3 stars from Seahawks defeat of Russell Wilson and the Broncos

The Seahawks defeated former quarterback Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos in Week 1 and there were several players who balled out for Seattle.

If you, dear 12, decided to skip watching the game as you couldn’t stand the thought of Wilson returning to Seattle and beating your favorite team then you shouldn’t be shocked to learn that Seattle actually defeated Wilson instead.

And the reason you shouldn’t be shocked once you’ve gone back and watched the game is because by the end you will likely think, “Oh, yeah. That makes sense. That was the way a Pete Carroll team is supposed to win.”

While the entire team did well enough to win and no player was truly awful, the three players that follow may be the biggest reason Seattle won the first game of the post-Russell Wilson era.

Three Seahawks that led the way to a Week 1 victory

Seahawks edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu

Nwosu is the highest-paid free agent that the Seahawks have signed in a very long time. He was a decently productive edge rusher for four years with the Chargers before general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll thought to themselves this offseason, “If we get this guy, he can change our defense.”

And in Week 1, at least, they weren’t far off. Nwosu was just out there making plays. And he did so with immense speed from his edge rusher spot. While Nwosu’s sack of Russell Wilson didn’t make Denver lose a ton of yards, for instance, his speed caused Wilson to try to run to the sidelines before easily being overtaken by Nwosu. Wilson had to be surprised and 12s might have thought, “Oh, I see what Schneider and Carroll were thinking now.”

Nwosu also forced a critical fumble as the Broncos were near Seattle’s goal line that kept the Seahawks in the lead and it was a lead they would never relinquish. Overall, Nwosu was in on 7 tackles, had a sack, a pass defended, 2 quarterback hits and the forced fumble. He earned his paycheck.