Monday Night Football of week one featured two teams, the Denver Broncos, and the Seattle Seahawks. These have not been the most popular teams in the history of the NFL, but there has been a connection with these two teams ever since February 2nd, 2014.
In the 2013 NFL season, the Seahawks and Russell Wilson took the NFC by storm. They were able to defeat the defending NFC champion 49ers, as well as other respected teams and made it to the big game. Who would their opponent be? The Denver Broncos. In the Super Bowl, Seattle defeated Denver in every way possible. Offensively, defensively, in special teams. All the plans the Seahawks had made for the game came to pass, and the final score was 43-8.
If you know anything about the NFL in the 2010s, you should have a keen memory on how dominant the Seahawks were for a moment in time. The team made a reputation for having the NFL’s best defense, nicknamed the ‘Legion of Boom.’ There were many key pieces on the Seahawks at this time that made the team great, but who was the player that brought it all together? Their quarterback.
On the other side, the Broncos did a great job picking themselves up after their Super Bowl 48 defeat. In fact, they copied Seattle’s formula. Instead of the Legion of Boom, it was the No Fly Zone. With this amped up defense in 2015, all Peyton Manning and the Denver offense had to do was not make too many mistakes. The team went on to win Super Bowl 50 in the same fashion that the Seahawks beat them in 2013.
Since 2015, it has been rare to see either Seattle or Denver past the divisional round of the playoffs. Things seemed to be getting stale for both football teams. Which I believe led to the signing of Wilson to the Broncos. During the off-season, schedules were released and the match up put on Monday Night Football for week one was Broncos playing in Wilson’s former territory, Seattle.
Takeaways from the week one matchup were that Denver’s defense is not the No Fly Zone. From escaped sacks, to what may have looked like broken plays, to wide open gaps in the defense, the Seattle Seahawks looked unstoppable. If the Broncos look to make a turn around this season, they definitely will need to tighten up when it comes to defense.
Earlier I gave everyone a little 2010s nostalgia. How nostalgic was it to see Geno Smith in the pocket slinging passes. Smith did not look uncomfortable. He made good reads for the most part, he escaped the pocket when he needed to, and ended the game with two touchdowns thrown.
There was one final thing that is to be taken away from the Monday night matchup. Both teams need to work on tucking, and holding on to the football like their job depends on it. Mostly because their job depends on it. There were five fumbles in total by both teams. Two came from Denver, and three from Seattle.
As much as there are only 17 games in an NFL season, it still can be a long season. Wilson has solidified himself as someone who can battle through being backed up against the wall, so I have no doubt that he can put his team back on track against the Texans.
