Minnesota at Seattle

Seattle escaped with a victory last week against St. Louis. It was the second straight game without Shaun Alexander and their second-straight ATS loss. They again will be without his services this week. Without Alexander, Minnesota should have success stopping Seattle's running game. The Vikings are playing surprisingly well and have held opponents to jsut 74.4 yards per game rushing, good for fourth in the NFL. Seattle is 5-1 but I am not completely sold on this team right now. The loss of guard Steve Hutchison has had a huge impact. This offensive line has allowed 17 sacks and the ground game is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry. On top of the sacks, QB Matt Hasselbeck has suffered from a depleted receiving corps. Bobby Engram will be out for a second straight game and TE Jerramy Stevens hasn't played this year. Minnesota is well rested after their bye week. They have only lost two games and those were for a combined eight points. I expect a minor hangover here for Seattle as that was a tough gut-wrenching game against division rival St. Louis last week. The Seahawks, as good as they've been, are just 3-11 ATS the past three years off a division game. I see this spread as being about 3 points too high. Minnesota should be able to keep it close if not win outright.