Seahawks Broncos Betting – Broncos Pounce On Jackson, Seahawks

Fresh off their huge online betting upset in the playoffs last season, Seattle has high hopes for the 2011 campaign, but their new quarterback could be a detriment to their attempt to repeat as NFC West champions. The Seahawks will head to Denver on Saturday night, and an active Bronco defense should force Seattle into some mistakes.

• What: NFL Betting
  When: Saturday, August 27th, 9:00 PM ET
  Where: Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium, Denver, CO
  Pick: Denver Broncos -4

Why Bet On Seattle Seahawks

Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson didn’t look sharp in a 20-7 loss to Denver at home, going 11-of-21 for 75 yards and a pick, and even though head coach Pete Carroll has reiterated that Jackson is his guy, he hasn’t looked good in camp or in preseason games. But they did manage to run for 150 yards, and that may be more important as the season wears on if Jackson can’t get his act together. The Seattle defense forced a couple of turnovers and stopped the Vikings on both of their red-zone opportunities, and that unit is probably a smarter bet to improve than the offense. Richard Sherman was one of a handful of players with four tackles on the day and they also got a fumble recovery from Aaron Curry, who has been a bust since the Seahawks took him with the fourth pick in 2009. If he could become the pass-rush force that Seattle envisioned when they drafted him, the Seahawks could be a real threat.

This team was awful on both sides of the ball and managed to get in the playoffs because of a quarterback who didn’t make mistakes (Matt Hasselbeck) and they play in a suspect division (the NFC West). Hasselbeck is gone and now they have Jackson, a turnover machine who seems to have the athletic ability, but not the quarterbacking ability. Watch how he fares against an aggressive Denver defense this week.

Why Bet On Denver Broncos

The Broncos looked impressive on both sides of the ball in a 24-10 win at home over Buffalo, and you can draw a few conclusions from this game. One, there is no more competition for the role of Kyle Orton’s backup as Brady Quinn has safely taken the job from Tim Tebow, who some feel has been the fourth-best pivot in camp for the Broncos. Quinn was 10-of-16 for 130 yards, a touchdown and a pick, but most NFL betting players know that Quinn has a problem transferring those types of performances to a regular game, so look for Orton to get most of the snaps. Defensively, Wesley Woodyard led the way with seven tackles, but rookie safety Rahim Moore made the play of the game when he laid out Buffalo receiver Donald Jones. While he was flagged for the hit, head coach John Fox and his teammates loved seeing the aggressive play from the young man.

While the Broncos are going to be more physical in 2011, they have to do it without taking penalties, so Moore will have to learn from his big hit. One major area to watch for the Broncos in this game is up front on the defensive line as tackle Marcus Thomas is out for the rest of the preseason because of his strained pectoral muscle and fellow tackle Ty Warren may miss the season due to triceps surgery. This may make the Broncos easier to run on through the middle.

How It Will Play Out

The Broncos will be 4-point NFL betting favorites at home against the Seahawks, who are 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS in their last five regular-season trips to Mile High. Four of those games went over the posted total, and this one could as well as both defenses were shaky last year and although they’ve shown improvement in the preseason, this will be their final exam before the regular season because the starters will lead the way.

The Seattle defense should be better this year, but what about the offense? Is Tarvaris Jackson ready to be an NFL starter? The thought process here is that he hasn’t, and we’re not sure that he’ll be the starter by the midway point of the campaign. The Broncos are sorted out under center with Orton and their defense will be ready to go, so make Denver your sports betting pick at home on Saturday.

Seahawks Broncos Betting Pick: Denver Broncos -4.5