Geno Smith, Stingy Seahawks Spoil Russell Wilson Return in Classic Slugfest
Kicking off the post-Russell Wilson era in chaotic fashion, the Seahawks made one hell of a Week 1 statement by sending their former quarterback and the Broncos back to the Mile High City on the losing side of a 17-16 defensive slugfest at Lumen Field.
Denying Denver from finding the end zone on three separate stints, Seattle's defense overcame a few explosive pass plays courtesy of Wilson to limit the opposition to six points after halftime. Meanwhile, Geno Smith impressed in his first start in Wilson's stead, completing 23 out of 28 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns to help his team build a one-score halftime advantage that they did not relinquish.
Here are five quick takeaways from the Seahawks exhilarating season-opening win on Monday Night Football:
1. Smith dishes his own five-star restaurant quality cooking under center.
Heading into Monday’s opener, the majority of the pre-game discussion revolved around Wilson’s much-anticipated return to Lumen Field after a decade with the Seahawks. But Smith, the afterthought in the quarterback battle, put on a clinic out of the gate by becoming only the third quarterback since 1990 to complete each of his first 13 passes in Week 1. Emulating his former teammate and opponent as an improviser, he started the scoring by escaping a sack and dumping off a pop pass to a wide-open Will Dissly for a 38-yard touchdown. Two drives later, he again played the role of magician by evading a pair of rushers to complete a third down to Marquise Goodwin along the sideline to extend the possession. Three plays later, he lofted a perfect deep ball down the seam to Colby Parkinson for a 25-yard touchdown to push Seattle’s lead to 17-10. At halftime, Smith completed 17 out of 18 passes for 164 yards, two scores, and a 141.7 passer rating.
In the second half, Smith’s play cooled off some, though it wasn’t necessarily all his fault. Midway through the third quarter, he fired a missile to DK Metcalf for a 15-yard gain on 3rd and 10, with the receiver showing strong hands to secure the ball while being tightly defended by cornerback Patrick Surtain. But on the very next play, Metcalf coughed up a fumble after catching a quick bubble screen, turning the ball right back over to the Broncos deep in Seahawks territory. Pass protection started to break down in front of him from that point, as rookie left tackle Charles Cross was beaten on a pair of rushes by Bradley Chubb for sacks, including forcing a fumble than fortunately fell into the blocker’s hands for a recovery. Both drives resulted in Michael Dickson punts.
2. Tight ends took their long-awaited place on the menu as a main course.
Over the past several seasons, the Seahawks have made a conscious effort through personnel moves to improve their tight end group and add talent in the pass-catching department, but the numbers simply haven’t panned out on the field. However, signs pointed to things changing this training camp in year No. 2 with Shane Waldron as play caller and on cue, all three of the team's tight ends contributed in a big way to aid the upset. Dissly got the festivities started with his long touchdown against busted coverage, while Parkinson put together his best game as a pro with two receptions for 43 yards, displaying his outstanding blend of size and athleticism as a seam-stretching threat. Noah Fant, who arrived as part of the Wilson trade, didn't put up quite as good of overall numbers, but he still pitched in with three receptions for 16 yards as tight ends posted 102 total receiving yards on the night.
As pointed out by Smith after the game, Seattle prioritized getting tight ends involved in the passing game against Denver's linebackers, taking advantage of a group missing starter Josey Jewell. With Parkinson beating Jonas Griffith on his touchdown as just one example, it's safe to say Waldron game-planned masterfully and Smith executed to near-perfection, using all three tight ends to stretch the field vertically and horizontally and stress the linebacker group in coverage. Some good fortune on Dissly's touchdown puts the cherry on top.
3. Goal line defense ruled the night, helping the Seahawks fend off their opponent.
Wilson finished his first game as a Bronco with a fantastic stat line, accumulating 340 passing yards on 29 completions and airing out a 67-yard bomb to Jerry Jeudy for a touchdown against rookie Coby Bryant. The visitors made it past midfield on every single one of their drives and had little difficulty moving the football with 433 yards of total offense. However, once they advanced inside the five-yard line, they simply couldn't finish drives and made a plethora of mistakes, a testament to the Seahawks grittiness protecting their own goal line.
After halftime, Seattle turned Denver away twice with the ball inside its own three-yard line, forcing a pair of fumbles at the goal line. Safety Quandre Diggs and linebacker Uchenna Nwosu, who turned in a dominant first game with the team producing seven tackles and a sack, each forced the fumbles, allowing cornerback Mike Jackson to recover each of them and send the opposition back to the sideline without any points. Then in the fourth quarter, defending the famous North end zone where many crazy plays have transpired over the years, the Seahawks didn't break again with Shelby Harris hitting Wilson and forcing a third down incompletion to keep the Broncos out of the end zone. That proved to be the difference, wiping as many as 18 points of the board.
4. Missed opportunities on both sides of the ball loomed large as the final seconds ticked.
As expected in a season opener, both teams made numerous mistakes that could have cost them the game. After halftime, the Seahawks didn't score a single point despite having a promising drive going on their first possession of the third quarter. Metcalf's fumble immediately turned the ball back over to the Broncos, giving Wilson another chance to burn his former team. Later in the half, a long run by Rashaad Penny was wiped out by a questionable holding call on rookie tackle Abraham Lucas, again thwarting a drive that looked to have potential for points.
On defense, Seattle made a handful of mistakes that could have doomed them late in regulation. Jamal Adams, who exited with a knee injury in the second quarter, had a potential interception in the red zone bounce off of his face mask in the first quarter. In the second quarter, a poor throw by Wilson to the end zone flew right through Diggs' hands for a rare missed interception chance for the ball-hawking safety. Later in the half, rookie Tariq Woolen had two pass interference penalties push Denver deep into Seattle territory, only for his teammates to come through and bail him out. There's much to clean up, but thankfully, the opponent made a few more mistakes when it mattered most.
5. Special teams made all the difference as Seattle didn’t make mistakes in the third phase of the game.
Throughout the preseason, the Seahawks struggled mightily in most phases of special teams, struggling to execute leverage on kick and punt coverage units, muffing punts, and missing tackles. But on Monday night, coach Pete Carroll and assistant Larry Izzo couldn't have asked for a better performance on teams as the team didn't hurt themselves with costly mistakes. DeeJay Dallas made a few decent returns in the kicking game, Jason Myers connected on his lone field goal that proved to be the difference, and players such as Travis Homer, Tanner Muse, and Dallas blew up Broncos returners after short returns to force the opponent to drive the field.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Brandon McManus was near-perfect making three field goals on the night. But with the game on the line, his desperate 64-yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds went wide left, sending 12s into a state of euphoria as Wilson and company got sent packing with the defeat. In such a tight game, those plays proved to be all the difference in the outcome.
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