Thursday Night Football Betting Odds – Seahawks vs. 49ers

Carrie Stroup here with your Thursday Night Football betting odds on the Seahawks vs. 49ers game

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (2-4) at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (2-4)

Sportsbook.ag Line: Seattle -6, Total: 42.5

A pair of slumping division rivals will open play in Week 7 when the Seahawks visit the 49ers.

Seattle (1-4-1 ATS) has held a fourth-quarter lead in all four of its defeats this season, including last week's 27-23 home loss to Carolina. Now the team has to go on the road where it is 0-3 SU (0-2-1 ATS) and giving up an eye-popping 29.3 PPG.

After three straight losses by a combined 79 points, San Francisco (3-3 ATS) has two straight ATS wins with a last-minute road loss to the Giants followed by a 25-20 home win over Baltimore last week.

These NFC West combatants have played five straight defensive matchups finishing Under the total. The Seahawks have won four of these games (5-0 ATS) including a 19-3 road win last season and a 17-7 home victory three weeks later. Since 1992, the 49ers are only 11-17 SU (9-19 ATS) in this rivalry.

Seattle has some favorable betting trends this week with a 17-7 ATS record versus bad defenses (24+ PPG) under head coach Pete Carroll and the fact that NFL teams coming off upset wins as home underdogs are only 46-84 ATS in the past five seasons. But San Francisco bettors can point to home underdogs (or pick) with a good offense (5.4+ yards per play) after allowing 400+ total yards in two straight games going 36-14 ATS since 1983. Also, its Thursday opponent is 0-6 ATS on the road in the past two seasons after a game where 50+ total points were scored.

Because of the short week, there are several injuries for both teams to contend with. The Seahawks defense could be severely short-handed with LB Bobby Wagner (pectoral), DT Jordan Hill (quad) and CB Tye Smith (hip) all questionable, while the 49ers could be slowed in the ground game with RB Reggie Bush (calf) and G Brandon Thomas questionable, and top RB Carlos Hyde still not 100 percent recovered from a foot injury.

Seattle is gaining a respectable 352 total YPG (138 rushing, 214 passing) on 6.0 yards per play this season, but has scored 26 points or less in five straight games. QB Russell Wilson has completed 69% of his throws, but has just 7 TD passes (and 3 INT) over six games. Although his passing numbers haven't been great in this series (179 YPG, 9 TD, 5 INT), Wilson is a perfect 7-0 ATS (5-2 SU) against the 49ers.

The Seahawks are gaining a strong 4.8 yards per carry this season, but star RB Marshawn Lynch (3.3 YPC, 1 TD) is the team's only main rusher below 5.0 YPC. Lynch has been slowed by a hamstring injury that kept him out of action for two games and he managed only 54 yards on 17 carries (3.2 YPC) in last week's loss to Carolina.

The one positive for this offense in the Panthers defeat was the play of TE Jimmy Graham who caught eight passes for 140 yards. When Graham faced the Niners last year as member of the Saints, he hauled in 10 receptions for 76 yards and two touchdowns.

The Seattle defense has underachieved all season (20.8 PPG, 320 total YPG), especially on the road where opponents have 29.3 PPG on 377 total YPG (6.0 yards per play). The much-ballyhooed "Legion of Boom" has given up 220 passing YPG (6.9 YPA) on 66% completions to opposing quarterbacks, including 273 passing YPG (7.9 YPA) on 70% completions on the road. Also, the unit has forced only six forced turnovers in the past five games combined, and are facing a team with zero giveaways in two straight contests.

San Francisco's offense managed just 12.0 PPG in the first four weeks of the season, but has more than doubled that (26.0 PPG) in the past two games. A big part of that surge has been the play of WR Anquan Boldin (333 rec yds, 2 TD) who has back-to-back, 100-yard receiving games. QB Colin Kaepernick has thrown for 222 YPG on a respectable completion percentage (62.4%) this season, but has just 6 TD and 5 INT through six contests. He has been dreadful in this rivalry too, going 2-5 SU (0-7 ATS) with 137 passing YPG, 3 TD and 9 INT.

With that in mind, the Niners will try to establish the ground game that opened the season with 230 rushing yards versus Minnesota, but has averaged only 101 YPG in five games since. The lowest output of the year was 65 yards on 25 carries last week, but the team is hoping RB Carlos Hyde (430 rush yds, 4.1 YPC, 3 TD) is healthier this time around. Seattle has given up 244 yards on the ground (3.8 YPC) in the past two weeks and San Francisco has run for at least 140 yards in three of the past four meetings with the Seahawks.

The Niners defense has been terrible all season in allowing 26.7 PPG and 409 total YPG. While the run-stop unit has been respectable (103 YPG on 4.0 YPC), the passing defense has surrendered a gaudy 306 YPG on 8.0 YPA and 70% completions. And even with two takeaways last week, the unit has only five forced turnovers through six games.