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Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks, Thursday, September 4, 8:30 PM. ET. On NBC.

Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks, Thursday, September 4, 8:30 PM. ET. On NBC. 

The 2014 NFL regular season kicks off on Thursday night with the defending Super Bowl Champions starting their title defense in front of their home crowd, in what has become an NFL tradition in recent years.

The Seahawks are hoping to continue their home field dominance when they play the Packers at CenturyLink Field, where they have won 15 of their last 16 games. They will be trying to become the first team to win back to back Super Bowls, since the New England Patriots did it in 2004 and 2005, but they will have a tough time doing it because of the target they have on their backs, and the loss of some players.

The Seahawks are still very deep, but the loss of Golden Tate, Red Bryant, Brandon Browner, and Chris Clemons might be difficult to overcome, especially if their replacements get hurt during the season, which could hurt their chances of repeating.

Against the Packers, Seattle will execute their usual run heavy offense, but will try to use Russell Wilson’s athleticism to confuse the defense. If Wilson breaks off a few long runs, the defense will try to stop the run game by bringing eight players in the box, which will leave their secondary exposed to big passing plays, which is something that has happened to Green Bay’s defense in the last couple of seasons. 

Green Bay did a lot of things to improve their defense in the offseason, the signing of Julius Peppers was the biggest move they made, but they also drafted well, picking up Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who is expected to make an immediate impact in their secondary in the NFL draft.

Even with the improvements, the Packers will have problems against the run, due to the injury to B.J. Raji, who was their run stopper, Letroy Guion, another offseason acquisition, is expected to fill that role while Raji is injured, and the team doesn’t know how well he will respond.

The Seahawks have the best secondary in the NFL, with Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, and Richard Sherman, who will be tested by Aaron Rodgers, who is still considered one of the top three quarterbacks in the league.

The Packers didn’t have a run Game in the past, which led to Aaron Rodgers putting the ball in the air a lot, and also made them one dimensional. Eddie Lacy, who won the NFL offensive rookie of the year by running for 1,178 yards and 11 touchdowns in 15 games, gives the Packers a balanced offense, which makes them more dangerous than they were in the past, and they will try to exploit the Seahawks run defense.

Game Line: Seattle is favored to win by 5 points.

Personal Pick: The home field advantage that Seattle has is hard to ignore, and will be the difference maker for them in a very close game.