‘Monday Night Football’ picks: Seahawks vs. Giants

Fun Fact: MetLife Stadium, the site of tonight’s game, opened the same year Pete Carroll took over as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

Funner Fact: The Seahawks have never lost at MetLife Stadium.

• October 9th, 2011: Seahawks 36, Giants 25
• December 15th, 2013: Seahawks 23, Giants 0
• February 2nd, 2014: Seahawks 43, Broncos 8
• October 2nd, 2016: Seahawks 27, Jets 17
• October 22nd, 2017: Seahawks 24, Giants 7

Opinion: That ain’t about to change.

Foundation for opinion: I predicted that Seattle would enter their Week 5 bye with a 3-1 record, and I don’t want to be wrong.

Personal feelings aside, there are a lot of reasons to expect a Seahawks win tonight.

For instance:

One. The New York Giants‘ best player is not expected to play.

Two. Through the first three weeks of the season, the Giants have/had the second-worst point differential in the league at minus-55. That put them right between the Broncos (minus-53) and the Bears (minus-59) - two teams who, coincidentally, faced each other in Week 4.

Three. The Giants have been outscored in the first half of their games by a combined score of 63-6.

Note: Seattle has also been outscored in the first half of their games, albeit by a much smaller margin (32 to 34).

Four. New York has turned the ball over five times this year (four interceptions, one fumble), and has lost possession twice on downs.

Four-and-a-half. The Giants have yet to force a turnover on defense.

Five. The Giants are averaging four punts per game.

Six. Through the first three weeks of the season, the Giants offense and defense were both ranked in the bottom half of the league.

• Offense: 28th in yards at 253.8 per game, and 30th in points (14.3).
• Defense: 24th in yards allowed (361.7 per contest), and 30th in points (32.7).

Note: I considered listing 12 reasons, but that seemed obsessive excessive.

Does that mean it’s going to be easy for Seattle to maintain their unbeaten streak at MetLife Stadium?

No, no it does not.

Seattle’s offense has been extremely efficient through the first three weeks of the season, but they’ve only converted 30.3% of their third-down attempts (the average is around 39%), and their penchant for settling for field goals instead of touchdowns is alarming.

And let’s not forget about Seattle’s defense.

Good against the run? Yes, 6th-best in the league prior to Sunday’s games. Good against the pass? Not so much.

Still, this is a game that, on paper, screams SEAHAWKS VICTORY.

And it helps that it’s on Monday Night Football.

Why?

Because Seattle has the best record in the league on Monday Night Football, with a winning percentage of .700.

All-time, not just since Pete Carroll arrived.

Fact: As a franchise, the Seattle Seahawks are 28-12 on the regular season’s biggest stage.

__________

The Picks:

• Seattle to win
• Seahawks to cover
• Combined score Over 47

Field Gulls staff picks via Tallysight:

Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.