Three ways the Seahawks can beat Russell Wilson in Week 1

Seahawks get off to a decently-sized early lead

Nothing anything the Seahawks want to do will work if Seattle doesn’t get points early and fairly often. Should the offense sputter and the Broncos get up to a 14-point lead, Denver will blow Seattle out. Seattle quarterback Geno Smith doesn’t need to play the best game of his career but he does need to help the offense sustain drives and get at least 17 points before the half.

One thing that created a situation where Seattle went 7-10 in 2021 was that the offense had far too many three-and-outs and the defense couldn’t get the other team off the field. Wilson can complain all he wants about how Seattle did or did not add talent to the team to help him. But he also killed drives with bad sacks.

Smith needs to be better than that. He needs to throw the ball away and not lose yards. Smith can’t try to force throws to try to get 25 yards when 8 will do. Smith needs to be a game manager in the best sense of the word. He needs to pick up first downs on second downs.

But Smith must lead Seattle to points early in the game. 10 points by the end of the first quarter would not only help a 12s confidence in the offense but also allow the young defense to rest and keep up enough energy to (hopefully) keep constant pressure on Wilson when he throws. The game won’t be competitive if the Seahawks have only 7 points by the half.