Preview and prediction for the first Monday Night Football Game of the season

Russell Wilson might fit the definition of a "franchise player." Indeed, it might be the opinion of plenty of BetOnline customers that he often did everything on his own. And he fit the bill as a star; indeed, in his first ten seasons in the NFL, he was named to a Pro Bowl spot nine times.

But the Seattle Seahawks let him go. And now he is in the interesting position of making his first for the Denver Broncos against his former squad. Yes, that's by design of the NFL schedulers. And so the drama is set for Lumen Field at 8:15 PM ET on Monday night.

So how might this affect how the game goes, and is there anything between the lines to "read" that might determine the pointspread winner in our Monday Night Football picks?

Well, first let's establish the pointspread itself, which at BetOnline has Wilson's Broncos as considerable road favo

rites, against a home team that is starting his former understudy, Geno Smith:

Denver Broncos       -6.5 (-107)
Seattle Seahawks   +6.5 (-113)

Over 43.5 Points (-113)
Under 43.5 Points (-107)

In his last three season openers, Wilson has thrown ten touchdown passes without an interception. His style is such that he is much more comfortable taking a sack rather than throw a bad ball. But that doesn't tell the whole story.

Wilson never had what might be considered an "elite" offensive line when he was with the Seahawks. And at times, they were downright awful. We don't whether the general feeling was that he was so good at scrambling out of trouble that they did not make it such a priority. But it doesn't seem like he was altogether accepting of that.

Wilson felt like other quarterbacks had a voice in the kind of personnel who became the subject of draft picks, trades and free agent signings. And he wasn't getting that with John Schneider, the GM of the Seahawks, or head coach Pete Carroll. He was once the golden boy of the franchise, signing a contract after the Super Bowl loss to the Patriots that made him the highest-paid QB in pro football.

But there was always that atmosphere around the team that he was rather aloof and not necessarily an ideal leader. And there was some thought percolating that in those final seconds against New England, with everything on the line, the staff wanted him to be the hero, which is why they had him throw the ball right near the goal line instead of giving it to Marshawn Lynch, who would have likely taken it over the goal line.

Ultimately Lynch departed, while Wilson - the more "fan-friendly' player, and one who didn't grab his crotch after a touchdown - got the big contract.

So there was probably some baggage there that the general public is not aware of.

For one thing, it seemed as if Wilson became very pre-occupied with winning an MVP award, and in his view, Carroll was holding him back from that, by running the ball too much. Certain plays were made by Wilson that looked more designed to inflate his stats. One member of the Seattle front office was moved to remark, "Are we trying to win games or are we trying to win MVP?"

Well, that kind of thing is enough to affect a split in and of itself.

The Seahawks kept up an interest in various quarterbacks who came along, and Wilson was a part of some trade talks. He allowed them to put a "franchise" tag on him, in exchange for some concessions as to where Wilson could be traded. And then it happened.

The Seattle brass also felt as if Wilson was someone on the decline, and that is going to be an old-fashioned motivator. It's the kind of thing that is going to compel a guy to make that one extra throw; score that one extra touchdown...... especially if racking up "stats" is his thing.

We expect he knows enough about the opposing secondary that he can maneuver. Of course, the Seahawks know an awful lot about him as well, and defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt (that's a good name for a D-coordinator) has seen him in practice and in games for several years, sort of "up close and personal."

When it comes down to it, though, the "Geno Smith factor" is real. In his three starts in place of Wilson (who was nursing an injured finger), he led the 'Hawks to a total of 757 yards. And that is with two outstanding wideouts (Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf) as well as a back (Rashaad Penny) who led all RB's last season with 6.3 yards per carry.

So this has the potential to become ugly. While we would favor an "under," certainly, we wouldn't recommend against laying the points with Denver and a QB who is motivated to run it up, with a healthy portion of the crowd possibly rooting him on.

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