3 observations from Denver Broncos vs Seattle Seahawks
The Denver Broncos once again had a strong offensive showing in the preseason, winning 30-3 against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday.
Perhaps the most important thing to happen over the course of the game was the fact that it became clear who should be the starting quarterback for the Broncos. If everything was pointing to the battle being very tight, Saturday's game made it clear that the competition has a winner.
On that note, here are three key observations after the Broncos-Seahawks game:
#1 It's Teddy's team
If the quarterback battle was tight, Bridgewater's performance on Saturday all but helped him lock his spot as the Broncos' starter for week 1.
With so much talent along the offense, Bridgewater doesn't really need to elevate the group so much but execute it well, and that's exactly what he's doing to show Vic Fangio that he should be the starter.
Bridgewater completed nine passes out of 11 attempts, threw a touchdown and seemed much more comfortable than Lock, his opponent for the starting job. He's also more experienced, and has at least proven himself capable of taking a team to the playoffs. When week 1 arrives, Bridgewater will be QB1.
#2 Seahawks' revamped pass rush makes this team a threat
Seattle did a good job fixing one of the team's main weaknesses this past offseason, as the pass rush now can actually pressure opposing quarterbacks and not rely on Jamal Adams to do so.
Two sacks isn't a huge number by any means, but the pressure was there all night long, and both Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock had problems dealing with the Seahawks' defense. Yes, Denver's offensive line is not an amazing group, but they still would have won this matchup fairly easily last year. But not in 2021.
#3 Seahawks got what they paid for in the secondary
Shaquil Griffin is not a superstar, but he's still a solid corner to play in the league, and he was the best cornerback in the Seahawks' roster over the last couple of years.
Seattle chose to let him hit the market and try to fix the position with band-aids, and the result was exactly what one would expect when Ahkello Witherspoon is your CB1.
He suffered in coverage against Jerry Jeudy, and after four uninspiring years with the San Francisco 49ers, there's not much to be excited about with the prospect of him being the main cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks.