Seahawks drop preseason opener 22-20 to Broncos

Seahawks football returned on Friday night.

In Tyler Lockett’s case, that was a great thing. The rookie returned a first-quarter kickoff 50 yards to set up a field goal and then ran back a second-quarter kick 103 yards for Seattle’s first touchdown before tacking on an 18-yard punt return in the third quarter.

For the rest of the Seahawks, though, returning to CenturyLink Field meant some rust and plenty of room for improvement after a game chock full of pass protection problems on offense and a first half in which the Seahawks’ defense never did force the Broncos to punt.

And while the Seahawks were beaten 22-20 by Denver, the most significant loss may have occurred on Seattle’s depth chart. Backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson left the game with an ankle injury in the third quarter when he was hit after releasing a pass. Jackson has served as Seattle’s No. 2 quarterback the past two years, and losing him would force the Seahawks to search for a suitable backup.

Now’s the time everyone should take a deep breath. It is the preseason after all, a time of year when the true significance is not the final score or any of the stats. So while only a defensive penalty prevented Seattle from getting the ball back with just under 3 minutes to go trailing by two points, the bigger worry was the fact Seattle was outgained 240 yards to 29 in the first half.

It was also more than a little concerning when Von Miller – on Denver’s second play – stymied right tackle Justin Britt with a single hand and then ran right by for a strip sack that gave Denver the ball inside the Seattle 20. You could say it was Britt’s “Welcome to the NFL” moment except Britt is in his second year, and an offensive line that lost two starters in the offseason will be the single biggest concern coming out of the game.

It was a tough night for Seattle’s quarterbacks, a fact that had very little to do with their passing. Starter Russell Wilson was sacked the first time he dropped back to pass and stripped of the ball. Backup Tarvaris Jackson left the game in the third quarter after suffering an ankle injury when a Broncos lineman fell on him after he released a pass and even third-string quarterback Archer took a solid lick from Kenny Anunike in the fourth quarter, forcing a fumble that rolled out of bounds.

Seattle allowed three sacks in the first quarter alone, scored three points in the period and completed only one pass. Now, that was an impressive connection, Russell Wilson finding his new target Jimmy Graham on Seattle’s second drive. But that was Wilson’s only completion on the two possessions he played as an earlier pass to Chris Matthews was erased when Seattle chose to accept a penalty against the defense.

Seattle finished the first quarter with negative passing yardage, losing 17 yards on the three sacks. The first was the most damaging, which was Miller’s strip sack of Wilson on Seattle’s second play from scrimmage.

Lemuel Jeanpierre started at center and was penalized for a snap infraction when Seattle had the ball inside the Denver 20. Jesse Davis – a rookie right tackle who played with the second string – struggled with the outside rush, too.

Seattle’s defense, on the other hand, didn’t force a punt in the first half. They held the Broncos to a field goal on their first possession, which was an accomplishment when you consider the Broncos had the ball at the Seattle 12.

The Seahawks allowed field goals on each of the next three possessions. That wasn’t so good as it was Brock Osweiler piloting the Broncos, not starter Peyton Manning, who did not play. Osweiler’s 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Virgil Green with 48 seconds left in the first half allowed Denver to take a 19-10 lead.

Osweiler completed 15 of 20 passes in the first half, which would be a really big concern if Seattle was actually going to have to play the entire season with Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor.

All three sat out Friday’s exhibition opene, Sherman out because of a sore hip, Thomas coming back from shoulder surgery and Chancellor remaining a holdout.

The Seahawks defense held Denver to 18 yards of total offense in the third quarter and the Broncos didn’t score their first points of the second half until kicking their fifth field goal of the game with just over 5 minutes left to make the score 22-13.

The Seahawks scored their first offensive touchdown on the next possession, Thomas Rawls’ 19-yard touchdown catch from Archer allowing Seattle to cut the Denver lead to 22-20 with 2:56 remaining.

Seattle appeared to have forced a Broncos’ punt on the next possession only to have cornerback Doug McNeil – who was converted from wide receiver during this training camp – was called for illegal hands to the face. The 5-yard penalty resulted in an automatic first down. Denver was able to run the clock to 30 seconds before punting to Seattle.

Injuries

• WR Chris Matthews suffered a shoulder injury in the third quarter and was taken to the locker room.

• CB Mohammed Seisay suffered a groin injury that knocked him out of the game.

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