What a difference an offseason makes! If you are just waking up from December, the Seahawks will play Russell Wilson of the Broncos in Week 1 of 2022.
But you probably already knew the above. If you didn’t, I am sorry to be the bearer of the news that the Seahawks traded their franchise-best quarterback. The future might be bright but the present may not be.
The positive way of looking at 2022 is that we don’t really know what Seattle is capable of. Led by a bunch of young players, Seattle could find its way to being very good.
Plus, in Week 1, it will be interesting to see who is more nervous: the Seahawks rookies or now-former Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson. Let’s hope it’s Seattle’s young players that are calmer. But here are a few things that I am guessing do happen.
Seahawks vs. Broncos Week 1: 3 bold predictions
Jason Myers makes all 5 of his field goal attempts
The idea for the Seahawks is probably to play a lot of low-scoring, close games. Sure, Pete Carroll might dream to have blowout victories in every game ever but that isn’t reality and Carroll knows it. In fact, Seattle, since 2010, has made a habit of winning close games by playing great defense early in the 2010s and by having a quarterback that didn’t turn the ball over in most games overall.
Seattle’s special teams is going to have to be terrific in 2022 for the team to have any chance of winning the majority of its games. Jason Myers was perfect on field goals in 2020 but then in 2021 wasn’t nearly as good. Last year was arguably Myers’s worst in the NFL. But he has the talent to be better and he will.
Against the Broncos in Week 1, Myers will be asked to convert a bunch of field goal attempts to keep the Seahawks in the game. And he will do just that. Myers will make all five of his attempts with two being beyond 50 yards. Myers’ greatness will keep Seattle in the game when they appear on the verge of losing by two touchdowns.
Russell Wilson throws for 220 yards, 2 touchdowns and one interception
Wilson is likely going to have a very good season in 2022. He has a head coach in Nathanial Hackett who knows how to get quarterbacks to perform at an extremely high level while not turning the ball over either. Denver has very good receivers in Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton who are capable of doing a lot more than they have in their careers so far.
Sutton and Jeudy didn’t have a quarterback who could throw the ball to them consistently well and now they do with Wilson.
But while Wilson will make the Broncos offense a lot better, Week 1 will also be Wilson and the Denver offense’s first real game together. It is likely that they will still be working on the timing of throws and crisp routes to run against players not wearing a Denver uniform. Wilson will be solid against the Seahawks but would probably be better against Seattle if this game was in Week 10, for example.
Wilson will still be efficient in Week 1 and hit his share of incredible passes. He does this every game no matter what. But the Seahawks will get a first half interception by Tariq Woolen that will energize the defense and make 12s think the 2022 team will be better than expected. But it is a long season, of course.
The Seahawks win 28-27 with a late fourth quarter touchdown
At halftime, the Broncos will lead 13-9. Both kickers will have made their five field goal attempts and Wilson will have thrown a touchdown pass to Sutton on a 36-yard strike. Geno Smith will have played decently but looked a lot like he did in the preseason when he led the offense down to about the 20-yard line of the opponent yet can’t lead the team to a touchdown. Instead, Jason Myers will make three field goals.
Early in the third, however, Rashaad Penny will burst through the Broncos’ defense for a 46-yard touchdown run. Up to this point, he will have been bogged down and only has averaged 2 yards a carry. Seattle will lead 16-13 before a quick answer on the Broncos’ next drive when Wilson throws his second touchdown pass. Going into the fourth quarter, Denver will lead 20-16.
On Seattle’s next drive, Myers makes a field goal from 53 and the score is 20-19 and then the Seahawks defense gets a fairly quick three-and-out by Denver. But Seattle will fumble on their next drive and Wilson will lead a quick drive that ends with Denver’s Javonte Williams running the ball in from 12 yards to make the score 27-19.
The Seahawks will get the ball back with a bit over 7 minutes left and make it down to Denver’s 36 before Myers makes his fifth field goal – this one from 54 yards – and the score is 27-22. Wilson gets sacked on second down by Shelby Harris at the beginning of the Broncos’ next drive and Denver comes up short on third down and has to punt.
The Seahawks get the ball back with a bit under 3 minutes left on their own 30-yard line. Seattle starts with a run with Penny that gets 1 yard and 12s get restless. But Smith then hits Noah Fant for 23, Lockett for 14 and Penny runs for 5. Smith then takes a sack on second down and loses 4.
On third down, Smith completes an 11-yard pass to Will Dissly and Seattle has a first down on Denver’s 22 with a bit under a minute left. Smith then throws a corner route to DK Metcalf for a touchdown and the score is 28-27. The Seahawks go for 2 but don’t get it. Wilson and the Broncos start on their own 25 to begin the next drive but a sack by Darrell Taylor and a seam pass defended perfectly by Quandre Diggs ends the game and Seattle wins.