Red zone is woe zone for Broncos in 17-16 opening-night defeat at Seattle

SEATTLE — Their pre-snap operation and red-zone execution were colossal debacles. Their frequent penalties on defense gifted free yards.

And it almost didn’t matter.

The Broncos nearly overcame all of those mistakes, but never led the Seattle Seahawks here Monday night and lost 17-16 when Brandon McManus’ 64-yard field goal was wide left with 15 seconds remaining.

In his Broncos debut and return to Seattle, quarterback Russell Wilson was 29-of-42 passing for 340 yards and one touchdown.

But there was no Russell Magic in his old playground.

After a Seahawks three-and-out, the Broncos took over at their 22-yard line and 4:02 remaining. A terrific second effort by tight end Albert Okwuegbunam converted a third-and-5 with 3:01 left. Running back Javonte Williams was next up, converting a third-and-2 for nine yards. And on third-and-14, Williams turned a short pass into nine yards, to the Seattle 46.

After letting 28 seconds drain from the clock, coach Nathaniel Hackett called timeout with 20 seconds remaining and opted for the long McManus field goal attempt instead of giving a chance for Wilson and the offense to pick up a fourth-and-5 play.

“We wanted to be sure we took a chance when we had a chance,” Hackett said. “We were right on the line and he had plenty of distance. Brandon gave it his best shot and I believe he’s completely capable of that.”

When the Broncos survey the wreckage of this season opener, though, they will point to the red zone … and see red.

What was this, 2016? Or 2017? Or any year during the Broncos’ six-year playoff drought? When seeing the goal-line within reach caused a team-wide tremor?

First quarter: The Broncos reached the 18-yard line, but committed a penalty and settled for a McManus 30-yard field goal.

Third quarter: On fourth down from the 1, Melvin Gordon was stopped short and fumbled.

Third quarter: On third down from the 1, Williams was stopped short and fumbled.

Fourth quarter: The Broncos reached the 3-yard line, but a Courtland Sutton false start penalty led to a McManus 26-yard field goal.

“We just have to be better in the red zone and that starts with me,” Hackett said.

The Broncos lost their season opener for only the eighth time in 21 years and Hackett joined John Fox and Vic Fangio, among others, to lose his debut game.

The Broncos rolled up 433 yards and were 8 of 15 on third down but managed only one touchdown. They committed 12 penalties for 108 yards.

“We moved the ball up and down the field, I thought the defense stepped up and had a good game,” Hackett said. “In the end, turnovers, penalties, red zone — bad deal.”

To open the second half, the Broncos continued to get in their own way. An 18-yard catch by Sutton and a drawn 31-yard pass interference penalty by Sutton set the Broncos up at the Seattle 9. But a second delay-of-game penalty on the drive set the process back. Gordon’s eight-yard catch on third-and-goal from the 9 set up a fourth down. Gordon tried to hit the goal-line over the right side, but was stopped while he also fumbled.

To put the delay-of-game penalties into context: The Broncos had two enforced delay penalties last year in 17 games.

“There were some communication errors and we got pushed back,” Hackett said. “All of us have to learn from it.”

The penalty issue continued on Seattle’s first drive of the second half. Cornerback Pat Surtain II holding on third down. Outside linebacker Bradley Chubb roughing-the-quarterback on the very next play. But needing a splash play, the Broncos finally got it when outside linebacker Randy Gregory forced a D.K. Metcalf fumble that safety Justin Simmons recovered and returned to the Seattle 32.

The Broncos, though, couldn’t capitalize. They moved to the Seattle 1-yard line for a third-down play. Williams was hit behind the line of scrimmage and then fumbled into the end zone. Instead of taking their first lead, the Broncos still trailed.

Seattle failed to make it a two-possession game after the takeaway and the Broncos took over at their 20 with 12:50 left and drove to the 3 before settling for McManus’ second field goal.

“The name of this game is about the turnover battle and also all three parts have to play great at the same time,” Wilson said. “We have to do it throughout the whole game.”

The Broncos’ offense rolled up 257 first-half yards but trailed 17-13 because Smith was almost perfect accuracy-wise. Smith, who won a training camp competition against Drew Lock, completed his first 13 pass attempts and was 17 of 18 for 164 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

Seattle scored on the game’s opening drive, Smith throwing 17 yards to Tyler Lockett to convert a third-and-3, and three plays later, 38 yards to tight end Will Dissly for a touchdown. Dissly was wide open after Smith gave the impression he was going to scramble up the middle.

Wilson spent most of his first half throwing to the Broncos’ tight ends, fullbacks and tailbacks. On the Broncos’ initial drive, it was 25 yards to Andrew Beck, nine to Williams, 27 to Beck and six to Gordon, all to set up McManus’ 30-yard field goal. The Broncos reached the Seahawks’ 18, but a reckless Wilson throw hit safety Jamal Adams (who later left with a knee injury) in the helmet and right tackle Cam Fleming was called for a false start.

The Seahawks took a 10-3 lead halfway through the second quarter on Jason Myers’ 49-yard field goal, but the Broncos quickly tied it. On a third-and-2 play, the Broncos went empty backfield and Seattle used a four-man rush. With time, Wilson slightly underthrew deep left to Jerry Jeudy, but Jeudy collected it at the 42-yard line against cornerback Coby Bryant and then out-ran safety Josh Jones to the end zone for a 67-yard touchdown.

It was Jeudy’s first touchdown since a 92-yard score against Las Vegas in the 2020 season finale.

But the Broncos’ problems on defense continued. Too many penalties. Too many missed tackles. And not enough of a pass rush. Seattle took a 17-10 lead when tight end Colby Parkinson got behind inside linebacker Jonas Griffith (whose eyes were in the backfield) for a 25-yard touchdown catch.

The Broncos closed the lead to 17-13 at halftime on McManus’ 40-yard field goal. The big play was a 30-yard Wilson-to-Sutton completion in which Wilson held the football for 4.81 seconds.

Wilson was 10-of-15 passing for 206 yards and a 131.9 rating in the first half.

The Broncos had seven penalties for 71 yards in the first half. Last year, in an entire game, they had more than seven penalties and more than 71 penalties just once (10 for 101 in the Week 2 win at Jacksonville).

“Guess what: There are 16 more games to go, Wilson said. “I’m looking forward to what we can do.”

Battling old friends

For the 29th time in NFL history, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback faced the team he won his first Lombardi Trophy with when Russell Wilson took on the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night. All told, those QBs are 16-12-1 vs. their old club, and 6-5 in their first meeting. Here’s a look at how each of those initial meetings went:

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