Broncos Fall to Seahawks in Preseason Game #2

The Broncos fell to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2 of the preseason 30-10 last Saturday Night at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Naturally, the story of the night was the home debut of Peyton Manning. Although Manning had some errant throws-he threw two first half interceptions- he did lead two scoring drives and gave the Broncos a 10-9 lead heading into the halftime. Unfortunately, the Broncos second and third teamers could not hold their own, and the Broncos gave up 21 unanswered points in the second half. As we head into the all important Week 3 dress rehearsal, he are my quick thoughts on the Broncos loss at home to Seattle....

1) Peyton Manning made some classic Peyton Manning-type throws. He did throw two interceptions. One was tipped at the line, and the other was a really bad throw down the seam, but overall he showed signs that he is well on his way to recovering and playing the way he is capable of. Manning was 16-23  for 177 yards on the night, and he was victimized by a few drops. Jacob Tamme dropped a surefire touchdown late in the half that would have given Denver a 14-9 lead instead of a 10-9 lead. Manning led two scoring drives, and you have to be happy that he was just out there playing. He even took a shot from Bruce Irvin and got right back up. I feel very confident that Mannning will continue to get more and more comfortable, and he will be ready to roll come the season opener.

2) The Bronco run defense looked very shaky. This is a big concern for me heading into the season. The Seahawks really moved the ball well on the ground, and the Broncos have to find a way to stop the run. If they can't stop the run in preseason, it could be a signal for things to come in the regular season. You hope Denver's first unit will play better this week against a tough San Francisco run game.

3) The Broncos will really spread the ball around on offense. Guys like Brandon Stokley, Jacob Tamme, and Joel Dressen are going to play a real key role in this offense. Manning is going to get the ball to a lot of guys in different situations.

4) Depth might be a really big problem. The Broncos backups got smoked in the second half. That does  not bode well for the long haul of a typical NFL season. You know that injuries always play a factor, and the Broncos just don't look like they have a lot of depth at key positions. Brock Osweiler didn't have a great outing, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Broncos cut Caleb Hanie and looked for an experienced backup to add to the roster. There are a lot of question marks at the back end of this team right now.

5) The Broncos will play Manning and their starters deep into the third quarter on Sunday night against the Niners. Let's just pray that no one gets hurt. The Broncos have already had some bad luck this preseason when they lost Chris Kuper for the first three games of the season with a broken arm, and they lost DE Jason Hunter for most of the season with a triceps tear. Hopefully, everyone stays healthy, their offense puts up some points, and their defense tightens up the run game in their last tuneup for the regular season.