Mark Schlereth’s key to victory for Seahawks vs Broncos

The Seattle Seahawks will be looking to rebound this week following a turnover-filled 32-29 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

They will have to do so on a short week.

Seahawks Status Report: Turnovers an issue for defending champs

The Seahawks travel to the Mile High City to take on the Denver Broncos on Thursday night in a matchup between 3-2 squads and former AFC West rivals.

What will the key for the Seahawks be against the Broncos? Longtime NFL analyst and former offensive lineman Mark Schlereth pointed to the turnovers that have plagued Seattle’s offense through the first five weeks as the biggest factor when he joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Monday.

Turnovers are always a key battle for teams to win in any game, but Schlereth feels that because of the way Denver’s offense has been playing, he has a hard time seeing the Broncos winning without help from the Seahawks.

“Bo Nix has been so bad,” Schlereth said of the former Oregon Ducks star. “Like, it is as bad as any quarterback has played this year, is how bad he’s played these last two games. So it’s been just really poor.”

Nix has completed 41 of 69 passes (59.4%) for 337 yards, two TDs and no interceptions over the past two games. He’s averaging just 4.9 yards per pass attempt during that stretch.

On the season, Nix is 26th in the league in completion percentage (59.9%) and 21st in passing yards (942) while having a six-to-three touchdown-to-interception ratio.

He also hasn’t been near as impactful running the ball as in the past, producing just 35 yards on 18 carries. Nix rushed for over 350 yards in each of the past two seasons.

Denver’s running game has also struggled this year, ranking 25th in yards per game (86.2) and 27th in yards per rush (3.6).

“So here’s the thing if you’re Seattle, you got to understand that, man, we don’t have to put the ball in harm’s way ever,” Schlereth said. “All we got to do is hang on (to the ball) because that offense on the other side is so bad they’re gonna give us some opportunities. Now we just have to make sure that we don’t cough it up on the offensive side of the ball.”

Another potentially helpful factor for Seattle’s offense is Denver could be without three key members of its secondary. Cornerbacks Riley Moss (ribs) and Patrick Surtain II (ankle) each missed last week’s game and safety Talanoa Hufanga exited the game early with an ankle injury. Surtain and Hufanga were listed as did not participate and Moss as a limited participant on Monday’s injury report, though those were only estimations since Denver did not practice.

“So, you just have to play this game with the attitude of, we’re gonna be OK winning this game 16-10,” Schlereth said. “That’s the kind of process that you have to go through playing the Broncos on Thursday night.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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