NFL Picks Against the Spread Week 1: Why Seahawks Are the Steal of Week 1

Wanna make money?

Take the Seahawks +6 on the road against the San Francisco 49ers.

For some reason, Vegas thinks the 49ers, a team that finished 6-10 last season, is going to beat the new-look Seahawks by a touchdown.

Okay, so the Seahawks may have only been 7-9 last year, but they made a ton of upgrades.

Swapping Matt Hasselbeck for Tarvaris Jackson at QB is a high-risk/high-reward move that gives the Seahawks more versatility at the position. Hasselbeck is incredibly slow and it is painfully clear his best days are behind him. Jackson is fast, has a strong arm and his best days ahead of him.

But the real reasons the Seahawks have improved come in the form of WR Sidney Rice and OT Robert Gallery.

Rice is one of the top receivers in the league when healthy and will stretch the field alongside Mike Williams. That will open up big holes for Jackson to take off and run when flushed from the pocket.

Gallery transformed into one of the more reliable tackles in the game once coach Tom Cable came to town when the two were in Oakland.

Guess who went to Seattle with Gallery?

He transforms a mediocre O-line into a good one.

Did I mention the Seahawks scored 52 points last year in two games against the 49ers?

The 49ers are stuck in neutral with Alex Smith. TE Vernon Davis and RB Frank Gore are getting robbed of better careers because of his inability to consistently lead an offense. He shows spurts of great play at times, but the lack of consistency has doomed this team time and time again.

Couple that with a completely revamped 49ers defense that has new starters at multiple positions and it will take a while for the unit to feel comfortable playing with one another.

It's going to be Groundhog's Day in San Francisco again.

The Seahawks are easily going to cover the six-point spread and will likely win the game.

It's one of the most obvious picks of the week...take advantage of it.