ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — “There are no moral victories,” Denver defensive tackle Terrance Knighton maintained late Sunday, and given the demanding schedule the Denver Broncos face upon returning from their Week 4 bye, the team may soon lament the opportunity they lost in a 26-20 overtime defeat at Seattle.
But it was impossible to ignore the fact that most of the changes the Broncos underwent during their offseason did bear fruit.
Their defense was smarter, faster and more aggressive, which allowed the Broncos to have cornerback Chris Harris Jr. shadow Percy Harvin when he went in motion, preventing the Seahawks from ever using the jet or fly sweeps that have invigorated their offense. It intercepted Russell Wilson once, stopped Marshawn Lynch for a safety and held the Seahawks to a single field goal in the second half, allowing the offense to come all the way back from a 14-point deficit.
The offense overcame its stops and starts to drive 80 yards in the final minute to a touchdown and a game-tying two-point conversion, sprinting downfield in just 41 seconds with no timeouts. The momentum it built late in the game was such that if the Broncos had won the overtime coin toss, their chances of driving the length of the field and ending matters with a touchdown of their own seemed solid.
It was a long way from the 43-8 rout in Super Bowl XLVIII, where the Seahawks punched the Broncos early, and the response was quick capitulation. The Broncos staggered at times Sunday, but kept the Seahawks from landing the knockout blow until overtime.
“Better than last time,” said quarterback Peyton Manning. “We went 80-something yards, no timeouts with under a minute, it’s not easy to do against that defense. Those are the things you take from it, that if you get in that situation again, having been here before, you know you can do it.”
Perhaps more than the wins in Weeks 1 or 2, the loss to the Seahawks reaffirmed the Broncos’ status as legitimate title contenders — although with some issues that need to be fixed, particularly in the run game.
But after hearing about their Super Bowl rout for seven and a half months, the Broncos can finally move on, having answered most questions about their toughness and resilience. If their offense can find the consistency it has lacked in the first month of the season, they should be primed for another run.
So confident were the Broncos after Sunday’s loss that they spoke openly of wanting another shot at the Seahawks, with Harris speaking of what might happen “next time.”
“Oh, man. I’d love to play them again,” Harris said. “We’ll see them again, if they make it to the final game, because I believe that we’re the best team.
“I feel like we’ll see them again.”
Notes: Tight end Virgil Green will go through the league’s post-concussion protocol after leaving Sunday’s game with a concussion in the second quarter. . . . Wide receiver Wes Welker caught six passes for 60 yards and played 47 of 70 snaps in his return from a two-game suspension that was shortened from four games after a change in the NFL’s drug-testing policy. . . . Linebacker Lerentee McCray sat out because of a knee injury suffered in the first quarter of the Week 2 win over the Chiefs. . . . Safety David Bruton suffered a sprained ankle and is considered day-to-day.
REPORT CARD VS. SEAHAWKS
–PASSING OFFENSE: B — Once the Broncos began taking shots downfield to Emmanuel Sanders, their underneath receivers had more room to make plays. Wes Welker had a successful return, catching six passes for 60 yards, and Sanders’ speed exposed the Seahawks late. But Demaryius Thomas looks slow and hesitant, and caught just four passes for 31 yards, and Julius Thomas was a non-factor for most of the game, although he did score the Broncos’ first touchdown.
–RUSHING OFFENSE: D-minus — Montee Ball’s second-longest run ended in a lost fumble, which got the offense off to a bad start, and the running backs rarely had any room to roam, as the Broncos’ offensive line was overwhelmed by Seattle’s defensive front. Center Manny Ramirez struggled to contain Seattle’s defensive tackles, and offensive tackles Chris Clark and Ryan Clady were beaten on the outside. The result was that Broncos running backs mustered just 37 yards on 18 carries, a paltry 2.1-yard average that does nothing to keep opposing defenses honest.
–PASS DEFENSE: B-minus — Just two Russell Wilson passes covered more than 20 yards, and the Broncos did a credible job preventing explosive plays while also generating pressure that led to three sacks and an interception. But Wilson was able to keep the Broncos off-balance when he escaped the pocket, and his throws on the run helped Seattle build momentum late in the second quarter and again in overtime. Seattle averaged 6.7 yards per pass play — 0.8 yards more than the Broncos.
–RUSH DEFENSE: B — Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. was tasked with shadowing Percy Harvin, and that kept the Seahawks from leaning on the jet and fly sweeps that propelled their offense in Weeks 1 and 2. But Marshawn Lynch provided enough bursts up the middle to keep the Seahawks balanced, although his 3.4-yard average was well off the 5.6-yard pace he posted in Weeks 1 and 2.
–SPECIAL TEAMS: C — K Brandon McManus has yet to be tested with a pressure placekick, but blasted every kickoff into or out of the end zone. The only kick that was returned was placed near the sideline, which limited Percy Harvin’s return to just 13 yards. Britton Colquitt was solid on punts, dropping three inside the 20 and posting a solid 42.8-yard net average. But the Broncos’ return game was nondescript once again.
–COACHING: C — The Broncos’ close-to-the-vest play-calling Sunday — and with leads in other games — led to questions Monday about whether the offense was being too conservative in the name of trying to create a balanced attack. They went into the game emphasizing possession and ball security, and saw that fly out the window on the offense’s first play from scrimmage, which ended in a Montee Ball fumble. Jack Del Rio’s defense did a good job corralling Harvin and limiting the Seahawks’ explosive plays, but allowed Wilson to break containment too often in overtime.
