NFL Picks 12/15 – Green Bay Packers @ Seattle Seahawks

NFL Picks 12/15 – Green Bay Packers @ Seattle Seahawks

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The Green Bay Packers (9-4) visit the Seattle Seahawks (8-5) on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The teams last faced off in 2021 with Green Bay shutting out the visiting Seahawks 17-0. Green Bay has won five of the last six in the series dating back to 2015. On the opposite side, Seattle has won four straight against Green Bay at home — including a 28-22 comeback win in the 2014-15 NFC Championship Game. Green Bay’s last win in Seattle occurred in October 2008. Green Bay is a 2.5-point favorite and the total is 45.5.

Green Bay is coming off a last-second 34-31 loss at the NFC-best Detroit Lions on Dec. 5. Detroit kicker Jake Bates hit a 35-yard field goal as time expired. The game had four lead changes in the second half after Detroit led 17-7 at the half. Packers workhorse running back Josh Jacobs rushed 18 times for 66 yards and scored three touchdowns in the loss, it was his second three-touchdown game of the season. 

Packers wide receiver Christian Watson caught seven passes for 114 in the loss. It was the second 100-yard game of the year for the hit-or-miss Watson. He also has three games this season in which he did not record a catch. Jordan Love completed 12 of 20 passes for 206 yards and one touchdown pass while rushing for 23 yards on four carries. The loss ended Green Bay’s three game winning streak.

Seattle is coming off an impressive 30-18 win at Arizona last Sunday. Seattle beat Arizona for a second time in three weeks. The win propelled them into first place atop the NFC West. Backup running back Zach Charbonnet had a huge game filling in for starter Kenneth Walker (oblique), he finished with a career-high 134 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns. He added five receptions for a career-high 59 yards. The second-year running back has been outstanding in his spot-starts for Walker throughout his brief NFL career. 

NFL Picks 12/15 – Green Bay Packers @ Seattle Seahawks

Seattle’s defense was able to neutralize Arizona’s star quarterback Kyler Murray for a second time this season. They intercepted Murray on back-to-back possessions in the first quarter which allowed Seattle to build a 17-7 lead after the first quarter. Murray’s interceptions set the tone of the game as Arizona was reeling for the rest of the game. Geno Smith completed 24 of 30 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown in the win. Seattle has won four straight games.

GAME STORYLINES: GREEN BAY

On April 23, 2020 the Green Bay Packers made the puzzling decision to draft Utah State quarterback Jordan Love in the first round (No. 26 overall) of the NFL draft. At the time, Green Bay was being quarterbacked by future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers who was coming off a season in which he threw 26 touchdowns to 4 interceptions and led the Packers to the NFC Championship Game with a 13-3 record. Critics wondered why Green Bay would use a first round pick to select a quarterback instead of a position of need. 

The move to draft Jordan Love initially looked foolish for Green Bay as Aaron Rodgers went on to win back-to-back MVP’s in 2020 and 2021 while leading Green Bay to consecutive 13-3 records. Love also looked pedestrian in making spot-starts for Rodgers in 2021 and 2022. Despite Love’s struggles, Green Bay made the decision to hand the reins over to him and let Aaron Rodgers walk as a free agent prior to the 2023 season.

NFL Picks 12/15 – Green Bay Packers @ Seattle Seahawks

Green Bay’s decision of choosing Jordan Love over Aaron Rodgers has worked out perfectly up to this point as Love is now one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. In his first season as a starter last season, Love passed for 4,159 yards with 32 touchdowns to 11 interceptions while completing 64.2 percent of his passes. He also led Green Bay to the postseason with a 9-8 record and an easy 48-32 win at Dallas in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Green Bay’s season ended the following week with a narrow 24-21 loss at San Francisco but they made tremendous strides in Love’s first season under center.

After his fantastic debut season as the starting quarterback, Green Bay inked Jordan Love to a massive four-year, $220 million contract extension last July. Green Bay also signed free agent running back Josh Jacobs to a four-year, $48 million contract last March. Both signings have proved to be crucial to this season’s success as Love (2,724 passing yards, 21 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, 62.8% completions) and Jacobs (1,053 rushing yards, 11 rushing touchdowns, 260 receiving yards) are having outstanding seasons and have carried the offense. The 26-year-old Jacobs will set career highs in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns this season.

GAME STORYLINES: SEATTLE

In March 2022, the Seattle Seahawks made the somewhat controversial decision to let go of franchise quarterback Russell Wilson and turning to journeyman backup Geno Smith. Wilson experienced an unparalleled level of success in his 10 seasons under center for Seattle. He led Seattle to a Super Bowl XLVIII (48) victory in February 2014, was selected to the Pro Bowl in 9 of his 10 seasons with the team and is Seattle’s all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, passing yards in a season and passing touchdowns in a season. 

It was assumed that Geno Smith would be a stopgap option for Seattle as they tanked for high draft picks, but the opposite has happened as Smith resurrected his career with Seattle. In his first season as a starter with Seattle in 2022, Smith set career highs in passing yards (4,282) and passing touchdowns (30). He also led Seattle to the postseason with a 9-8 record. Seattle rewarded Smith with a 3-year, $105 million extension in March 2023 — exactly one year after they let Russell Wilson walk.

The 34-year-old Geno Smith has not been able to duplicate the terrific numbers he put up in 2022 but he has remained a highly productive player and is on track to lead Seattle to their first division crown since 2020. Smith has thrown for 3,474 passing yards with 14 touchdowns to 12 interceptions while completing 69.5 percent of his throws. With the improvement of Seattle’s running game and defense, its no longer imperative that Smith to put up big passing numbers for Seattle to win games. Smith throwing for a total of 3 touchdowns during Seattle’s four-game winning streak is an indicator of this. 

NFL Picks 12/15 – Green Bay Packers @ Seattle Seahawks

Seattle’s offense features several young and talented skill position players who assist Geno Smith. Wide receivers D.K. Metcalf (812 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns in 11 games) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (team-leading 911 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns in 13 games) along with running backs Kenneth Walker II (542 rushing yards, 271 receiving yards, 8 total touchdowns in 10 games) and Zach Charbonnet (400 rushing yards, 262 receiving yards, 3 total touchdowns across 13 games) are all explosive playmakers. 

The 22-year-old Jaxson Smith-Njigba is having a breakout season in year two after Seattle selected him in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft (No. 20 overall) out of Ohio State. He leads the team in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns and has been on fire during the second half of the season. Running back Zach Charbonnet was also a 2023 draftee (second round pick) and has been excellent when making spot-starts in place of Kenneth Walker II. Walker is doubtful for Sunday’s matchup against Green Bay, so Charbonnet is in line to make another start.

THE PICK: PACKERS (-2.5)

I think Green Bay is in a tier just above Seattle and in a high-stakes nationally televised game, I’ve got to go with the more talented team…Packers 27, Seahawks 20