Seahawks Week 3 Vegas spread and futures odds: NFC betting favorites lose Bruce Irvin and may pursue Clay Matthews

The Seattle Seahawks won a thrilling Sunday night game in Week 2 over the New England Patriots, 35-30, by stopping Pats quarterback Cam Newton a yard short of the goal line on the game's final play. That victory combined with Week 2 losses by the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints has jumped Seattle into the +450 favored role at William Hill sportsbook to win the NFC title. However, the victory was also costly on defense for Pete Carroll's team.

Starting linebacker Bruce Irvin and nickelback Marquise Blair both suffered-season ending ACL injuries – and it's fair to wonder if Irvin's career is over. Irvin, 32, was a 2012 first-round pick by the Seahawks who also has played for the Raiders, Falcons and Panthers.

Last year with Carolina, Irvin had a career-high 8.5 sacks, his sixth straight season with at least 5.5 of them. The Seahawks brought him back in March on a one-year, $5.5 million deal. Irvin had five tackles and no sacks this season. This is a big loss because the Seattle pass rush was an issue last year when the team had Jadeveon Clowney, and the Seahawks weren't able to re-sign him this offseason.

The Seahawks have only three sacks so far this year – two by safety Jamal Adams – and have allowed 55 points but are 2-0 thanks to the brilliance of Russell Wilson, who is the new +320 favorite at William Hill to win his first NFL MVP Award.

There is talk out of the Pacific Northwest that Seattle could pursue free-agent linebacker Clay Matthews to fill Irvin's spot. Matthews is 34, but the six-time Pro Bowler was still quite productive in 2019 with the Rams as he had eight sacks in 13 games. There were multiple reports that Matthews was close to signing with Seattle on the eve of the 2020 season.

Blair, meanwhile, was a 2019 second-round pick out of Utah who didn't play a ton as a rookie but earned a regular role this year with a strong training camp. He had nine tackles and a forced fumble in the two games. Ugo Amadi, a 2019 fourth-round pick, took over for Blair at nickelback on Sunday and will remain in that role.

Seattle is a 5-point favorite for Week 3 at home vs. Dallas. The Cowboys have been linked to Matthews as well because they are down two injred starting linebackers in Leighton Vander Esch and Sean Lee. Matthews already has turned down an offer from the Broncos but still wants to play (see above tweet).

Who wins every NFL game this week? And which teams cover more than 50 percent of the time? Get picks here from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times and ranked in the Top 10 on NFLPickWatch three of the past four years on straight-up NFL picks.