Seahawks Bludgeoned in Denver
By author
The Broncos easily disposed of Seattle this afternoon in Denver as the Seahawks made several mistakes and were outplayed on the road. The final score was 31-14, but that is not evident of how bad the Seahawks were actually beaten.
Outside of the opening drive, the Seahawks were never within shouting distance and the Broncos had several opportunities to make the matchup laughable. After an opening victory against the San Francisco 49ers at home, the Seahawks regressed in week two and Pete Carroll suffered his first loss as Seattle’s head coach.
You don’t win football games with a turnover ratio of negative four. Matt Hasselbeck threw three interceptions – at Denver’s 4-yard line, 9-yard line, and a third in garbage time late in the game – and Walter Thurmond muffed a punt that gave the Broncos the ball at Seattle’s 13-yard line. Three out of four turnovers occurred while the outcome was still uncertain and were inside the red zone.
You can’t score points if your offense never gets on the field. Denver converted on 14/20 third-down attempts; at one point, the Broncos were 13/16 on third-down efficiency. When the game counted, the Broncos were converting third downs over eighty percent of the time. Kyle Orton led Denver down the field and extended countless drives, regardless of down or distance.
Seattle lost the time of possession battle, controlling the football for only 22:33. This includes an opening drive that occupied 6:17 of time but ended with an interception.
Seattle was penalized seven times for 64 yards, while Denver was only flagged three times for 35 yards. At one point late in the contest, Denver was only penalized once for 5 yards. Seattle’s miscues killed drives, voided scores, and resulted in further mistakes.
All in all, it was ugly. I’d like to say the Seahawks are better than this, but the box score speaks for itself.
The Denver Broncos beat the Seattle Seahawks today – handily.
The Seahawks need to regroup and prepare for next week’s game at Qwest Field. They’re back at home, but the San Diego Chargers are in town. If the Seahawks don’t find a way to correct their on-field mistakes, the Chargers may steamroll Seattle worse than Denver.
Shaun Dolence: dolencesm@gmail.com
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