It’s the conclusion of the opening week of the season on the NFL gridiron as a pair of teams that missed the postseason last season meet into interconference action in the Pacific Northwest. The Denver Broncos are on the road as they make the trip to face the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. Denver finished the 2021 campaign 7-10 and missed the playoffs for the sixth straight season, coinciding with Peyton Manning’s retirement. Seattle ended the 2021 campaign with a 7-10 record, their worst record since they went 7-9 in 2011. The former AFC West rivals have met 54 times in the regular season with the Broncos owning a 35-19 advantage, including a 27-24 home win in the most recent matchup on September 9, 2018.
Denver has struggled to find a quarterback since Peyton Manning retired after the 2015 season. Since that point in time, Broncos fans have seen the likes of Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Brock Osweiler, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Drew Lock, Brandon Allen, Jeff Driskel, Brett Rypien, Teddy Bridgewater and even receiver Kendall Hinton start games at quarterback. Now, the Broncos hope that they have their signal caller for the foreseeable future as they acquired Russell Wilson from the Seahawks in the offseason. Denver also bolstered their defense, adding Randy Gregory from Dallas to help the pass rush and K’Waun Williams in the secondary. The Broncos have to shake off trading defensive tackle Shelby Harris, tight end Noah Fant and Drew Lock to Seattle, while Bridgewater signed in Miami in free agency. Tim Patrick, a valuable receiver option, was lost for the year with a knee injury.
Last season, the Broncos finished 19th in the league in passing offense with 211.4 yards per game and 13th in rushing offense with 119.1 yards per contest. Denver was tied for 23rd in the league in scoring offense with 19.7 points per game and stood third in scoring defense by allowing 18.9 points per contest. Russell Wilson completed 259 of 400 passes for 3,113 yards with 25 touchdowns and six interceptions while getting sacked 33 times last season. He added 183 yards and two scores on the ground as well. Melvin Gordon III led the ground game with 203 carries for 918 yards and eight scores. Javonte Williams did a solid job as a rookie, running the ball 203 times for 903 yards and four scores as part of a timeshare. Courtland Sutton is the team’s top returning pass catcher with 58 receptions for 776 yards and two scores. Tim Patrick (53 receptions, 734 yards, five TD) was solid but is out for the year. That means Jerry Jeudy (38 catches, 467 yards), tight end Albert Okwuegbunam (33 catches, 330 yards, two TD) along with Gordon III (28 catches, 213 yards, two TD) and Williams (43 receptions, 316 yards, three TD) will all have to contribute this season. Brandon McManus hit 33 of 34 extra point attempts and 26 of 31 field goal attempts last season with a long of 61.