The Seattle Seahawks Week 7 matchup vs. the Las Angeles Chargers is a chance for Pete Carroll’s crew to get on the right side of .500 for the first time since Week 1. The Seahawks-Chargers game won’t be easy for the road team in LA, but there is a good chance Seattle can come away with a W. Ahead of Seahawks-Chargers, let’s make some bold Seahawks Week 7 predictions.

After trading Russell Wilson this offseason, most NFL pundits gave up the Seahawks for dead. However, Carroll and Geno Smith wouldn’t let that happen, and the duo have the team at a surprising 3-3 and right in the thick of things in the NFC playoff picture.

On the other side of the Seahawks-Chargers game, the home team is 4-2, but that record is deceiving. The four wins are over the Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, and Denver Broncos, teams that are a combined 6-15-1 this season.

The Seahawks Week 7 contest against the Chargers will be a real test for both teams, and the winner will come out as a contender, while the loser will simply be a pretender. With that in mind, let’s make some bold Seahawks Week 7 predictions.

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3. The Seahawks defense will bend, but not break, vs. the Chargers

The Seahawks got to 3-3 on the season by running one of the most efficient offenses in the NFL in 2022. And that offense has overcome some rough games by the Seahawks defense.

The unit ranks 29th in the NFL in points allowed (163) and 31st in yards allowed (2,465). What is saving the Seahawks D is that they are tied for the fifth-most turnovers in the league with 10 in six weeks.

Justin Herbert and the Chargers have a top-10 offense, in terms of points and yards, heading into the Seahawks Week 7 matchup, and they’ve only had five(traditional) turnovers all season. However, the team seems to keep finding a way to give the ball to the other team.

The Chargers are 20th in the league in fourth down conversion rate at 42.9%. They are also 24th in red zone conversions at 48.0%.

This pattern should continue on Sunday, and while the Chargers will move the ball, the bold Seahawks prediction here is that the D keeps it close all game by stopping the Chargers on fourth down and in the red zone.

2. Geno Smith will be in the MVP conversation after the Seahawks Week 7 game

Geno Smith was 13-21 as a starter heading into the 2022 NFL season. Most NFL pundits believed that handing the keys of the Seahawks offense from Super Bowl-winning Russell Wilson to Smith was a massive drop-off and would kill the Seahawks this season.

However, that just hasn’t been the case.

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Smith has been the most efficient QB in the NFL through six weeks. He leads the league with a 73.4% completion rate and has 1,502 yards with nine touchdowns and just two interceptions. And it’s not like he’s just handing it off every play. Smith is throwing an average of 31 times per game, and that’s right in the middle of the pack when it comes to pass attempts.

Smith also beat Wilson head-to-head in Week 1, which was huge for Seahawks fans, the franchise, and (especially) the former Seahawks players.

One of the biggest reasons that Smith is flying under the radar, though, is that he hasn’t beaten a premier quarterback yet. Russ might be cooked, and his two other victories came against Jarred Goff and Kyler Murray.

It’s not that Smith has lost to good QBs either. Seattle’s L’s have come against Jimmy Garoppolo, Marcus Mariota, and Andy Dalton.

That’s why this matchup vs. Justin Herbert in the Seahawks-Chargers game is so big and why this bold Seahawks Week 7 prediction is that when the dust settles and Geno comes out on top, you’ll start to hear whispers of those three special letters: M-V-P.

1. Seahawks 28, Chargers 24

The Seahawks-Chargers game is a matchup between a team that is lesser than the sum of its parts (LA) and one that is greater than the sum of its parts (Seattle).

Pete Carroll and Geno Smith are defying expectations and showing that the Seahawks' way of the last decade was about way more than “Letting Russ Cook.”

On the flip side, Brandon Staley and Justin Herbert get a lot of buzz and a lot of hype, but on a week-to-week basis, they just don’t impress.

That is why the third and final bold Seahawks Week 7 prediction is that the better team comes out victorious in this matchup, and Seattle gets a huge road win to vault them into NFC and NFC South contention.