This is Russell's game to win or lose

[WilsonMVP]

17 points? Are you serious? Hey, I totally respect the Hawks love but that's ridiculous.

BTW, I know it was just a preseason game, but if you have the DVR of that game earlier this year, look at what Manning did on our first unit defense that first half. He was methodically driving his squad down the field in no-huddle. A couple of those possessions ended up with TO's (remember the Browner INT in the endzone and run out?), but they could have easily put up 21 points in just the first half. Our defense has come a long way since that game, but so has their offense. Believe me, Denver is going to break 20 points on us.

If you want to take away stuff from a preseason game Wilson was 8/12 127 yards 2TD and 0Int. Denver didnt exactly stop our offense either. We were stopped once and it was on a 4th and 1 on the Denver 37 when we went for it. Lynch also only had 2 carries at the begining too FYI. We had Turbin running the ball alot.

 

[Cartire]

Wk 17, broncos score 34 against the raiders.
Divisional round, score 24 against the Chargers
Championship round, score 26 against the pats.

Three pathetic to mediocre defenses.

Peach, I'm with you. 17 sounds about right. Everyone who just assume Peyton goes off on us because he is Peyton hasn't seen the defenses he's played.

 

[Blitzhawk]

Our D is a whole new story for Manning. Watching the AFCCG I kept saying over and over every play: He does not have to decide which WR is open but rather which wide open WR he wants to throw it to. The Pats play a very soft coverage, mostly zone. We play much man press w/ the single high safety ET so his WR's will be disrupted and he will have to hold onto the ball longer or force it into tighter coverage. This bolds well for both our ball hawking secondary and our pass rushers.

 

[Sarlacc83]

I've got 21 points for Denver, because Manning will want to throw a garbage time TD in a vain attempt to close the 17 point gap. Their defense can't hold our offense, and if Seattle scores less than 30, I'll be surprised.

 

[tmobilchawker79]

I see Marshawn having a huge game in this one. Like 2 rushing TD's and about 150yds. I'm not seeing how Denver's defense is going to be able to load the box to stop Marshawn with no secondary. You really think Champ and Co. can hold our receiving corps down? Also, Russ may get some rushing yardage in this one. This might be 35-21.

 

[Penman96]

Yep - as Cartire points out the Broncos are scoring around 24 points average lately against lesser defenses, at Mile High in good weather. 17 points sounds about right against the leagues best defense in the cold away from home.

The Seahawks have been getting 23 points against top defenses, one game in a monsoon. So against Denver they will be able to score at least that much. We played at Met Life last month too, and blanked a Manning. This one is older with less SuperBowl rings...

 

[hawk45]

Wk 17, broncos score 34 against the raiders.
Divisional round, score 24 against the Chargers
Championship round, score 26 against the pats.

Three pathetic to mediocre defenses.

Peach, I'm with you. 17 sounds about right. Everyone who just assume Peyton goes off on us because he is Peyton hasn't seen the defenses he's played.

Yes in 2 playoff games Denver has been limited to point totals that even our offense could match (esp vs the Denver D and with Percy Harvin). Denver's offense was historic during the regular season as the Pats were during their undefeated season. The Pats are just an n=1 example, but combine that with how Denver has been limited in these playoffs, and it is no lock at all that Manning manages 30 against our D. The Chargers and Pats don't have defenses in the same hemisphere as ours.

Our offense, OTOH, looked better than it has in 6 weeks vs. a really, really good defense. Our defense continued their season-long trend of limiting opponents to around 14.

I'm not quite ready to dismiss the Denver O or the possibility they do somehow manage to put 30 up against us, but if they do that quite honestly it will be a surprise to people who watched NFC football this year. AFC football watchers OTOH will be flabbergasted because all they see is offense in that conference.

I believe fairly strongly that our defense will contain Manning to the point where our offense will have a completely legit chance to out-point them. I know football doesn't always work this way, but if SD and NE can hold them to 25, no one can really say it's outlandish that our defense holds them to 20 or less. Especially since (unlike San Francisco, AZ, STL, NY) they don't have a defense that can reliably stuff our offense and keep our O off the field. Also, Harvin.

 

[hawkfan68]

While Russell is an important piece of the offense, I don't think that a win or lose is entirely on his shoulders. To think how far this guy has come is amazing. Leading his team to the Superbowl in just his second year is absolutely mind-boggling. It's crazy good. I know Russell will play well, he has all season.

 

[kmedic]

Great breakdown of the preseason game between Denver and Seattle. Like I said before, it's just a preseason game, but you still can get an idea of how challenging it will be for the defense to stop Peyton's no-huddle offense.

http://www.footballperspective.com/film-room-manning-against-seattle-in-the-preseason/