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.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith
It was a bit of a tale of two halves for Geno Smith in Week 1 but the second half failure of the Seahawks offense to score wasn’t really his fault. The Broncos defense adjusted at halftime to what Seattle offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was trying to do with Smith and Seattle didn’t do much to re-adjust.
That is, in the first half, Denver tried to rush Smith mostly from the outside and Smith stepped up into the pocket and hurt Denver a couple of times with throws over the middle. In the second half, Denver cut down on its rush angles and Smith had less time. Seattle could have also tried to run a bit more but they didn’t.
Still, Smith played with a lot of emotion but never let his passion force him into a rushed throw or decision. And in the first half Smith played about as perfectly as anyone ever could. He was 17 for 18 passing with 2 touchdowns. The first was when Smith stepped up in the pocket and hit a wide-open Will Dissly. Smith made the play by creating space and time for him to throw.
His second touchdown pass was a beautiful throw over the top of the linebacker to Colby Parkinson in the end zone. Using tight ends to score touchdowns on passes. Hmmm, who knew that was a thing? Not Russell Wilson in 2021. But Geno has picked it up pretty quickly in 2022.
Seahawks linebacker Cody Barton
Well, Cody Barton is pretty good. The best part about Barton’s night is he seemed to get better as the game grew old. He made maybe the singularly most important play on Denver’s last futile drive when he blew up a pass that Russell Wilson threw out wide to Denver running back Javonte Williams. It was the kind of play that had worked for the Broncos several times in the game.
Had Williams gotten past Barton, he might have picked up chunk yards, getting Denver well into Seahawks territory and setting up at least a much easier field goal attempt for Denver. But Barton didn’t just keep Williams from gaining yards, he completely destroyed Williams. It was a play that showcased Barton’s speed and physicality. If Barton lacked any confidence before the game, after that play and by the end of Week 1, Barton should feel sure of his abilities.
Barton was taken in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft partly for his ability to cover receivers. He did a decent job of that in Week 1 though he could improve a bit on that. But Barton proved he could do much more than cover. He was used occasionally on blitzes and got a sack on Russell Wilson on one blitz.
Barton finished with 10 tackles – 8 solo – a sack, 2 tackles for loss and a quarterback hit. Maybe he isn’t ever going to be Bobby Wagner-esque but in Week 1 he did a pretty good impression of a young Wagner and without Barton, Seattle might have lost the game.