One of the most anticipated games of the weekend is the Seattle Seahawks taking on the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals are the home team and the 3 point favorites for this game, but the Seahawks have finally shown that they are capable of playing at the same level that has been expected of them this season. The game looks like it will be very good, and although it might not be a high scoring contest (Vegas is predicting the over/under to be only 43.5), the two teams look very evenly matched. Here, we will break down the game a little and give our opinion.
Seattle Seahawks
Yes, the Seahawks were really good last year. No, they have not been playing at nearly the same level this year. They were the top rated defense in the NFL last year, and so far this year, they are not quite there, although they are moving up in the rankings. The Seahawks are tied for number three in the league with points scored against, and they are improving.
Where the Seahawks need help is on their offense. Quarterback Russell Wilson has been nowhere near where he is capable of playing and it is showing with his team’s results. The Seahawks are only 2-2, and part of the reason why is that Wilson has only thrown for 979 yards. This isn’t entirely his fault as his team’s receiving isn’t the best. His accuracy rating is at a very high level right now at 71.7 percent, which is also very encouraging.
Cincinnati Bengals
One of the nice daily fantasy football surprises of the year this year has been Bengals quarterback, Andy Dalton. Dalton is the second highest ranking QB when it comes to QB Rating at 123.0, second to only Aaron Rodgers. His accuracy is not as great as Wilson’s at only 67.2 percent, but he is getting more touchdowns, yards, and yards per attempt than Wilson, all of which are helping him to be a better team contributor than Wilson currently is for the Seahawks.
One big reason for this is wide receiver A.J. Green. Green has the fifth highest number of yards out of a WR in the NFL right now, and has scored 3 touchdowns. He’s playing far better than predictions of his play had stated, and it has helped his team to be much more successful than they were projected to be. The Bengals are 4-0 right now, and they have a large amount of momentum on their side.
Breakdown
The question that will determine who the winner of this game is, are the Seahawks ready to play like they did last year? They are getting better for sure, but they’re not there yet, just based upon what they’ve shown this year so far. The Bengals did not have the same expectations that the Seahawks did, and this has been a nice surprise for their fans. However, it’s pretty clear that Dalton is playing better than Wilson is, that A.J. Green can outperform any WR on the Seahawks, and that Cincinnati’s offensive game is better than Seattle’s. Seattle’s defense is stronger, but whether or not this will be enough to slow down the Bengal’s passing game is yet to be seen. Give Cincinnati the home field, and they are the clear favorite here. While Seattle does have a great defense, using them for your daily fantasy roster right now probably isn’t the smartest choice for this reason. The Bengals have more scoring potential than the Seahawks will be capable of stopping, and this will hurt their fantasy performance, even if it is a somewhat low scoring game.
