Seattle Seahawks erase first-half woes in Week 1 comeback win over Denver Broncos

Seattle’s start was as bad as it could get. After receiving the ball early in the game, quarterback Geno Smith was sacked for a seven-point loss on the game’s first play. Then Smith was hit low as he rolled out of the pocket on second down — throwing a dart straight to Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton.

Denver took over the Seahawks 20-yard line. But the defense held the Broncos to just three points.

“That’s what we asked for in the first game,” Macdonald said. “You know, every time something happens, it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s go. We’re in a dark place. We’re exactly where we need to be.’ (Aden Durde) had a great message for the guys, and I think he hit the nail on the head. That’s what he said. No matter what, it’s perfect for the Seahawks and the guys. They’re committed to it. They’ve done a great job.”

That was the theme of the first half: the attacking team making mistakes or finding themselves close to the goal line; the defense focused on damage control.

Seattle allowed just 15 yards on 10 plays in Denver’s first three drives, with defenders flying and taking punishing hits — especially safeties Julian Love and Rayshawn Jenkins (and later K’Von Wallace after a forced fumble).

Meanwhile, Seattle’s offensive line continued its best streak, scoring three points and taking home its third consecutive possession to start the contest.

Amid Seattle’s most successful play late in the first quarter, further trouble could not be avoided. Right quarterback George Fant went down and was carted off the field. He was sidelined shortly thereafter with a knee injury.

After the match, Macdonald said he was “not sure what’s going on” but Fant’s injury was definitely to his knee and “it will become clear”.

With the score tied 3-3 early in the second quarter, Love made a great play, intercepting a pass from Broncos quarterback Bo Nix intended for Courtland Sutton in the end zone, but he caught it on the half-yard line, putting Seattle’s offense in a tough spot.

On the first play of the drive, right guard Anthony Bradford was penalized for holding in the end zone, which resulted in a safety. The Broncos took a 5-3 lead and got the ball back.

Seattle’s defense made another stop — continuing its statement as the only phase of the game went well for the Seahawks. But cornerback Dee Williams fumbled the ensuing punt return, putting the Broncos inside Seattle’s 20-yard line for the second time in the first half.

Seattle once again allowed Denver to score just three points.

“It’s a certain mentality you have to have in the red zone,” Macdonald said. “The execution, things happen faster. Like I said, our entire football team, including the defense, nobody blinked an eye, stayed composed and did their job down there. We have to keep the red zone defense moving.”

Smith capped a five-play, 70-yard drive with a 34-yard run to give his team its first lead of the game, 9-8, after failing to score a two-point attempt with six minutes left in the first half.

The Broncos were forced to punt again on their next drive, but fumbled the ball inside the Seattle 1-yard line. Smith passed to running back Zach Charbonnet on a first down, and the Seahawks’ offensive line immediately collapsed. It was another safety in Denver’s favor, giving them a 10-9 lead.

Denver scored one more field goal before halftime and went into the locker room with a 13-9 advantage.

Grubb made the necessary adjustments in the second half to fix the offensive woes. After just 102 yards of offense and nine points in the first half, Seattle turned the ball over to Kenneth Walker III and quickly piled up 179 yards and 17 points in the third quarter and the first drive of the fourth.

Walker, who ran for 19 yards in the first half, ran for 81 yards on the first three plays of the second half. He scored a 23-yard touchdown in the third quarter to give Seattle a 16-13 lead and on the next play, he wiped out another scoring drive by holding the ball.

“Give it to K9, let it do its thing,” Macdonald said of the second-half adjustments. “That’s what we’re going to have to do. If we want to be successful, teams are going to have to take something away, and you’ve got to be able to move and shake things up in the game to be able to move the ball on the ground.”

After Smith’s 30-yard pass to Charbonnet, Seattle took a 26-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Cornerback Riq Woollen collected his first interception of the season midway through the fourth quarter — Nix’s second in the game — but Denver’s best offense came late, with Nix and the Broncos’ offense putting together a seven-play, 54-yard drive that was capped by a 4-yard run to the right by the freshman quarterback.

Seattle needed one more first down to end the game. On 3rd-and-6 from the Seahawks’ 34-yard line, wide receiver Tyler Lockett caught the ball one-handed from Smith in the tightest of windows — capping a six-catch, 77-yard performance for the 10-year veteran.

Smith, who had as slow a start as he could have expected, finished with 18 of 25 passes for 171 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Walker led Seattle’s rushers with 103 yards and a score on 20 attempts.

“(Smith) embodies the whole team. We’re going to do things like Geno,” Macdonald added. “I kept telling him to stay strong. I didn’t have to tell him anything. He was good at it, he stayed positive. We got going. He’s leading the charge.”

Love stood out on defense with 10 solo tackles (12 total), a tackle for loss, a pass deflection and an interception. He received a new three-year, $33 million extension earlier this season.

After Seattle had the league’s second-worst defense last season, the defense allowed an average of four yards per rush (99 yards), a good indication of the defense’s effectiveness.

The Seahawks’ next game will be an away game against the New England Patriots (1-0) on Sunday, September 15 at 10 a.m.