Green Bay Packers @ Seattle Seahawks preview: Prediction, best bets & latest odds for NFL Thursday Night Football game
Two of the best quarterbacks in the league clash on Thursday as Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers do battle with their teams' play-off hopes on the line.
Green Bay Packers (4-4-1) @ Seattle Seahawks (4-5)
The Packers must have upset the scheduling gods somehow as they face their third monstrous road trip in four weeks with their season on the line as they visit a Seattle Seahawks team in a similar season-defining situation.
It’s a fantastic clash of quarterbacks between Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, and they’ve had some memorable battles down the years, but this year it’s less about titles and more about scrapping for a play-off spot.
Rodgers and his Packers have zig-zagged the country to take on the Rams in LA and the Patriots in New England, and now head back out west to face the Seahawks in their deafening home stadium in Seattle.
Green Bay should have won in LA and were blown out in New England either side of a welcome return to Lambeau Field to beat the Dolphins to keep their season alive but, sitting third in the NFC North, another defeat could spell the end.
The Seahawks are way behind the Rams in the NFC West so a wildcard is their only hope, but another defeat could also end that pursuit with around seven NFC teams pushing for two play-off spots within a couple of games of each other.
Green Bay are winless on the road but the Seahawks are strangely 1-2 in their usual stronghold having lost to LA duo of the Rams and Chargers, so there’s a glimmer of hope if the Packers can play more like they did in Los Angeles than New England.
Tight end Jimmy Graham returns to his former team but there’s no doubt that receiver Davante Adams is the main threat for Green Bay – he’s got nine touchdowns this season and a league-leading eight from inside the red zone.
The running game will be crucial though, especially as Green Bay finally seem to have one to help out Rodgers with Aaron Jones leading the NFL in yards per carry and tallying a career-best 145 yards and two scores on Sunday.
The Chargers and Rams both had huge success on the ground against Seattle, but having Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley running the ball no doubt helps.
Seattle have the best running game in the league and the Packers struggled to contain Miami veteran Frank Gore last week, so the winner of the ground game here will have a huge advantage.
The star QBs on show could have the finally word, as they usually do, and with teams so closely matched the first couple of scores will be crucial, as both sides will fancy getting ahead and running the ball to control possession.
In virtual coin toss games like this, it usually pays to side with the team who has home field advantage - and in Seattle, we have a side who enjoy one of the biggest home field advantages in the entire league.
Verdict: Seahawks win (-3) at 10/11
Touchdowns: Tyler Lockett & Davante Adams to both score a TD at 9/2
RequestABet: Seahawks win, under 49pts, under 5.5 touchdowns & Davante Adams to score