Seahawks vs Titans: Preview, score prediction for Week 3
By Nick Sparrow
Seattle Seahawks vs. Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans will welcome the Seattle Seahawks to Nashville on Sunday afternoon of Week 3 in one of the most interesting games of the week. Both of these teams enter Week 3 at 1-1 as they come off of division wins.
After dropping their opening game, 26-16, to the Oakland Raiders at home, the Titans were able to find their first season on the road as they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars by a score of 37-16.
The Seahawks’ first two games of the season have been decided by a single score, losing 17-9 to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 and defeating the San Francisco 49ers 12-9 in their home opener last week.
Keys to Victory
Seattle will need to perform better in all aspects if they want to get a win on the road on Sunday. The Seahawks are a team with a lot of talent on both sides of the ball but have disappointed in their first two games of their season. Seattle has one of the elite NFL defenses, yet have not shown the ability to stop opposing offenses so far this season. Seattle allowed Aaron Rodgers to throw for over 300 yards in their Week 1 matchup and 159 rushing yards to the 49ers last Sunday. The Seahawks enter this matchup ranked 17th in the league in offensive yards allowed.
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Seattle’s offense will also need to overcome their struggles to compete in this game. The Seahawks are currently ranked 27th in points scored, having only scored a single touchdown in the first two weeks of the season. The Titans rank sixth in offensive yards and eighth in points scored, so the Seahawks offense will need to score to keep up with this Tennessee offense.
Tennessee will need to establish a run game to control the tempo of this game. Seattle proved vulnerable in Week 2 to the run, allowing two different San Francisco running backs to average over eight yards per carry. The Titans have two talented running backs on the roster in DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry.
They currently rank sixth in the league in rushing yards and first in rushing touchdowns scored. If the Titans can find as much success on the ground as the 49ers did in Week 2, they will be able to exhaust the Seattle defense while keeping the ball away from their offense.
Betting Odds
Point Spread: Tennessee -3
Moneyline: Tennessee -145, Seattle +125
Over/Under: 42.5
All betting odds provided by BookMaker via Sportsbook Review
Prediction
While Seattle may appear to be the more talented team, the Titans are set up to be their kryptonite. Tennessee has a strong run game and a talented quarterback under center in Marcus Mariota. Seattle has not been proven to be able to stop the run so far this season, and will have even more trouble playing on the road. However, Seattle has seemed to struggle in their first two games of the last three seasons only to dominate in Week 3.
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In 2015, Seattle has 0-2 before beating the Chicago Bears 26-0 in Week 3. In 2016, Seattle was 1-1 before defeating the 49ers, 37-18. While I think the Titans will provide a challenge for Seattle, there is a clear pattern of the Seahawks seeming to come together in Week 3 of the NFL season and I think it happens against here.
Final Score: Seattle Seahawks: 31, Tennessee Titans: 27