Peyton Manning and the Broncos are ready for a Super Bowl rematch. (Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports)
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — All the chatter about the Denver Broncos looking ahead to a rematch with the Seattle Seahawks can stop now.
The game is at hand, this Sunday at Seattle. A Super Bowl championship is not on the line, as it was in February. However, for the Broncos, who were embarrassed in a 43-8 loss to the Seahawks, this is at the very least a means by which to measure their improvement this year.
The Broncos can’t get revenge. No reasonable person would believe a team can avenge a Super Bowl defeat with a Week 3 win. Still, if they can become the first team outside the NFC West to win at CenturyLink Field since November 2011, they can make a statement about their capabilities.
“That’s a big statement; that’s a great team,” Broncos wide receiver Andre Caldwell said. “They don’t lose at home. Their 12th man is very vicious out there, so we feel if we go in there and play our ballgame, we can pull out a victory, and that’ll let the NFL know we’re for real.”
Added cornerback Chris Harris Jr.: “If we go down there and win, everybody’s going to know that we’re the real deal. I mean, I think either way, they’re still going to know we’re the real deal. But I mean, it’s definitely a statement game.”
Not making this game any easier for the AFC West-leading Broncos is the fact that Seattle is still stinging from Sunday’s loss to another AFC West team, the San Diego Chargers, 30-21.
But that was in San Diego.
–On Sunday, it seemed the Broncos had the game won when defensive end DeMarcus Ware sacked Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith with 1:51 remaining, forcing a fumble that linebacker Nate Irving recovered. However, instant replay overturned the call, as Smith’s arm was moving forward when he lost the football.
Denver defensive tackle Terrance Knighton wasn’t prepared for that. After Irving emerged with the football, Knighton thought his work was done.
“After DeMarcus got the sack, I took my gloves and my tape off. I thought the game was over,” he said. “Then I went back out there with no tape or gloves.”
Linebacker Brandon Marshall said, “When he came back in, I was wondering why he had no gloves, no tape on.”
It didn’t keep Knighton from playing a crucial role at the goal line. He helped stop Chiefs running back Knile Davis twice, and then got his arms up on fourth-and-goal. Smith’s pass bounced off Knighton’s right elbow and fell incomplete, preserving the win after the Broncos endured a rough second half.
“Nobody had their heads down,” Knighton said. “Coach (Jack) Del Rio, (the defensive coordinator) brought the defense together and said, ‘They’re not in until they’re in,’ and, ‘Make the play, do what we’re supposed to do,’ and we did that. We executed.”
