Seahawks Schedule: Predictions for Every Game
By Ben Renner
Week 2 — vs San Francisco 49ers, Sunday Sept. 17th 1:25PT, FOX
We don’t know what to expect from San Francisco, who poached a few Seahawks players this offseason, other than a generally bad football team. The 49ers have completely reset themselves after firing their head coach and General Manager. For the home opener at CenturyLink Field, especially after getting revenge on the Packers in Week 1, the Seahawks will easily take care of their NFC West little brother.
Final Score: Seahawks 31, 49ers 10 (2-0, Division: 1-0)
Week 3 — at Tennessee Titans, Sunday Sept. 24th 1:05PT, FOX
Tennessee should be improved after missing the playoffs last season. In fact, they could very well take the AFC South division this year. With ex-Duck quarterback Marcus Mariota improving even more, they could give the Seahawks trouble in front of their fans.
The Titans were about league-average on both sides of the ball except for stopping the run on defense and running the ball on offense. They gained 136 rushing yards a game last year with DeMarco Murray gaining 1287 yards and scoring nine touchdowns in 2016. Normally, teams that rely on the running game to protect their quarterback don’t fare well against Seattle. Opponents usually can’t be one-dimensional against the Seahawks in the Pete Carroll, Legion of Boom era.
The X-Factor in this game will be Mariota for the Titans. If he can make plays against the tough Seahawks secondary, he should keep Tennessee in the game. He only threw nine interceptions last season and completed a solid but unspectacular 61 percent of his passes in 2016.
If new running back Eddie Lacy and the Seahawks can find a few running lanes against a stout Titans defense, which added Defensive Tackle Sylvester Williams this offseason, they’ll scratch out a victory. It will be a close game, but I bet on Wilson and company finding enough room in Tennessee’s weak secondary to pull this road game out.