JIM MOORE

Steelers passing attack could exploit Seahawks’ secondary

Nov 29, 2015, 12:18 PM | Updated: 12:24 pm

The Seahawks have struggled in 2015 against teams playing their everyday starting quarterbacks. (AP...

The Seahawks have struggled in 2015 against teams playing their everyday starting quarterbacks. (AP)

(AP)

Today at CenturyLink Field, the Seahawks are favored by 3 ½ points over the Steelers. The line opened at 5 ½, which tells you that people have been betting with both hands on the Steelers all week.

There are many reasons why – at the top of the list, I’m guessing it’s because the Steelers’ passing attack figures to have its way against a Seahawks’ secondary that can only be called the Legion of Boom when it faces subpar teams and/or quarterbacks.

We’ve seen how it’s played out so far, the Seahawks’ five wins have come against Chicago, Detroit, Dallas and San Francisco twice. In four of those five games, the Seahawks beat backup QBs. Their five losses were to St. Louis, Green Bay, Cincinnati, Carolina and Arizona.

The Seahawks have played below their standards for most of the season, but you can still make a case for them being 6-4 or 7-3 or even 8-2. Then again, you could make a case for 3-7, too, with what could have been losses to Detroit and Dallas.

The Arizona game two weeks ago told me what we’re dealing with this year, a team that’s good but not Super Bowl good, a team that has a better chance of frustrating us like the 2015 Mariners than suddenly becoming the 2013 Seahawks all over again.

The schedule is kind enough to give the Seahawks a shot at 10-6 and a wild-card berth. But there are too many flaws to expect them to go 5-1 the rest of the way.

The offensive line is not as good as it used to be, nor is the Legion of Boom with just four interceptions this season, three by Earl Thomas. It’s amazing to think that Richard Sherman has no interceptions through 10 games, yet he seems to have played reasonably well and will likely defend Antonio Brown this afternoon.

If Carson Palmer can throw for 364 yards at Century Link Field, Ben Roethlisberger can throw for at least 300 yards.

In the battle between backup running backs, as much as I like what Thomas Rawls did last week against the 49ers, I’ll give a slight edge to the more experienced DeAngelo Williams today. This also factors in the Steelers’ run defense being 5th in the league, vastly superior to the 49ers, while the Seahawks are tied for 10th.

Though Seattle’s receivers aren’t as good as Pittsburgh’s, Russell Wilson could have a big day because the Steelers have one of the worst pass defense in the league at No. 28, allowing 278.4 yards a game.

The Seahawks have blown so many fourth-quarter leads this year that I’m hoping they don’t have one today. Their best chance to win against a quality team like Pittsburgh is to win it on a Steven Hauschka field goal as time expires so the Steelers won’t get a chance to rally.

As impressive as the Seahawks have been at home during the Wilson era, they’ve lost two games at Century Link this year and will drop their third today.

Whenever Vegas gives the better team points, you should take them, and I will, making Pittsburgh +3 ½ the “Smokin’ Jim Moore Lock of the Week.”

Line: Seahawks by 3 ½
Prediction: Steelers 27, Seahawks 20
Season record against the spread: 5-4-1

The Go 2 Guy also writes for SeattlePI.com and KitsapSun.com. You can reach Jim at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @cougsgo.

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