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Saturday, October 5, 2013

NFL Picks Week 5: Seahawks vs Colts Pick ATS & Predictions

Seattle and Russell Wilson are three-point road favorites and the total is sitting at 44 points.

By:  MaChez, TSZ Expert

Week Five is off to a good start for me - two games in and I’m already 2-0.  Only 16 more picks to go.  Not to mention the ten other picks I’ll make tomorrow on college football to feed my addiction… Picking The Spread Zone Early Game of the Week was tough this week and it took everything inside of me to not pick the Packers and Lions with all the betting trends I could use to back my Packers pick. 

Fortunately for you guys there are a bunch of good early matchups (Jaguars/Rams anyone??) and I settled on Seattle at Indianapolis.  New Orleans at Chicago was a close second and if it weren’t for Philly and New York sucking so much this year that divisional matchup would have deserved some attention.

Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks have started the season 4-0 and lived up to everyone’s Superbowl expectations.  Sort of.  At home they’ve looked great, to no surprise.  They blew out San Francisco in Week 2 and then did the same to Jacksonville in Week 3 - way to go!  On the road however, despite going 2-0, they’ve looked like a completely different team.  In Week 1 they needed a fourth quarter red zone fumble to win 12-7 at Carolina.  In Week 4 the Seahawks needed yet another late turnover to bring the game in to overtime and beat the Texans.

Despite the road struggles, the fact that they pulled off the wins is making people still consider them Superbowl favorites.  People are also still pretty high on Russell Wilson, despite some pretty Christian Ponder-esque stats:  26th in completed passes, 25th in passing yards, 13th in TDs, 17th in completion percentage, etc. etc. However, like the Seahawks on the road, Wilson is a completely different, playmaking quarterback in the fourth quarter who is fortunate enough to have a stacked D to keep him in the game so long.  I seem to remember another quarterback that only played well in the fourth….

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts have started 3-1 and Andrew Luck is getting generally good reviews on the beginning of his sophomore season.  Week 1 they barely beat the Raiders. Week 2 they tried to win again late in the fourth quarter and failed against the Dolphins.  Week 3 they traded for Trent Richardson and destroyed the 49ers in San Francisco.  And in Week 4 they beat the Jaguars - way to go!  The last two weeks they seemed to have move past relying on fourth quarter heroics to win, but it’s yet to be known if it will last the rest of the season.

As usual, Luck has dealt with a questionable offensive line this season, getting sacked 10 times over four games.  The addition of Richardson helps though and also adds to Luck’s regime of receivers with a big percentage of his passes going to tight ends or running backs.  The addition of Richardson is also hurting Luck‘s overall numbers.  He’s currently only on pace for 64.1% passing, 20 TDs, 8 interceptions, and 3,672 yards.  He’ll need to play one of his best games this weekend if he wants to beat Seattle and their stingy D.

The Spread

Seattle comes in to this road game as three point favorites with the total set at 44.  Seattle has found ways to win on the road this year (and the end of last year’s regular season) but now faces their second straight road, dome game.  In his career as a home underdog, Luck is 4-0 straight up and against the spread, but he will have a tough time keeping that record going this weekend.  Bruce Irvin returning to the Seattle D will only make things harder and Richardson will have to help keep them honest. 

On the other side of the ball, Seattle’s two missing offensive tackles will keep Russell Wilson running.   He will need to rely on Marshawn Lynch to slow this game down and will need to play better in quarters 1-3 if he wants to win this game.


Last year at 10am the Seahawks were 1-3, with losses to Miami, Detroit, St. Louis, and an overtime win against Chicago.  The 10am curse has almost bit the Seahawks twice this year and we see it finally them this week.  Take the Colts, the points and the Under.

PREDICTION:   INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (+3) vs. Seattle Seahawks

                                UNDER 44

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