Broncos’ defense did everything possible to beat Seahawks; offense went three-and-out

What is wrong with Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos offense?

That is the question for the next 10 days.

However, for tonight let’s celebrate the effort from the defense. They held on and did what they needed to do to secure the win for the Broncos. They harassed Sam Darnold and generated the turnovers needed to secure the 4-2 start for Denver.

Broncos vs. Seahawks final score

First Quarter

The Broncos defense showed up early and put Sam Darnold in a blender on their first drive with back-to-back sacks to take them out of field goal range.

But Bo Nix and the Broncos offense would go three-and-out and with that short field the Seahawks were able to capitalize with a field goal from their second drive. Denver’s offense woke up though on their second drive and drove the length of the field the rest of the quarter and entered the second inside the Seahawks’ red zone area.

Seahawks 3, Broncos 0. Full first quarter recap.

Second Quarter

Denver would conclude that drive from the first quarter not long into the second. Capping the 16-play, 74 yard drive was this J.K. Dobbins touchdown run from four yards out.

Their next drive was a 9-play, 79 yard drive. The big play came on a run play that Bo Nix checked out of for a shot to the end zone to Courtland Sutton. The pass was incomplete, but the defensive pass interference call set the Broncos up at the one yard line where RJ Harvey would add a rushing touchdown of his own in this game.

Nik Bonitto would force a fumble late in the half to give Denver a chance to add to their lead, but they ended up going three-and-out and having to punt despite being near midfield. Even so, it was easily the best second quarter of the season for the Broncos.

Broncos 14, Seahawks 3. Full second quarter recap.

Third Quarter

The Broncos’ offense continued their three-and-out stretch for three more drives to start the second half and did absolutely nothing to help. The defense had to hold the water and made the big plays through their pass rush on third downs. The first big one led to a missed field goal.

The second put them into a fourth and 19 and a punt. The issues on offense seemed to be some pretty bad offensive line play by Ben Powers and others, but primarily Powers. He was consistently getting manhandled in the run game and on one third down get beat so bad off the line by a Seahawks defender that he belly flopped touching no one. Bo Nix had to roll outside hurried and misfired on the third down pass.

Pretty ugly quarter by the Broncos offense, but the defense was keeping them in a comfortable lead heading into the final quarter.

Broncos 14, Seahawks 3.Full third quarter recap.

Fourth Quarter

Denver’s defense every time it seemed that Seattle was getting close to field goal range would unleash the fury of their pass rush. This drive would be no different with a Dondra Tillman sack on third down that took the Seahawks out of field goal range. The punt would pin the Broncos offense inside their own 10 yard line, but the defense preserved the 11-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

Denver’s next drive started off with a quick pass outside to Marvin Mims Jr. for a five yard gain, then RJ Harvey burst through the hole for Denver’s first first down of the half. The drive came to an end when Jaylen Waddle caught the ball just a foot shy of the first down marker at their own 30 yard line.

Sean Payton flirted with the idea of going for it, but that could have been the same mistake the Los Angeles Chargers made just four days ago that sparked a Broncos comeback win. No need to give Seattle life there and they smartly punted it away.

Sam Darnold converted a fourth down after being terrorized leading up that, with JSN beating Jahdae Barron on a quick slant. The drive would cross the halfway mark of the quarter before Darnold would face another third and long from Denver’s 33. He would face outside pressure and then take off running for a 15 yard gain and a first down inside the red zone. They would punch it in from there with a touchdown and a two-point conversion to make it a three-point game.

Denver would go three-and-out for the sixth time in the game to give Seattle plenty of time to tie the game or even get the game-clinching touchdown with less than four minutes to go. JSN made the big play to midfield with an incredible catch and it looked like Denver’s defense would succumb to the comeback.

Enter Kris Abrams Draine who stepped in front of a deep pass outside to intercept the ball to keep the dream alive for Broncos fans.

Denver’s defense did literally all they could and Denver’s offense answered with their seventh three-and-out and was only able to take 15 seconds off the clock. The Seahawks streaked down the field to setup the game-tying field goal to send the game into overtime.

Broncos 14, Seahawks 14.

Overtime

The Broncos won the overtime coin toss and elected to kick. That was probably a smart choice at the time given their offense had eight drives for about 38 yards in the second half. The thinking there might have been “hopefully the defense can get a turnover or something” type thing.

It looked like the defense was gassed and after a couple of first downs, I began to worry, but Darnold went deep on a third down and Ja’Quan McMillian stepped in front to intercept it at the Seahawks 43-yard line.

Denver ran it three times and tried a Wil Lutz 53-yard field goal attempt that went through.

Praise the ghosts of Elway for this one!

Broncos 17, Seahawks 14.