For the second time in three seasons, the Seattle Seahawks handed over the Denver Broncos their first loss to start the regular season, and emerged victorious on Sunday, 26-20. The first loss of the Bo Nix era continues a streak of Seahawks dominance, as the Broncos have not won in Seattle since 2002.

Denver’s defense dominated the first half of the action, confusing quarterback Geno Smith and the Seahawks offense with dynamic pass rushes and defensive line penetration that gave the Broncos four points with two safeties. But what looked like a long day for the raucous crowd of Seahawks fans quickly changed as the Broncos ran a bloodless offense that managed just one touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

I expected the Broncos to beat the Seahawks (27-24) in a thrilling game against a hostile visiting fan base. But the most frustrating aspect of this loss isn’t the fact that I was wrong in my prediction or that the Broncos started the year with another loss.

Instead, Broncos Country is left to mourn what should have been an easy win for Sean Payton’s team.

That said, let’s rip off the Band-Aid and take three sad but true lessons from the Broncos’ first loss.

The first chapter in the Nix-Payton novel begins with an embarrassing away loss. Denver’s dynamic duo was quickly humbled by the stifling defense of Seahawks first-year head coach Mike Macdonald, who put the Broncos on edge and illustrated the difference between preseason and regular-season NFL action.

As the captain of a rookie team, Nix looked out of place for most of the game, as he finished 26 of 42 for 138 yards and two interceptions, with 35 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. He faced a barrage of pressure, gave up two sacks, gave up multiple hits, and looked frustrated and frustrated.

Despite good field position, the Broncos’ offense consistently struggled, being outscored in virtually every statistical category, including total net yards, first downs, third-down efficiency and penalties.

Payton didn’t do his rookie QB1 any favors in this game. The veteran play-caller let his ineffective rushing attack down early with his three-man stable of Javonte Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime. Denver finished the game with 99 yards rushing on 25 attempts, but those numbers were padded by Nix’s five rushes and a drive that culminated in his four-yard scoring scramble in the fourth quarter.

The most alarming aspect of Denver’s underwhelming offense was how eerily similar it was to the 2023 season, when Payton panicked and strictly threw the ball. By waving the white flag on the most crucial tenet of Payton’s offense—running the ball—opposing defenders will continue to pound the Broncos’ rookie QB, putting Nix in the troubling position of playing hero ball.

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Linebacker Alex Singleton intercepted Geno Smith on Seattle’s opening drive. Normally, it’s a sign of good things to come when a defending team opens a game with a series of QB pressures that force an interception. That should be doubly true when the Broncos’ defense outplays its own offense with a pair of first-half safeties against a Seahawks offense that has faltered under Smith.

Instead, Vance Joseph’s defense left fans with more questions than answers. The box score will show two sacks Smith recorded, both by outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper, who played extremely well off the edge. The Broncos’ inside D-line — John Franklin-Myers, Zach Allen and Malcolm Roach — lived in Seattle’s backfield for the first two quarters and put together a productive stat line.

But just as quickly as Denver’s pass rushers punished Seattle in the first half, they crumbled in the break, succumbing to one of Joseph’s biggest flaws: a porous and pathetic run defense. Joseph’s defense allowed Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III to average 5.2 yards per carry at will, while their rushing attack pummeled Denver’s defense, throwing 33 attempts for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

Additionally, Smith found a rhythm by dissecting Denver’s secondary with 171 passing yards, including a touchdown to running back Zach Charbonnet, allowing Seattle to dismantle and take over the game after Denver held a 13-9 lead at halftime.

Team apologists may argue that Joseph’s defense held up, limiting the Seahawks’ formidable wideouts DK Metcalf and Tyler Locket to nine combined catches for 106 yards. But stats don’t count in a win-loss game where “VJ” has proven once again that he struggles to make in-game adjustments after finding early success.

When asked after halftime about the Broncos’ first-half offense, Payton explained from the sideline that Nix couldn’t do it all by himself and that he needed some help. That help would never come, as the rookie QB was forced to single-handedly lead a seven-play, 54-yard drive that resulted in his first NFL touchdown on the ground.

Seventh-round rookie wideout Devaughn Vele would finish as Nix’s leading receiver in receptions, with eight catches for 39 yards(!), while Josh Reynolds led the team in 45 yards and a long of 25 yards. Nix’s teammate Courtland Sutton was limited to just four catches for 38 yards, while the Broncos’ tight ends were largely ineffective through the air, with Greg Dulcich recording just two catches for a paltry 12 yards.

Whenever Denver’s receivers caught a pass from Nix, they were immediately overpowered by the Seahawks’ defenders, resulting in negative yards or barely any yards after contact, although the rookie quarterback did miss a number of key throws in the game.

Instead of capitalizing on Williams and Estime’s prolific rushing early in the first few possessions, the diminutive McLaughlin was asked to be the bell cow and was continually bullied at the line of scrimmage. Payton’s offensive mismanagement of his playmaking resources spelled disaster for Nix for most of the game.

This article doesn’t even mention that Denver’s offense will likely have to skate uphill after the injury to starting left tackle Garett Bolles, who left the game with a lower leg injury, likely his ankle.

If the Broncos’ offense wants to improve and score more points this season, Payton will have to pull his playmakers out of the milk cartons and get to work quickly.

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