Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos Ten In-Depth Observations
6. Over the past two seasons, Broncos right tackle Orlando Franklin has been one of the best pass protectors in the NFL, and I thought he and Cliff Avril would battle to a near-draw. Unfortunately for Manning, that clearly wasn’t the case, and Avril could have easily won the MVP for his impact. He played a huge role in both interceptions, as his pressure on Manning helped lead to the first pick. The second INT, however, was Avril’s finest moment of the game, as he beat Franklin off the edge with an incredible burst of speed off the snap before deflecting the ball up into the air for Malcolm Smith to intercept it. Avril is one of the most explosive pass rushers in the game due to his speed and athleticism, and he was just too much for Franklin to handle.
7. Nobody played better for the Broncos in this game than Wes Welker, and I wish the Broncos targeted him more often on crossing routes. His quickness makes him too difficult for linebackers in the middle of the field to pick up, and he had some nasty cuts out there. All a quarterback has to do is simply wait for Welker to get open, as Tom Brady recalls perfectly. He finished with eight receptions for 84 yards, and the crazy thing is that the slot receiver led the team in yards per reception. Welker caught 80% of everything thrown at him for an average of 8.4 yards per target, and I think Adam Gase should be kicking himself for not involving him even more (Welk also freed up DT a few times with his route-running).
8. A tight end facing the Seattle Seahawks defense is in a very unenviable position, and Julius Thomas was simply a non-factor against Kam Chancellor and the ‘Hawks linebackers. We know Chancellor can cover TEs one-on-one, but it’s so difficult for TEs to find space in the seam (the area between the LBs and safeties), because the linebackers on the Seahawks are so good and underrated in coverage. All game long, those guys were constantly flowing to the passer, whether it was a wideout on a screen or hitch, a running back, or Orange Julius. One thing that concerned some of us about Thomas going into this matchup is the fact that he isn’t at his best against very physical defenses, and the Seahawks go from physical to bellicose in the middle of the field.
9. Many of us were wondering which Russell Wilson would show up yesterday: the Russell Wilson who was amazing for most of the regular season, or the Russell Wilson who struggled against the Arizona Cardinals, New Orleans Saints, and San Francisco 49ers. We definitely got the “normal” Wilson, as he played an extremely efficient and controlled game as both a passer and rusher. His scrambling ability yielded a solid 26 yards on three carries, and his rushing ability helped to keep the Broncos defense off balance. Wilson finished with an average of 8.2 yards per attempt, no picks, a completion percentage of 72%, and a QB Rating of 123.1. I can’t recall Wilson making a truly bad pass, and he threw a couple of dimes. Maybe more importantly, Wilson didn’t look flustered like he did in the previous two weeks, and he was simply deadly on third downs.
10. The Broncos missed their two best players on defense badly in this game, as they couldn’t get much pressure on Wilson. The Seahawks offensive line did, as expected, a very poor job of run blocking, but they did a solid job in pass pro and held off a rather light Broncos pass rush. Without Von Miller, the Broncos don’t have a high-impact pass rusher, because Shaun Phillips‘s sack totals overshadow the fact that he can’t put consistent pressure on the QB off the edge. Malik Jackson and Robert Ayers are usually a solid tandem, but they couldn’t do anything to put Wilson under duress. There were a few times when he needed to flush out of the pocket, but that’s not enough. The Broncos pass rush came short, and I don’t think there’s a way to sugarcoat that.
The loss of Chris Harris Jr. finally bit them, as they didn’t really need him against a New England Patriots team that was basically all Tom Brady and nobody else in the AFCCG. Harris is straight-up one of the best players in the NFL, and his loss hurt the overall depth of the secondary. I wrote yesterday that the Seahawks needed to stretch the field horizontally in order to take advantage of the Broncos decreased depth at corner, and they did just that.