Sportsbooks Wary of Seattle Seahawks In Carroll's First Season

NFL News - February 26th, 2010 - Written by John

With so many changes swirling in Seattle, it's almost silly to project what will happen with the Seahawks in 2010. That doesn't mean bookies won't try, though. In head coach Pete Carroll's rookie year, NFL Betting Lines list Seattle as a 60/1 favorite to win the Super Bowl, according to Bodog.

But clearly, the focus in the area is to regain it's divisional dominance. Not in years has the NFC West been more up for grabs than it is now. Two-time winner Arizona is going through a transition after losing Kurt Warner to retirement and Karlos Dansby to free agency. Trading receiver Anquan Boldin isn't out of the question, either. The San Francisco 49ers are trending upwards, but still have quarterbacking issues to sift through, and the St. Louis Rams have the first overall pick in April's draft -- which is never flattering.

If the Seahawks can get their bearings, it could spell a trip to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. But first, Matt Hasselbeck will need to get back to full strength. He was in and out of the lineup early in the year, and ended up with only two 300-yard games. Free agent acquisition T.J. Houshmandzadeh only caught 79 passes and three touchdowns, and went public over his displeasure of Seattle's 4-12 record.

The Seahawks only won back-to-back games once in '09, against the Rams and Niners, and lost by at least 17 points seven times. The defense allowed third-most yards per game, and was 27th in sacks.

The Seahawks were the sixth-worst running team in football, with Julius Jones leading the team with only 663 yards. As a team, Seattle averaged four yards on the ground and scored only seven times.