Seahawks Hold Off Broncos 26-20 in Super Bowl Rematch (No Moral Victories Allowed)

It was an instant classic on Sunday as the Broncos and Seahawks battled it out in a Week 3 rematch of last year’s Super Bowl. This time the Broncos and Seahawks played a classic, but once again the Seahawks came out on top-this time 26-20 in overtime on a Marshawn Lynch 6-yard run. It was a great game and it had an edge to it-something you don’t see this early in the season. The Broncos proved that they were better than last year’s Super Bowl performance. They battled back from a 17-3 hole, and Peyton Manning pulled off one of the great drives to end a game that you will ever see to tie it at 20, but it was to no avail as Seattle behind Russell Wilson and Lynch got the ball first in overtime, and nickel and dimed their way down to field and won it on the Lynch touchdown with Manning standing on the sideline never even getting a touch. It was a classic game, and the kind of game that the NFL desperately needed in this Ray Rice-Adrian Peterson-Roger Goodell era of craziness. It is a game that  the Broncos can take something from, but they still didn’t win the game, and the loss drops them to 2-1 heading into the bye week. Here are my thoughts and observations on the game……….

1)    The Super Bowl started out with the infamous safety on the first play, and Denver’s first offensive play in this game was a Montee Ball fumble which led to a Seattle field goal and an early 3-0 lead.

2)    The story of the first half in my opinion was the play of the Broncos defense and the erratic nature and conservative play of the Broncos offense. Give the Broncos defense credit. They came ready to play. They held Seattle on a goal to go situation after the Ball fumble to make it only 3-0. Then, they did a terrific job on getting some pressure on Wilson, shutting down the impact of Percy Harvin and containing Lynch. The defense was constantly put in tough spots in the first half, and they did about as good of a job as you could ask a defense to do in that situation. They did give up the long touchdown pass from Wilson to Ricardo Lockette to give Seattle a 10-3 lead, but that was the only real big play they gave up. The touchdown pass from Wilson to Lynch to give Seattle a 17-3 lead was a killer, but at that point the Broncos defense was getting gassed out.

3)    The Broncos offense was very perplexing in the first half. Great second drive of the game, and Manning and the Broncos moved the ball effectively through the air to get the game tied at 3. I bet Manning wishes he had that pass to Julius Thomas back on 3^rd and goal because Thomas was open and Manning led him just a little too much.

4)    From there, the Broncos offense was bad. Too many runs on 3^rd and long, and too many questionable calls. You have Peyton Manning. When it is 3^rd and long, don’t get cute, just let Manning go out there and make a play. Running a draw to Virgil Green on 3^rd and 10 is not going to work against the Seahawks. Too conservative in the first half put them behind by two touchdowns.

5)    In the second half, was a different story all together. The Broncos defense once again deserves the credit for the comeback in the second half. The key play though was actually the missed field goal by Steven Hauschka in the 3^rd quarter. By keeping it 17-3, Denver was still only two scores down and they got a break when they tackled Lynch in the endzone for a safety to make it 17-5. That was a big momentum shift, and even though the Broncos punted on the next drive it changed field position and made Seattle play out of their own end. If you are looking for a turning point that whole sequence there was it.

6)    Aqib Talib makes a great play by reading Wilson and breaking on a pass that he then deflects into Chris Harris’ arms for a huge interception deep in Seattle territory. That was the break the Broncos needed, and they got it early in the 4^th quarter. Talib broke off his coverage and jumped in front of the Wilson pass, and set up the interception. Just a brilliant play.

7)    The Broncos offense finally got going and Manning started to get hot a little here. Up until this point, Manning didn’t really do anything outside the first drive, but he made up for it here, and his little shovel pass to Julius Thomas for the 3-yard touchdown was a sweet play. At 17-12, you had to feel good about the Broncos chances of maybe stealing this game.

8)    After another big stop by the Broncos defense, Manning and the Broncos take over at their own 19 with 6:07 left. All of a sudden this becomes the Manning to Wes Welker show as Manning hits Welker for three big passes and the Broncos are on the move. On a 3^rd and 11 at the Seattle 24, Manning threw an interception to Kam Chancellor in what appeared to have clinched the game for Seattle. He was trying to hit Welker down the seam, but Welker wasn’t open and Chancellor read it the whole way. I haven’t seen that play work for Manning and the Broncos in about two years, so it was surprising to see them go for that in that spot. Why not think about running two plays to get 12 instead of going for it all right there?

9)     Anyway, once again the Broncos defense doesn’t give up and after the long run back by Chancellor they force a Seattle field goal and a 20-12 lead.

10)  What took place next was one of the most impressive drives you will ever see in NFL history. Down eight points with no timeouts and 80 yards to go with just 59 seconds left, Manning engineered one of the greatest drives ever. It took six plays and just three completions, but Manning hit Jacob Tamme on a beautiful 26-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-18. It was the same out and up route that Manning hit Emmanuel Sanders on to start the drive (Also, it was the same play that Manning hit Julius Thomas with to clinch the San Diego playoff game). It was just an amazing moment and probably Manning’s finest as a Bronco. On the road, in Seattle, against the best defense in the NFL and Manning goes 80 yards in just six plays with no timeouts. In my mind, that drive just solidified Manning as the best ever-no question about it. What might have been even better was the play and execution for the two-point conversion. It was a great play design, and Manning waited and waited, but he found Demaryius Thomas in the back of the end zone for the conversion. Give credit to Thomas for jumping up and grabbing the ball out of the air and getting his two feet down for the catch to count. What a great play and what a moment for the Broncos and Manning.

11)  Unfortunately, the momentum from that ending was not able to carry over for the Broncos in overtime. Seattle won the toss, marched down the field on the legs and arm of Wilson, and put the game away with the Lynch touchdown run. It just seemed that the Broncos defense was just out of gas by the time the Seahawks started moving the ball in the extra period. I can’t kill the defense on that one, but you just wanted them to somehow just give up the field goal and give Manning a chance with the ball. I like the new OT rules, so I have no problem with the fact that Denver never got the ball. Their defense should have been able to stop Seattle, and they didn’t so they don’t deserve to win the game.

12)  As far as games go, this one was one of the better regular season games I’ve seen in a while. It was a classic game with all the key players and elements that you would want in a big-time matchup. It is certainly the signature game of this young NFL season, and the type of game the NFL needed badly.

13)  I don’t feel so bad after this loss. Yes, it hurts-especially the way that Manning drove them down the field, but I do think that Denver can take something out of this. After this game, I would feel a lot more confident in Denver's chances if these two teams happened to me up in the Super Bowl, and I think Denver feels the same way.

14) At 2-1, the Broncos need to regroup, focus on getting more consistent on offense, get healthy in spots, and get ready for a tough Arizona team coming to Denver in two weeks after their bye in Week 4.