The Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Chargers gear up for NFL preseason action on Saturday, August 10, at 7:05 PM ET at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The Seahawks are slightly favored to win by a point spread at -3.0 (-125).
The Seahawks return to the field after a 9-8-0 finish to the regular season last year. They came in third in the NFC West under Pete Carroll's final season and nearly made the playoffs after they finished off the Arizona Cardinals 21-20. Unfortunately, they came up short due to the Green Bay Packers clinching their playoff berth with a win at that time.
The offense scored 364 points and averaged 21.4 points per game. This ranked 17th in the league last year and was almost on par with the league average. With plenty of returning weapons, they should have a solid opportunity again to make a playoff run.
Their defense will be the most significant factor this season (and this game), as they allowed opposing teams to get 402 total points. This averaged 23.6 points per game and ranked 25th in the league, so a significant improvement must be made.
The Seahawks have a new face for their head coaching position, as Mike Macdonald has taken over. With his defensive first mentality and experience, this should bode well for their chances of improving.
The Chargers have many questions that need to be answered this season, especially after going 5-12-0 last year and dead last in the AFC West. With coaching changes left and right, they now have Jim Harbaugh at the helm.
Their offense produced 346 points, which is 20.4 points a game. This puts them at 21st in the league, and they will need to drastically improve if they want success.
On the defensive side, they gave up 398 points and averaged 23.4 points a game. This means they ranked 24th in the league and were in the lower half of its worst defensive teams.
With Harbaugh running the show, there is some hype around the idea that their roster can make the necessary adjustments. This will be displayed for this matchup, but many argue that more time has yet to be spent developing.
MyBookie has all the best NFL preseason betting options, which currently favor the Los Angeles Chargers. Even though they are at home, the Seahawks have a better opportunity to get on the right path.
The Seahakws have more depth in key areas and at least some level of consistency coming into this matchup. A coaching change, too, especially a defensive-minded one, could be the difference in this game.
