Seahawks win 26-20 in overtime
Sorry for the lack of updates, had some brief technical difficulties. Hopefully you all caught the exciting end to that one, but if not, you missed the Broncos somehow going 80 yards in 41 seconds, the converting a 2-point converstion to tie the game, then the Seahawks marching 80 yards for a touchdown to win it in overtime.
Crazy game, I’ll be back with more from the locker room in a bit.
Broncos capitalize on turnover
Russell Wilson’s first interception of 2014 was a costly one for the Seahawks. Following the safety, Seattle’s defense again forced a punt, but on the next play, Russell Wilson threw a pass that was tipped, then intercepted, giving the Broncos the ball on Seattle’s 19.
Four plays later, Peyton Manning flipped a short pass to Julius Thomas for a 3-yard touchdown.
It’s now 17-12 Broncos, and the Seahawks offense is struggling.
Safety cuts into Seahawks lead
Aside from two touchdown drives at the end of the first half, the Seahawks offense has had a hard time moving the ball today, and on their latest possession they went backwards, resulting in a safety that made the score 17-5.
After Denver pinned the Seahawks at the 8 with a punt, Russell Wilson was sacked at the 1-yard line, and that was followed by Marshawn Lynch getting tackled for a loss in the end zone.
Seattle’s defense is playing well, but if the offense can’t get another score or two, things could get interesting by the end of the game.
It’s worth noting that after the Broncos had an 80-31 advantage in yardage after one quarter, the Seahawks have outgained the Broncos 237-84 since.
Okung returns
Just a quick note that after a Broncos three-and-out, Russell Okung is back in for Seattle’s offense. Earl Thomas, however, walked to the locker room after the Broncos punted. No update yet on him, but the good news is he was walking without any limp.
Wilson to Lynch makes it 17-3 at half, but Russell Okung injured
The Seahawks defense appeared to force a turnover following their touchdown when Earl Thomas punched the ball out on what was ruled a Demaryius Thomas catch, but upon review the play was ruled an incomplete pass. Even so, the Seahawks got the stop and got the ball back with 2:38 left, and Russell Wilson led his second touchdown drive in the final five minutes of the half, this one ending on a 5-yard pass to Marshawn Lynch, who was split out wide as a receiver and ran a slant route.
The bad news for the Seahawks is that left tackle Russell Okung left with a shoulder injury. His return is questionable, but for now Alvin Bailey is in at left tackle.
This marks just the second time that Denver has gone without a touchdown in the first half of a regular season game since Peyton Manning joined the team in 2012. It also happened to the Broncos once in the postseason, but you probably knew that already.
Lockette saves interception, catches a touchdown
The Seahawks took a 10-3 lead late in the first half on a very nice 39-yard touchdown catch by Ricardo Lockette, who beat Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib for a contested ball down the sideline.
More impressive was the fact that Lockette might have saved a touchdown on the second play of the drive. On what was either an underthrown ball or a bad route from Lockette, Talib broke on the pass and likely would have had an interception—and room to run—had Lockette not thrown Talib down as the ball was arriving.
Three plays later, Lockette was giving the Seahawks the lead with his second touchdown of the season.
Broncos answer with a field goal
After a turnover on the first play of their first drive, the Broncos got going on their second possession, driving 75 yards before settling for a short field goal.
It’s clear Peyton Manning likes the matchups he’s getting with Emmanuel Sanders, who caught four passes on that drive, including a 12-yard completion on second down early in the drive with Richard Sherman in coverage.
One positive for Seattle’s defense is that the tackling appears to be much better this week.
Seahawks take lead off Denver turnover
The Seahawks went three-and-out to open the game, but quickly got the ball back after Denver fumbled on their first play (but hey, at least it wasn’t a safety, right Broncos?). Monte Ball gained nine yards but was then met by Earl Thomas, who appeared to knock the ball loose before Kam Chancellor punched it out. K.J. Wright recovered to give Seattle the ball at the Denver 23.
Seattle then got tricky, with Jermaine Kearse taking a pitch, then throwing to Russell Wilson down the sideline for a 17-yard completion. Seattle had to settle for a field goal after three straight runs by Marshawn Lynch, the second of which came really close to being a touchdown.
Not sure if they showed it on TV, but Pete Carroll was really close to challenging that second-down run—he had the red flag in his hand—but must have had coaches in the box tell him there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the call, because he never threw it.
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