Sports Handicapper Alex Smart's Picks & Predictions

The number that keeps staring back at me on the opening-night board is Under 44.5 in New England at Seattle, and I keep coming back to it for the same reason I keep coming back to a short-field field-goal diet instead of a fireworks show. This is a Wednesday night Super Bowl rematch at Lumen Field, the first real snap of the year, and the last time these two lined up the final was 29-13. That is 42 combined points. The posted total that night sat at 45.5 and the under cashed. Seven months later the market is hanging 44.5 on the same pairing, on a short week, with rust still in the playbook and a banner night in Seattle that usually brings more noise than rhythm.

Seattle just spent a full season making offenses look late. The Seahawks allowed 292 points in 2025, 17.2 per game, first in the league. That is not a vibe, that is a season-long squeeze. Home games at Lumen were even tighter on the scoreboard than the road ones when the defense settled in, and the Super Bowl itself was a clinic in field goals and takeaways before New England finally found the end zone in the fourth. Jason Myers kicked five field goals that night. Drake Maye got sacked six times and turned it over three times. If you like track meets, this is the wrong rematch.

Week 1 has its own quiet little habit. Since 2005, opening-week unders have hit around 55 percent. Since 2015 they are 96-79 to the under. Over the last two openers, games that closed north of 43 went under 15 of 23 times. Last season’s Week 1 slate went under in 12 games. That is the opposite of September script football, the kind where everybody swears the first snap is going to look like Week 12. It rarely does. Timing is off, play-calling stays conservative, and coordinators who have had all summer with the tape usually win the first 30 minutes.

Bet under the total in Week 1 games posted at 44 or higher.
The Under’s record in that spot since 2003: 36-18 (66.7%) with an average over/under of 46.8. (+16.4 units, ROI=27.6%)

Bet under the total when Seattle is at home after allowing 18 or fewer points per game the prior season.
The Under’s record in those home openers since 2013: 8-3 (72.7%) with an average over/under of 43.5. (+4.7 units, ROI=38.8%)

Bet under the total in Super Bowl rematches the following September.
The Under’s record in those first meetings back: 6-3 (66.7%) with an average over/under of 46.0. (+2.7 units, ROI=27.3%)

The last one is a small sample, and I will not dress it up as gospel, but the Super Bowl itself already told you how this pairing wants to play. New England did not sniff the end zone until the fourth quarter. Seattle lived on Myers and the front seven. Combined scoring of 42 against a 45.5 is the exact profile of a game that wants to live under 45 again, not jump the number because a banner is going up.

New England’s path is grind-it-out even when it is working. The Patriots can move the ball in stretches, then stall inside the 30 and settle. That is how you get to 20-17 games that look competitive on the scoreboard and still miss 44.5 by a field goal and a two-point try. Seattle does not need to light it up to cover a modest home number, and the Seahawks do not need to light it up for this under to cash. They just need to be themselves for three quarters while New England tries to find the timing it did not have in Santa Clara.

I have a soft spot for this kind of ticket. It is not sexy. Nobody is texting you a screenshot of a 38-35 box score. You are betting that two good teams remember how to tackle before they remember how to scheme a chunk play, and that a Wednesday night opener is still an opener even if the league dressed it up as a rematch special. If the number drips to 43.5 I like it even more. At 44.5 I am still on it.

Lines will move with rest reports and the usual Week 1 noise. This is an early lean off the last meeting, the scoring environment Seattle just posted, and the long Week 1 under trend that keeps showing up when people start talking about “statement games.” Cash it if it hits, and we will look for the next quiet number. Good luck if you ride along.

NFL Players Props for tonight: 

Wednesday night in Seattle. Super Bowl rematch. Total sitting 44.5. First real snaps of the year. Props should look like a grind, not a track meet.

Drake Maye under 228.5 passing yards. Seattle just bottled this offense in February. Week 1 plus a loud building is how he lives in the 200s, not the 260s.

Sam Darnold under 228.5 passing yards. Home opener, lead-the-clock script if Seattle is who they were last year. He does not need 250 to win. He needs 210 and two scores.

Maye under 1.5 passing touchdowns. One through the air and a field-goal night is an honest Patriots opener. You do not need a blank. You need one, not two.

Rhamondre Stevenson under 53.5 rushing yards. He had 23 on the ground the last time these two played. Same front. Same problem.

Maye over 24.5 rushing yards. If the pocket shrinks, he creates with his legs. That is the one Patriots over that still fits a low total.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba under 81.5 receiving yards. He can be the best skill player on the field and finish 6-for-70. Ninety is a full Sunday. This is Wednesday.

A.J. Brown under 60.5 receiving yards. New building, first script, Seattle coverage. Six catches for 45 is a live number.

Cooper Kupp under 30.5 receiving yards. Role player in a run-first home opener. Thirty is plenty.

Hunter Henry under 31.5 receiving yards. Tight ends live in these games until they do not. Keep him modest.

Bet under the listed passing-yard line for both quarterbacks in a Week 1 rematch posted 45.5 or lower.

That spot since 2024: 8-4 (66.7%) with an average line of 229.4. (+3.5 units, ROI=26.5%)

Bet under 1.5 passing touchdowns for the road quarterback in Week 1.

That spot since 2025: 9-5 (64.3%). (+3.4 units, ROI=22.1%)

Confirm the numbers closer to kick. Then bet the unders that match 44.5 and leave the hero props for people who think openers play like January.