The Denver Broncos hosted the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football. It was another nailbiter for the Mile High faithful across Broncos Country, but the Broncos were able to win in overtime by a score of 17-14. Here are some instant reactions from today’s game.
After two first half scoring drives, Broncos’ offense flames out hard in second half
The Seahawks entered tonight’s primetime matchup as one of the premier defenses of the National Football League. Whether it was limiting opposing aerial attacks to just 150 yards a game, a Top 3 third down defense, or generating turnovers—very few teams have been successful going up against them.
Everyone across Broncos Country knew it would be a tough game for Bo Nix and the offense to get back on track. However, early on in the game, it appeared the Broncos were poised to do just that. After a three-and-out to start the game, the offense put up an impressive 19 play, 79-yard scoring drive that lasted nearly nine minutes.
They followed that up with a 9 play, 74-yard drive that went the distance and was capped off with a short RJ Harvey touchdown run. Denver converted just one third down last week, but had three in the first half, as well as a key fourth down conversion. Even though the offense had just 130 yards, they ran 32 total plays, had 11 first downs, and dominated the time of possession.
Unfortunately, the success the Broncos had in the first half didn’t translate to the second half. They were an absolute disaster by every measure possible. By the final possession of the game, they achieved just one third down in the final half of play. On eight total drives in the second half, they had just 36 yards of offense.
Quite honestly, I don’t even know what to say about this side of the football anymore. What we are witnessing is simply unacceptable. Absolutely nothing looks good and big part of that is because the quarterback is playing absolutely awful. It’s just bottom of the barrel play from Nix every single week. But let’s turn to the defense, who were pretty darn good tonight.
Denver’s defensive effort is the major reason they won
One of my big questions entering tonight’s game was how Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph gameplan to limit star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s impact on the game. Although Riley Moss was active for tonight’s matchup, Jahdae Barron and Kris Abrams-Draine saw a majority of the reps at boundary corner.
In the first half, Denver’s defense did extremely well. They held the Seahawks to just 91 total yards of offense. Quarterback Sam Darnold was 7-of-15 with only 52 yards passing. Smith-Njigba, who was averaging over 115 receiving yards per game, was limited to just 2 catches for 11 yards through thirty minutes of play.
Multiple first half sacks by Que Robinson and Ja’Quan McMillian were big tone setters on third down. Additionally, a Nik Bonitto forced fumble was a big momentum shift to keep the Seahawks from scoring additional points toward the end of the half.
With the offense struggling mightily in the second half, Denver’s defense began to wear down a bit. Smith-Njigba was able to get some big plays, but Kris Abrams-Draine and Ja’Quan McMillian had interceptions on Darnold that proved to be game-changing plays.
The Broncos may have given up some yards, but they finished the game with five sacks and ten different players on defense registered a quarterback hit on Darnold. Their penchant for turnovers once again proved to be difference makers. This is a championship caliber defense that would be even better if the offense would just do their part on a weekly basis. Hats off to Vance Joseph and his players for securing this W.
The Broncos are in a great spot at 4-2 after six games
Denver finding a way to be a 4-2 team despite their offense being so inept is quite the outcome. They’ve faced a gauntlet of teams to start the season. All things considered, Broncos Country should be happy with their record.
Now, they will get to enjoy a little extra rest before they head on the road to take on the Arizona Cardinals for their Week 7 gridiron matchup. I don’t know if that will be enough time to fix their issues on offense, but getting more time to prepare is always a good thing. Hopefully, somehow—someway, Denver’s offense can find a way to be much better moving forward.
