The 3-2 Seattle Seahawks will pack their bags and hit the road for another primetime matchup. This time, they'll have to deal with a short turnaround on top of Mile High's attitude, as they'll visit the Denver Broncos for Thursday Night Football.
The loss to the San Francisco 49ers will sting for a while, but it might also be the motivation boost this team needs to wake up from the Super Bowl hangover. It's still early, and there's plenty of football to be played and issues to correct.
At least, the Broncos don't boast the same gargantuan defense from last season, and Bo Nix has looked like a shell of himself through the first five weeks. Considering that, let's take a look at three unlikely contributors who might actually surprise a lot of people in Week 5.
3 Seattle Seahawks players who might be surprising contributors against the Broncos
Robert Henry Jr.
With Jadarian Price headed to Injured Reserve (IR), the Seahawks signed Robert Henry Jr. to the active roster early in October. He has yet to take the field and play a regular-season snap, though he played in three preseason games with the Washington Commanders.
However, with George Holani's ball-security issues raising concerns and the Seahawks putting an emphasis on taking care of the football, there's an opportunity for Henry in Week 6, as inexperienced as he might be.
Granted, he's a gamble, but the team seemed to like him more than the recently released Velus Jones Jr. With the Seahawks desperately looking to get the running game going, Brian Fleury might give him a chance in this one.
AJ Barner
There was a ton of hype surrounding AJ Barner this season, but he's been rather quiet thus far. He's healthy and has shown he can make plays in the open field when involved in the passing game, but we're still waiting for that breakout performance.
This might be the case in Week 5, as the Broncos' defense has struggled against playmaking tight ends dating back to last season, when they gave up seven 30+ yard pass plays and six 30+ yard touchdowns to tight ends and running backs.
They haven't been much better this time around. Travis Kelce had 71 receiving yards in just three catches, Tyler Higbee dominated with eight catches for 62 receiving yards and a score, and George Kittle put up four catches for 70 yards and a score.
Julian Love
The Broncos' stagnant and vanilla offense will be in for a long day at the office. With their inability to stop the bull rush in the interior, Bo Nix will have to run for his life, make unbalanced throws, and make quick decisions.
That's a recipe for disaster for a guy who has failed to put any sort of touch on his passes this season. Nix trusts his arm strength way too much, and that often leads to overthrows and overall erratic execution downfield.
Julian Love is already leading the team with a couple of interceptions. His defensive center fielder role will have him lurking around and just waiting for the right opportunity. It's not a matter of 'if' but 'when' Nix will make a mistake.
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