Plenty of reasons to pick the Seahawks over San Diego

The Seahawks are 5.5-point favorites in Sunday's game against the Chargers in San Diego. (AP)

I’m heading in the wrong direction already, thinking the Seahawks would win their opener but picking the Packers to lose by less than the 5-point spread.

In this week’s game, the Seahawks are favored by 5.5 over San Diego, and I’m trying to figure out why the line is as low as it is. As loaded as the Seahawks are on both sides of the ball, they should be favored by at least 7 points.

But things are frequently different in road games, particularly against a Chargers’ team that lost its opener to Arizona 18-17.

You can certainly contend – and Danny O’Neil has – that the Seahawks typically do well against pocket passers like Philip Rivers. It stands to reason that immobile guys are more susceptible to pass rushers such as Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett.

You’d also think that a season-ending injury to starting center Nick Hardwick will make it more difficult for the Chargers to protect Rivers and generate a running game that managed only 52 yards on 24 carries against the Cardinals.

Then again, a lot of us thought that one of the bigger story lines in the Packers game would be the absence of their starting center, too, but rookie backup Corey Linsley appeared to hold his own.

I didn’t like much of what I saw from the Chargers Monday night. I don’t know what I saw more of – dropped passes or red Cardinals jerseys in San Diego’s backfield.

Rivers would seem to be an easy target for the defensive line and a candidate for picked-off passes by the Legion of Boom. Unlike Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Rivers said he’ll throw in Richard Sherman’s direction.

I wouldn’t expect a sack-happy afternoon for the Seahawks. I sense they’ll get constant pressure, but Rivers is a savvy veteran who’s seen everything before. Whether you like him or not, he is 79-50 as a starting quarterback in the regular season and 4-5 in the playoffs.

Expect him to try to take advantage of Seahawks’ nickelback Marcus Burley, a fill-in for the injured Jeremy Lane.

San Diego’s defense has a solid linebacker corps featuring Donald Butler, fake girlfriend guy Manti Te’o and rookie Jerry Attaochu, who blocked a punt and had a strip sack in the Arizona game.

But I don’t see the Chargers or any other team stopping the Seahawks’ offense for 60 minutes. There are too many weapons. You might take one away, but the Seahawks have multiple MVP-candidate options in Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and Percy Harvin and other role players who can beat you, too.

I always have respect for the guys in Vegas who set the lines, and it might be close going into the fourth quarter, but in the end, the Seahawks will win and comfortably cover the spread.

Prediction: Seahawks 34, Chargers 21

Season record against the spread: 0-1

The Go 2 Guy also writes for SeattlePI.com and KitsapSun.com. You can reach Jim at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @cougsgo.