indianapolis Colts Week 1 Odds
Date/Time: September 12, 1 p.m. ET
Arena: Lucas Oil Stadium
How to watch: FOX
Opening odds: Seahawks -2.5 | O/U 48.5 (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Latest Seahawks-Colts odds
Looking for the latest odds for this matchup? Here are they courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
- Seahawks -2.5
- Total: 48.5
Opening odds – Seahawks vs. Colts
Sitting as just 2.5-point underdogs, the oddsmakers clearly believe both that the Colts’ defensive unit is good enough to stay within striking distance of the Seahawks’ high-profile offense and that the Seahawks defense is bad enough to bleed production to anyone, even a potential backup quarterback.
This is also somewhat uncharted territory for the Colts, as they only clocked in as underdogs twice in 2020, going 1-1 against the spread in those games. While the Seahawks were favored in 15 of 16 games last season, they only covered the spread in seven of those 15 games given their defensive struggles.
Quarterback analysis – Russell Wilson vs. Carson Wentz (or Jacob Eason)
It’s the first game of the season, and we already have the potential for a backup quarterback appearance, as Carson Wentz was placed on the COVID-19 list Monday on top of nursing his way back from a foot injury. Prior to being placed on the COVID-19 list, however, he was slated to return to full-team practice Monday. The silver lining? He tested negative, just ruled a close contact, so he shouldn’t have any ill effects of the virus should he return. In the case that he doesn’t, Jacob Eason would be the next man up, downgrading basically the entire offense.
On the other side of this game, Russell Wilson should continue to provide monstrous upside any time he takes the field, but books tend to price his props with this in mind. Once released, don’t be surprised if the books set his touchdown prop around 2.5 and a yardage prop that could approach 300 yards.
Latest Seahawks betting news & info
The Seahawks never offered much value against the spread, as they ended up 8-8 against the spread in the regular season and 0-1 against the spread in the playoffs. Equally as unhelpful was their over record, as they finished with a 7-9 record on the over. In large part, that was due to the fact that they were one of the highest-scoring teams in the NFL (28.2 points per game), leading to books giving them astronomical tolls. The totals were so high that it eclipsed 50 points in eight of their nine games. This makes this an interesting spot given the 48.5-point total against a stout defense. This could lead to higher scoring games and more points for the Seahawks, boosting all of their offensive player props.
Latest Colts betting news & info
The story of the offseason has been the health struggles of the Colts, starting with Wentz’ foot injury that was originally projected to keep him out for as much as 12 weeks. Losing left tackle Sam Tevi to a torn ACL and T.Y. Hilton to an injury suffered in practice right when Quenton Nelson is finally activated from his own foot issue sums up how frustrating it’s been. With Wentz and Nelson expected back (pending Wentz’ COVID-19 issues), oddsmakers have kept this spread tight at 2.5 points. The Colts were slightly better in the betting market than the Seahawks in 2020, going 9-7 on the over and 10-7 against the spread, but 2021 is a completely different scenario given the change at quarterback.
The big question is whether Carson Wentz will return to his form from 2017, when he led the Eagles to an 11-2 record in his 13 games while tossing 33 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. Since then, he’s failed to top 21 touchdowns in two of three seasons, while throwing a lead-high 15 interceptions in 2020 and losing his job to Jalen Hurts.
His bright moments from camp, however, instill a bit of hope in a very favorable matchup against a league-worst pass defense.
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Seahawks vs. Colts betting picks – NFL Week 1
Regardless of how great some of Wentz’ flashes have been in camp, the thought of his 2020 season potentially who he is now scares me. This makes me feel like the Seahawks -2.5 spread here feel like a value. Not only do the Colts have a turnover-laden quarterback (which could help mask some of the inabilities of this Seahawks defense), but they have an offense that averaged over 28 points per game in 2021 and the “stronger” part of their defense happens to counter the Colts player generating the most hype, Jonathan Taylor.
While I’m confident in the Seahawks to get it done, I don’t have enough confidence in this being an all-out shootout to bet the over. That doesn’t mean I’m confident in the under, either, as I have a similar sentiment towards the under given Wentz’s potential to turn an offense into a circus.
Here are our betting picks for Seahawks vs. Cowboys in Week 1.
FTNBets best bets
- Spread: Seahawks -2.5 (FanDuel Sportsbook, -110)
- You can also get Seahawks -3 at +100 on PointsBet, which offers more value if you think that this will be a blowout.
- Total: no bet
For more information, betting picks, and analysis, check out the FTN NFL Bet Tracker.
How to bet on this game
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