Seahawks vs Broncos, Week 1: Result, Reactions, Stock Up/Stock Down
Seaside Joe 1286: The end result of Week 1's game against the Broncos
The Seattle Seahawks entered their Week 1 contest against the Denver Broncos with more intel on an opposing quarterback than arguably any other team in NFL history. The game ended 60 minutes later and just in case you didn’t want any spoilers in the email preview, then this has been your warning.
That warning is now complete.
THE SEAHAWKS WON?!?! Bring on the unadulterated and incomprehensible optimism for 2022.
Russell Wilson finished the game with unconscionably bad clock management and to be fair a lot of the blame for Denver’s loss falls on head coach Nathaniel Hackett. Of course, virtually all of the credit goes to Geno Smith, Pete Carroll, and a defense that came to win.
Seahawks 17, Broncos 16!
The Seattle Seahawks are now the only team in the NFC West with a win.
In his debut as the Seahawks quarterback, his first Week 1 start in eight years, Geno Smith finished 23-of-28 for 195 yards with two touchdowns, two sacks, and 14 rushing yards. Smith was decisive, smart with the football, and even without the strongest arm in the league at quarterback, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was able to scheme up a lot of open receivers for the unlikeliest starter in the league.
There is nothing unlikely about his chances for starting in Week 2 against Trey Lance, the NFL’s worst starter during opening week. How long are Seattle’s odds at starting 2-0 now?
On the other side, Wilson debuted by going 29-of-42 against his former team, gaining 340 yards and a touchdown but also failing to find much success when throwing downfield. Concerns about Wilson’s waning traits as a runner weren’t answered on Monday (one rush, two yards, one sack taken) but more questions popped up based on how unprepared the Broncos offense seemed to be for the 12th Man crowd at Lumen Field.
Nobody is more familiar with Seattle’s home crowd than Russell Wilson and yet somehow he was brutalized by Seahawks fans—not because of “boos” necessarily but because of the noise that often helped give him an advantage against so many away teams over the past decade. The Broncos had multiple delay of game penalties, multiple false starts, and then it just seemed like Wilson was discombobulated in the fourth quarter.
Best of all, Seattle’s defense completely shutdown explosive plays—Pete’s mantra on that side of the ball—outside of one 67-yard touchdown completion to Jerry Jeudy and multiple defensive pass interference penalties against Tariq Woolen.
Allowing 5.2 yards per carry on the ground, it’s a wonder why Hackett didn’t call more running plays for superstar running back Javonte Williams. But then when he did that near the goal line, both Williams and Melvin Gordon found ways to fumble the ball back to the Seahawks.
That was in large thanks to the electrifying debut of linebacker Uchenna Nwosu and a monster in the middle by the name of Al Woods.
The Seattle Seahawks now pack their bags for a road date in Santa Clara in six days and a similar defensive performance combined with a strong running game and protecting the ball could have Pete Carroll asking skeptics once again…”What do you know about who we are?”
I guess we didn’t know enough.
Stock Up
QB Geno Smith - WOW!
I would understand if people were asking, “Why were you so down on Geno Smith going into the season?” and my only answer is that he has never played this well. He didn’t play this well in the preseason. And I do think that it helps when receivers are that wide open. But Smith far surpassed my expectations and we will see how long that carries for because he played better in Week 1 than each of Seattle’s next four opponents: Trey Lance, Marcus Mariota, Jared Goff, and Jameis Winston.
Geno Smith did outplay all of those quarterbacks in Week 1. Will that continue? Does Denver have massive defensive issues? All things we will find out but it seems like Drew Lock’s place on the bench is guaranteed for a little bit longer.
EDGE Uchenna Nwosu
A monstrous debut for Nwosu, finishing with sack, two QB hits, a forced fumble at the goal line, and a pass defensed. Nwosu is signed through 2023 but if he plays like this for a while, the Seahawks will lock him up beyond that.
DT Al Woods
If it’s not clear already, Al Woods has not gotten the career respect that he deserves.
OT Charles Cross, OT Abe Lucas
No they were not perfect. But the first offense to start two rookie tackles since the 2009 Jaguars (and before that the 1982 Cardinals) wasn’t as bad as it would have been with Duane Brown (who is on IR) and Brandon Shell (who remains a free agent). Charles Cross gave up a pair of sacks, Abe Lucas had a painful holding penalty, but for the most part they came up huge in their debuts.
LB Cody Barton
He had a sack and a huge tackle for a loss late in the game, but also left with an injury on that play. Hopefully the injury is not serious, as Barton was not only good on Monday, there’s nobody behind him that Seahawks fans want to see out there next weekend.
CB Mike Jackson
Of all the Seattle cornerbacks, Jackson was the best. He finished with TWO fumble recoveries.
S Josh Jones
Jamal Adams left with injury and did not return. Jones seems prepared to start in his place, if needed. He was a sure-tackler and finished with seven of them. I really think Josh Jones could be a top-three tackler on this defense.
K Jason Myers
Seattle needed every point and Myers didn’t miss.
OC Shane Waldron
I like what he did for the most part!
Stock Down
CB Justin Coleman
I was just losing my mind that he didn’t make a tackle at the end of the game, nearly allowing a first down that would have definitely helped the Broncos kick the game-winning field goal.
CB Tariq Woolen
I’m being understanding but where else to place Woolen after two (well-deserved) pass interference penalties? Veteran quarterbacks will continue to take those shots at Woolen until he’s able to clean up that coverage. It’s too early to say he did “poorly”—let’s be fair that someone has to go here for two DPIs. Here’s a nice play:
CB Sidney Jones IV
Three cornerbacks on the stock down list? Was Jones just not ready to start? He was the second team LCB instead of the first, so this is more of a literal “stock down” than anything having to do with Jones’ play. He didn’t play that much.
WR Dee Eskridge
He needs reps. Eskridge was targeted twice, catching one pass for zero yards. He did “draw” a 15-yard taunting penalty kind of.
Stock Up and Stock Down
WR DK Metcalf
He has that beast in him to make difficult catches, but DK Metcalf sometimes gives as often as he takes. He had seven catches but only gained 36 yards and he lost a fumble. There wasn’t much to see from Tyler Lockett either—three catches for 28 yards.
Will Shane Waldron try to scheme up more plays/opportunities for Metcalf and Lockett next week or is this just the design of the game plan? Seattle wants to win games 17-16 (kind of) like they did on Monday, they want to control the clock, which they did for the first three quarters.
But when Metcalf gets his opportunities, he has to be more consistent with them having positive outcomes.
RB Rashaad Penny
Penny may have come near 100 rushing yards if not for holding penalties—or maybe he would not have come that close without the OL getting holds. Penny had a few GREAT runs, he also lost a fumble.
I am VERY confident that Kenneth Walker III is going to give fans a much different look when he returns and that could be next Sunday.
1st quarter
The Seahawks opened with a 0-yard run by Rashaad Penny and I guess that was all the motivation that Shane Waldron needed to give Geno Smith the rock as much as possible.
Smith went 4-of-4 for 71 yards on the first drive, finishing with a touchdown to wide open Will Dissly. Travis Homer was absolutely obliterated on his attempt to pass block, but Smith fought through it.
On Russell Wilson’s first drive with the Broncos he went 3-of-5 with a dropped interception against Jamal Adams. Wilson didn’t face a third down until third-and-10 at the Seattle 18, but Denver only gained six yards on a pass to Melvin Gordon. That setup a field goal by Brandon McManus, making it 7-3.
The Seahawks had a six-play, 70-yard drive to open the game but they actually followed it up with a seven-play, 72-yard drive. One play that won’t show up on the box score was a DPI gain for Seattle, but the decision to throw across his body was a terrible one for Geno Smith. He didn’t make a lot of mistakes in the first half but that certainly qualifies. However, Seattle failed to come away with any points after Noah Fant came up inches short on third down (Fant needs to finish that play off) and then Smith slipped on the QB sneak attempt.
An opportunity to go up 10-3 or 14-3 came and left Seattle’s grip faster than Aldon Smith.
On the Broncos’ next drive, Uchenna Nwosu notched his first sack with the Seahawks, courtesy of pressure provided by Al Woods. Adams almost sacks Wilson again two plays later, but appears seriously hurt on the play. Denver is forced to punt.
2nd quarter
Broncos linebacker Jonathan Cooper gives the Seahawks an extra 15 yards with a taunting penalty to open the drive. Penny has his strongest run to start the season, gaining 26 yards, but fumbling at the end of the play when he focuses too much on the safety in front of him instead of the player coming from behind. Luckily, Austin Blythe is downfield and there to recover.
Gabe Jackson has a holding penalty on a QB draw, though it is a questionable flag. Smith then throws a screen to Metcalf and DK runs the wrong way, losing eight yards on the play. Jason Myers nails a 48-yard field goal, giving Seattle a 10-3 lead.
Geno Smith is 12-of-12 for 98 yards at this point.
Josh Jones is in the game for Jamal Adams on defense. Mike Jackson makes a key tackle for a loss against the tough-to-tackle Javonte Williams. Then Jordyn Brooks has a great pursuit-and-tackle on Williams. But then Jerry Jeudy cooks Coby Bryant at the line of scrimmage and though Bryant almost recovers, Jeudy makes a grab and scores on a 67-yard play.
10-10 score.
This is likely when most people expected Seattle to crumble. Geno Smith? Never. Smith hit Marquise Goodwin for 16 yards, then Colby Parkinson for 18, then two plays later, Parkinson again for a 25-yard touchdown. Smith is 17-of-18 for 169 yards with two touchdowns. Rashaad Penny has eight carries for 56 yards and one fumble at this point.
17-10 Seahawks.
On the next drive, Courtland Sutton finds a soft spot in zone coverage on third down, gaining 30 yards and setting up a potential field goal. Then Quandre Diggs drops a potential interception in the end zone that could have ended Denver’s scoring hopes. Then Cody Barton steps up for a sack on Wilson to force the field goal attempt, which is good.
Seahawks 17, Broncos 13 at halftime.
3rd Quarter
The Seahawks start with a tackle for a loss by Shelby Harris and Nwosu. Garret Bolles should have been called for holding on Nwosu later in the drive, but isn’t and Wilson has a first down completion. Tariq Woolen is called for a defensive pass interference, and no need to argue. Josh Jones makes another solid tackle.
On fourth-and-goal at the 1, Diggs forces a fumble and Mike Jackson recovers it off of Melvin Gordon. I get a text from a friend who is a Chargers fan: “Gordon is a master at fumbling at the goal line.” Seahawks get ball back at 10.
On ensuing drive, Smith has a smart throwaway on second down.
Penalties help extend the drive for Seattle and Metcalf has a 15-yard catch, but also a dropped pass. Then Metcalf isn’t quite strong enough on a 1-yard catch and the ball is forced out for a Denver recovery. However, on the next drive, after Woolen is called for his second DPI and Diggs has a goal line stop at the one-inch line, Javonte Williams now fumbles the ball away.
Nwosu forces it out and Jackson recovers.
Smith has a few more completions and then Penny has a 23-yard run, but Abraham Lucas is called for holding. Geno then gains 14 yards on second-and-16, setting up a first down on the next play. Charles Cross gives up a sack and Geno fumbles, but Cross snags it out of the air for a recovery. There’s nowhere to go on third-and-16, sending the ball back to the Broncos.
4th quarter
The Broncos get the ball with 12:50 remaining in the game and the next drive goes for 6:37, which kind of helps the Seahawks. Denver converts three third-and-short situations but Seahawks don’t give up any explosive plays.
At Seattle 16, Mike Jackson has nice end zone pass defense to stop a touchdown. Then first-and-goal, tight end Eric Tomlinson has one toenail on the chalk to go incomplete. Then a false start by Sutton pushes it out to second-and-goal from the eight. Then two incompletions by Wilson.
It just doesn’t seem like Denver’s offense was comfortable at any point all night. The Broncos settle for a FG with 6:13 remaining on the clock, 17-16 Seattle lead.
The Seahawks’ ensuing drive is abysmal, losing six yards on three plays.
It feels like the Broncos could chip away at Seattle’s defense to get into field goal range and that appears to be what happens. Or nearly happens. It’s first-and-10 with 84 seconds left, then Barton makes a four-yard loss on the tackle. That forces the Seahawks to call a timeout because of his injury. Incomplete pass by Wilson stops the clock. Then he goes to Javonte for nine yards (Coleman missed tackle) and it seems like the Broncos will try to go for it on fourth-and-five because it’s too long for a field goal try.
Except…I guess…it isn’t? The Broncos run down the clock and attempt a 63-yard field goal by Brandon McManus. The first one is wide left but Seattle call a timeout. The second one is also wide left.
For the very first time in NFL history, the Seahawks win because Russell Wilson loses.
This season, the Seahawks stand alone atop their division, have a perfect record, and have never trailed at any point since the 2022 season started.
Lumen Field, action green, Monday night and vs Russ! What a perfect time for Geno to play as the best version of Geno. It wasn't pretty toward the end, but it was enough tonight, and he gave credit to a total team victory. I didn't think I would be, but I'm happy it was Geno's turn. His post-game interview made me smiley.
I hope Jamal is alright, and he looked like a difference maker in this scheme, but this could be season-ending. As frustrated as we fans may be with his injury history, or contract, or trade value, it can't come close to his level of frustration right now. Jones and Neal are fine players who can fill in nicely, but they won't transform the defense the way Adams has the potential to.
The CBs made mistakes, but I'm still in a bit of shock that these young guys might actual be this good already. What did Jackson do this offseason?