The Broncos started the Nathaniel Hackett and Russell Wilson era off on the wrong foot as they were defeated by the Seattle Seahawks 17-16 in Week 1 on Monday Night Football. The Broncos came in as favorites on the road and many expected Wilson to carve up his former team, but that was not the case. It was a disappointing way to start the season. Here are my thoughts on the game....
1) The Broncos defense was really bad in the first half. There was miscommunication, guys out of position, and poor tackling. They made Geno Smith look like a star. They gave up 17 points and a ton of yards. They clamped down in the second half and played really well, but that first half was brutal.
2) This was such a sloppy game from the Broncos is so many areas. They committed so many penalties. False starts, delay of games, defensive holding, and late hits. It was really bad. This is an area that has to get cleaned up next week.
3) The big plays were Melvin Gordon's fumble on the goal line in the third quarter, and Javonte Williams fumble on the 1 yard line the next possession of the third quarter. Those were killers. It was 17-13 Seattle at the time and it could have been at least 20-17.
4) Russell Wilson played well. He missed some throws but overall he moved the ball consistently and got into a groove in the second half. I think he will be fine going forward.
5) The Broncos offense had some really nice play designs and schemes. They kept Seattle off balance a lot and moved the ball all night long.
6) Nathaniel Hackett did not have the best game in his debut as a head coach. The plays were coming in late, there were some suspect play-calling decisions, and his game management at the end was really awful. He had all three timeouts and never used them and settled for a 64 yard field goal attempt by Brandon McManus instead of letting Wilson go for it on 4th and 5. Just awful. Why not put the game in Wilson's hands with it on the line and not on your kicker? Hopefully, Hackett learns from this and gets better as the season goes on because that was terrible.
7) I know everyone is going to overreact to this loss, and there is a lot of football left to go in the season. I think Wilson and the Broncos will be fine, but this was a game you had penciled in as a win for Denver, and they should have won the game and gave it away. That's a bad loss. I hope it doesn't come back to bite them because we know how brutal their divisional games will be the rest of the year.
8) The Broncos come back home to face the Texans in Denver next Sunday, so hopefully they can get back on track and get to 1-1.
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