Seahawks open as 3-point underdogs for 2021 season opener at Colts

The NFL schedule release happened last week and while we won’t see the Seattle Seahawks in regular season action for another four months, bookies have set the opening lines already for Week 1.

The Westgate Superbook has the Seahawks as 3-point road underdogs against the Indianapolis Colts. That game kicks off on Sunday, September 12th at 10 AM PT on FOX and should be the debut of Carson Wentz as Indy’s new quarterback. If you’re unfamiliar with point spreads, home teams pretty much have a 3-point advantage built in, although perhaps last year might have been worth a rethink given the poor record of home teams in a season with limited or no fan attendance.

The over/under point spread is set at 52, and interestingly enough that’s tied for the second-highest over/under spread for the Week 1 slate of games, trailing just the Browns-Chiefs (O/U 53) and tied with the opening night matchup between the Buccaneers and Cowboys. Last season, through a combination of great offense and horrible defense, Seahawks games exceeded 52 points through the first eight weeks, then didn’t go above 50 after that.

Meanwhile, the Colts saw 10 of their 17 games (playoffs included) went under 52 points and one was bang on the money for a push. There are a lot of unknowns for Wentz, who looked dreadful to end his time with the Eagles but is reunited with head coach Frank Reich. The Colts have one of the top offensive lines in the league, an emerging standout running back in Jonathan Taylor, and boasted a top-10 defense by DVOA in 2020, figure to have a lot of tools in place to be a playoff team again this year if Wentz is even halfway decent. If history is a guide though, Wentz has not only never beaten the Seahawks in four tries (well five but he was injured in one of them) but he’s rarely impressed in any of those meetings.

For the Seahawks’ Week 2 home opener against the Tennessee Titans, they are listed as 3.5 point favorites with an over/under of 49 against the reigning AFC South champions. Seattle has not lost their opening home game since the 2008 season and we hope that streak remains intact for 2021.