The Broncos will be playing their first meaningful game with the new uniforms and with our exciting young QB! The Broncos have had a rough 8 years since Manning retried and it feels like this Franchise has hit the reboot button. Let's hope the new era begins on a positive note. It won't be easy though as they are on the road in Seattle to face that hostile crowd. The last time we opened up the season in Seattle things didn't exactly go as planned and if I get more into how bad Russell Wilson's return to Seattle went I may go into depression and never write these blogs again. Anyway back to week 1:
This is going to be a tough game. Seattle has been a solid team the last 2 years with Geno at the helm and with their new HC Mike McDonald, who was the previous Defensive Coordinator for Baltimore, Seattle's defense is not going to be a pushover. So what should we expect from Nix? I think it is important that we fans keep expectations realistic and not get too high on his preseason performance. Yes, he was fantastic but we can't expect him to complete 70-80% of his passes and have no turnovers week to week. He is going to struggle and it i unfortunate that his first game i on the road facing the 12th man but it'' give him good experience and hopefully it make him a lot better down the stretch in the season.
I expect the game plan to be very run-heavy as the trio of William, Estime, and Mclaughlin are featured early and often throughout. The offense must stay on schedule and take the load off Nix's shoulders. Denver must limit 3rd and long situations and keep 3rd downs 7 yards and less. The passing game should be an extension of the run game. What I mean by that is getting the ball out of his hands quickly with the short passing game. Going down 10-0 or 14-0 is a recipe for disaster and I don't know if Nix is ready to put the team on his back and yet dig them out of holes. If he shows that he can, great! If not, no need to panic but Denver must make sure they don't put him in those situations often especially early on. Let him get his feet wet in the NFL and let him gradually figure it out on his own and find his groove.
It is going to be exciting to see how Nix does! I think he will show signs of a franchise QB in this game but I also think he will make some rookie mistakes and I think he will have 1 or 2 turnovers and that will be the difference in the game as I predict the Seahawks to win a close one at home to start the season. I hope I am wrong though!
Prediction: Seattle Wins 20-17
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