Here's how little the odds-makers think of the 2-5 Seattle Seahawks: the Dallas Cowboys were just embarrassed by 28 points against a 3-4 team on national TV while also losing two key defensive players to injury -- ILB Sean Lee and CB Mike Jenkins. They are still -13 favorites in their home game against Seattle this weekend.
The Seahawks were one of the Cinderella stories of the 2010 playoffs: shocking the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in the divisional round, despite winning the NFC West with a 7-9 record.
But with a -97 point differential for the season, they were likely to come back to the pack in Pete Carroll's second season in the Northwest.
They've alternated two QB's -- Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst -- without much success, and without much of a running game either, they've averaged only 15.7 points a game, 5th worst in the NFL.
Their defense, led by former Texas safety Earl Thomas, has been decidedly average, giving up 23.1 points a game, right in the middle of the pack of NFL defenses. But they've been unable to make up for an inconsistent offense, which scored only 3 points against Cleveland and was shut out by Pittsburgh.
It's a prototypical "get-well" game, and if Dallas has any chance of making the playoffs this season, they can't afford to blow this opportunity to get back to .500.
For the latest on the Cowboys, head on over to Blogging The Boys, and for more on the Seahawks, check out Field Gulls. And for spreads, line moves and over/unders, be sure to go to our partners at Odds Shark.