It was a lot more competitive than the Super Bowl, but the end result was the same: The Seahawks beat the Broncos.
In today’s rematch of February’s Super Bowl blowout, the Seahawks once again jumped out to an early lead and were up 17-3 at halftime. But this time around the Broncos were poised and collected, and they worked their way back into the game, forcing overtime with a touchdown and two-point conversion in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, Russell Wilson, who had a big game, engineered a 13-play, 80-yard drive in overtime, culminating with a Marshawn Lynch touchdown run, and the Seahawks won 26-20. Wilson also threw a beautiful 39-yard touchdown pass to Ricardo Lockette early in the game, used his feet to make plays all day, and even caught a pass on a trick play. It was a big game on a big game for Wilson, a young quarterback who has already led a whole lot of big wins.
But the Broncos’ defense played well, and new additions including Demarcus Ware and T.J. Ward — who weren’t with the Broncos in the Super Bowl — have made Denver better. That’s a positive step for the Broncos.
And it’s also positive that Peyton Manning, even when it appeared he was beaten, found a way to hit Jacob Tamme on a beautiful touchdown pass to send the game into overtime. Manning found holes in the Seahawks’ secondary, it just took him until the fourth quarter to find them.
The Broncos can feel good about the fact that they went to the toughest place to play in the NFL and stood toe-to-toe with the Seahawks, rather than wilting as they did in the Super Bowl. But the Broncos aren’t yet in the Seahawks’ class.