After an offseason of overhauling the defense and adding speed to the offense, the Denver Broncos were ready to put the embarrassment of Super Bowl XLVIII behind them by playing the game they thought they were capable of playing against the Seattle Seahawks 7 1/2 months ago.  

  1 2 3 4 OT Final
Denver Broncos 3 0 0 17 0 20
Seattle Seahawks 3 14 0 3 6 26

The Broncos defense had another impressive performance as they kept the game close until the offense could get it going in the fourth quarter with a 17 point scoring spree that erased a two touchdown deficit and tied the game at 20 before heading into overtime.  

Unfortunately for the Broncos, Peyton Manning called tails during the coin toss. With the coin landing on heads, the Broncos offense was left sidelined as Russell Wilson ran and passed the Seahawks down the field before Marshawn Lynch scored the winning touchdown for the 26-20 victory before a CenturyLink Field crowd of 68,447.

"We wanted to show everybody we were coming to make a statement," said cornerback Chris Harris.  "We lost, but I think we still made a statement."

What the Broncos were able to show is that despite falling behind by two scores to the Super Bowl champs on the road in front of the NFL's loudest fans, they could overcome those challenges and mount a comeback that included covering 80 yards in the final seconds to tie the game.  The Broncos wanted to toughen up, they proved they did just that.

"We obviously fought back a lot better this time than we did the last time," said Manning. "We got down early in the game and just never got anything going. We did get something going here in the second half. And then to go 80 yards with no timeouts under a minute, it's not easy to do against that defense. Those are the things you take from it. If you get in that situation again, 'Hey, we've been here before. We can do it.' "

The game began with the Broncos winning the toss but deferring.  The defense came out strong, holding the Seahawks to a three-and-out on their first drive of the game.  As he would do all game long, Seahawks punter Jon Ryan would pin the Broncos deep in their own end with a 61-yard punt to the Broncos 14-yard line.

The Broncos first drive against the Seahawks didn't start out with a safety as it did in the Super Bowl, but it wasn't much better.  On the first snap, Manning handed the ball off to Montee Ball who ran 9-yards and was tackled by safety Kam Chancellor.  Ball fumbled the football which was recovered by linebacker K.J. Wright at the 23-yard line.

The Broncos goal-line defense continued to stand strong as the Seahawks drove to the 1-yard line.  On 3rd and goal, linebacker Nate Irving and safety Rahim Moore tackled Lynch for a loss, forcing a Steven Hauschka 20-yard field goal to go up 3-0 with 10:36 left in the 1st quarter.

The Broncos would respond with their best drive of the half.  Manning engineered a 15 play, 75 yard drive that would stall at the Seattle 5-yard line.  Brandon McManus kicked a 24-yard field goal to tie the game at three with 3:31 remaining in the 1st quarter.

The game turned into a battle for field position through much of the second quarter.  That would all change with 3:12 left in the half when Wilson connected on a 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ricardo Lockette to give the Seahawks a 10-3 lead.

The Seahawks would strike again after the Broncos had a quick three-and-out.  Wilson threw a short 5-yard pass to Lynch on first-and-goal for their second touchdown of the quarter with :17 remaining in the half.

The Seahawks went into the half with a 17-3 lead as it began to look as if history was about to repeat itself.  Seattle was up 22-0 at halftime in the Super Bowl.

The Broncos needed to come out in the second half showing some offensive life.  Four out of the six first half drives, not counting the kneel down at the end of the half, ended in three downs or less (1 turnover).  Nothing changed as the Broncos had another three-and-out, with the pressure falling squarely on the defense to keep the Broncos in the game.

The Broncos defense did just that, keeping the Seahawks out of the endzone in the third quarter.  Seattle managed just one scoring opportunity in the third quarter but Hauschka missed wide left on a 46-yard field goal attempt.

1:38 into the fourth quarter, the Broncos defense would begin to turn the momentum towards Denver's favor.  After a 42-yard punt by Brandon Colquitt put the Seahawks on their own 8-yard line, DeMarcus Ware sacked Wilson on second-and-10 for a 7-yard loss.  Following a false start penalty, Wilson handed off to Lynch in the endzone.  Ware met Lynch just inside the goal-line, knocking him backwards into the path of Irving and T.J. Ward who tackled him for the safety, making it a 17-5 game with 13:22 left in the 4th quarter.

The Broncos weren't able to do anything following the costless kick by Seattle and punted.  On the first play of the Seahawks next drive from their own 14 yard line, Wilson attempted to complete a 18 yard pass to Percy Harvin that cornerback Aqib Talib tipped into the air and was intercepted by Chris Harris who returned it 13 yards to the Seattle 19 yard line.

With their best field position of the days the Broncos offense responded.   Manning competed a 3-yard shovel pass to tight end Julius Thomas for a touchdown with 9:24 remaining in the game.

After failing to convert on a third-and-9 from their own 42 yard line, Seattle punted, giving the Broncos the ball at their own 19 yard line with 6:15 remain and the opportunity to take the lead for the first time in the game.

Manning attempted to force a pass into coverage to wide receiver Wes Welker that was intercepted by safety Kam Chancellor at the Seattle 13 yard line.  Chancellor returned the interception 52 yards to the Denver 35 yard line with 2:25 remaining.

"Against this team, you can't make mistakes like that, because it puts you in a hole that's hard to overcome," said Manning. 

Aided by a 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Talib, the Seahawks would reach the 10 yard line before Lynch was stopped for no gain by Miller and Ward.  Hauschka would make the 28 yard field goal to increase the Seahawks lead to 20-12 with just 1:04 left.

The Broncos would begin their final drive of regulation from their own 20 yard line and no timeouts remaining.  After Seattle took their second timeout following an incompletion on first down, Manning would complete a 42 yard pass to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.  Sanders would finish the game with 11 catches for 149 yards.

Manning would spike the ball to stop the clock with :31 left.  An incomplete pass to running back Ronnie Hillman left the Broncos with just 28 seconds left and a third-and-10 from the Seattle 38 yard line.  

Manning completed a 12 yard pass to Demaryius Thomas who ran out of bounds at the 26 yard line to stop the clock with :28 to go in the game.  With a new set of downs Manning found tight end Jacob Tamme for a touchdown.  

Down 20-18, the Broncos would go for the two point conversion.  Manning intentionally thew a high pass that Demaryius Thomas caught in the back of the endzone.  He came down with his tiptoes just catching the grass inside the white lines, tying the game with :24 left. 

The Seahawks elected to have Wilson kneel with the ball to send the game into overtime.  Losing the coin toss, all the Broncos offense could do is look from the sideline as Wilson gained first down after first down with his arm and his legs. The Broncos defense looked worn down as they chased after the Seahawks quarterback in overtime.

"He's the best quarterback we've played so far," said Harris. "I don't know why they keep saying Luck (Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck) is better than him. He's not better than Russell Wilson."

With a first-and-goal from the Broncos 6-yard line, Lynch rumbled into the endzone for the game-ending touchdown and a 26-6 victory.

"That really was a championship game today," said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

That a prize fight type of game ended in overtime with one team's offense unable to get on the field is sure to stir up the debate once again regarding the NFL's overtime rules.  For the Broncos, the opportunity for a victory was missed in regulation.

"As a team, we played good enough to win, but there are no moral victories around here," said Ware. "A loss is a loss."

The loss drops the Broncos to 2-1 and into a first place tie in the AFC West with the San Diego Chargers.  The Chargers handed the Buffalo Bills their first loss of the season, 22-10 in Buffalo.

The Seahawks picked up a much needed victory after they were upset by the Chargers last Sunday in San Diego.  The 2-1 Seahawks stay one game back in the NFC West, behind the 3-0 Arizona Cardinals.  The Cardinals defeated the San Francisco 49ers at home on Sunday, 23-14. 

Coming Up:  Both the Broncos and Seahawks have a bye in Week 4.  The Broncos will return from the bye week to face the Cardinals at  Sports Authority Field on Sunday, October 5.  The Seahawks will return for Monday Night Football on the road against the Washington Redskins on October 6. 

Team Stats

  Broncos Seahawks
First Downs 20 26
Total Plays 70 75
Passing Yards 296 255
Rushing Yards 36 129
Total Yards 332 384
Red Zone (Made-Att) 1-2 2-4
Penalties-Yards 4-27 7-34
Turnovers 2 1
Time of Possession 27:42 38:04

Team Leaders

Offense            
Passing CP/AT YDS AVG TD INT Sacks
Peyton Manning 31/49 303 6.2 2 1 1-7
Russell Wilson 24/34 258 7.6 2 1 3-20
Rushing CAR YDS AVG TD LG  
Montee Ball 14 38 2.7 0 10  
Marshawn Lynch 26 88 3.4 1 12  
Receiving REC YDS AVG TD LG  
Emmanuel Sanders 11 149 13.5 0 42  
Doug Baldwin 4 56 14.0 0 16  
Defense            
Tackles Total Solo        
Nate Irving 13 2        
Byron Maxwell 11 9        
Interceptions Total YDS TD      
Chris Harris Jr. 1 13 0      
Kam Chancellor 1 52 0      
Sacks Total          
Von Miller (1), T.J. Ward (1), DeMarcus Ware (1) 3          
O'Brien Schofield 1          

AFC West Standings

  W    L    T PCT Home Road Div AFC STRK
Denver 2     1    0 .667 2-0 0-1 1-0 2-0 Lost 1
San Diego 2     1    0 .667 1-0 1-1 0-0 1-0 Won 1
Kansas City 1     2    0 .333 0-1 1-1 0-1 1-2 Won 1
Oakland 0     3    0 .000 0-1 0-2 0-0 0-3 Lost 3
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