Seattle Seahawks vs. San Diego Chargers: Betting Odds Analysis, Prediction

The Seattle Seahawks could not have looked much better than they did in crushing Green Bay last Thursday to open the NFL season. And now they have extra rest visiting a team playing with short rest in the San Diego Chargers.

The defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks trounced the Packers 36-16 in Week 1 and have won six of their last seven games as road favorites.

Point Spread

The Seahawks opened as 4.5-point favorites, but the line has climbed a point since Monday; the total was 45. (Line updates and matchup report)

Odds Shark Computer Prediction: 31.5-23 Seattle

Why the Seahawks Can Cover the Spread

Seattle played a near-perfect game against Green Bay, which followed a flawless Super Bowl performance against another member of the AFC West: the Denver Broncos.

In addition to winning six of seven as road favorites, the Seahawks have gone 5-2 against the spread under that scenario and probably saw some ways to frustrate the Chargers in San Diego's 18-17 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football.

Seattle’s defensive secondary and pass rush will have a decided advantage against a San Diego team that faltered under pressure at Arizona, especially quarterback Philip Rivers, who fumbled a snap and also tossed a costly interception.

Why the Chargers Can Cover the Spread

The Chargers seemingly had their way with the Cardinals last week until the fourth quarter started, which is when everything started going downhill.

Up until that point, San Diego’s defense looked solid, and the team’s offense was doing the job by capitalizing on most opportunities. The Chargers have performed well in the role of home underdogs over the past decade, going 8-4 ATS in their last 12 and winning seven of those games straight up.

The key for San Diego will be establishing the run game a bit more in order to try to establish greater balance on offense and help take some pressure off Rivers.

Good luck with that…

Smart Pick

It’s hard to go against the Seahawks in this spot, especially after watching Rivers melt down at the end against Arizona. The Chargers really should have won that game, and they are now facing an 0-2 start against a tougher defense without much of a home-field advantage.

Even though San Diego has done fairly well as a home dog, the team is just 7-8 SU in its last 15 games overall at Qualcomm Stadium. Seattle knows that the key to stopping the Chargers is making them abandon the running game, just like they did at Arizona.

If San Diego falls into that trap again and tries to throw the ball against the Legion of Boom, Seattle will win by double digits.

Trends

• Seattle is 6-1 SU in its last seven games when playing San Diego
• San Diego is 1-5 ATS in its last six games when playing at home against Seattle
• Seahawks 5-2 ATS last seven games as road favorites
• Chargers 8-4 ATS last 12 games as home underdogs

All spread and odds data powered by Odds Shark. Follow us on Twitter for injury updates and line move updates.