It’s 20-17 Broncos. There have been five turnovers combined. Wild, wacky game with a dramatic finish in store. Doug Baldwin is OUT for the rest of the game with a knee injury. Deliver the W, Russell. SEA!<doc-sep>It was a gridiron battle full of ups and downs and a roller coaster ride of a season opener, but when the clock struck zero the Denver Broncos were victorious over the Seattle Seahawks by the score of 27-24. There was a lot to cover and discuss from today’s victory over Seattle, but here are the five big things we all learned. This feels good to say … We #BeatTheSeahawks! pic.twitter.com/usl1GWckj5 — Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 9, 2018 1. This Broncos’ offense can respond to adversity — and it’ll be fun to watch in 2018 When the defense gave up a big play and score last season, there was little confidence that the offense would be able to come back and respond with a big statement. The Broncos’ offense responded masterfully to the touchdown and field goal given up early on and reeled off two impressive touchdown drives of their own courtesy of Case Keenum throws to Phillip Lindsay and Emmanuel Sanders. The unit scored 17 points and amassed 297 yards of total offense in the first half. According to Andrew Mason, today’s game was the first time the Broncos had scored two touchdowns in a half since Week 2 of last year. At game’s end, the offense finished with 27 points and 470 total yards — 146 rushing and 324 passing. With that in mind, it’s time to give credit where it’s due. Bill Musgrave called a masterful game — utilizing short and quick passes underneath to expose Seattle’s Cover 3 defense. Broncos Country should be happy with Musgrave as their offensive coordinator, who showed a lot of uniqueness and creativity that should pay big dividends for the offense throughout the course of the season. But it wasn’t all fun and games for the Broncos offense, who had a handful of self-inflicted obstacles on their way to victory. The major issue for the offense was the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Keenum, who threw three interceptions. Two of them were terrible decisions and direct air-mailed deliveries to Earl Thomas and Bradley McDougald. If Denver wants to be consistent on offense and routinely win games, he will have to do a much better job limiting those turnovers. 2. This may be the Year of Emmanuel Sanders Demaryius Thomas is the franchise’s elder statesman and widely-regarded as the best receiver on the roster, but he might not be the franchise’s top-performer at year’s end. If game one is any indication of who may have the bigger year — my money would be on Sanders, who had a tremendous impact and was the spark the team needed offensively. The nine-year veteran out of Southern Methodist was heavily-involved in today’s game plan. Most importantly, he came up in the clutch and produced every time the ball came his way. In the first half alone, Sanders had 7 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown and finished today’s affair with 10 catches for 135 yards. If Sanders’ performance today becomes a regular trend throughout the season, it has the chance to be a career year for him. 3. Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay impress in regular season debuts Be happy Broncos Country! The Broncos finally have a true tandem at running back that should pay big dividends this season and beyond. Rookie running backs Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay were beyond impressive in their regular season debuts and two major reasons why the team won today. Freeman got the start and was a powerhouse on inside runs and rarely went down on initial contact. He saved some of his best efforts for last and finished the game off with a series of incredible runs that ran down the clock to secure the victory. Lindsay was the lightning to Freeman’s thunder and proved to be a quality receiver out of the backfield and a sneaky-smooth runner when called upon. Each of them had 15 carries for 71 yards, combing for 142 total rushing yards on the ground. Lindsay also had two receptions for 31 yards, including a dazzling 29 yard touchdown score to start the game. Without question, the future looks bright for Denver’s backfield. 4. The Broncos’ defense still can’t cover tight ends The more things change, the more they stay the same. Today was the beginning of a new season, but ghosts from the past came back to haunt the Broncos — in particular their inability to cover tight ends. It’s not like the team was facing Rob Gronkowski, but they may have given birth to the idea that rookie Will Dissly could be that type of player. A relative unknown, Dissly was a fourth-round pick out of the University of Washington who was lauded for his blocking prowess, not his receiving ability. In his career with the Huskies, he only had 25 catches. But that didn’t stop him from making an impact in his professional debut against the Broncos. He finished the game with 3 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. When pinpointing who to blame in coverage, my observations were Darian Stewart and Bradley Chubb getting caught off guard on two big plays given up. I’m not a football genius by any means, but here is a tip for Joe Woods — stop dropping Bradley Chubb into coverage. 5. Von Miller will challenge for Defensive Player of the Year So much for having to shake the rust off in his first regular game after limited participation in the preseason, because Von Miller was in All-Pro form against the Seahawks on Sunday. The ferocious veteran racked up 3 sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Not to mention he was a beast against the run and pass all game long. Broncos LB @VonMiller today has posted his 3rd career game with 2+sacks and 2+forced fumbles. It's his first such game since Super Bowl 50. The only player with more 2+sack, 2+forced fumble games than Miller since he entered the NFL in 2011 is Cameron Wake (4). — Patrick Smyth (@psmyth12) September 9, 2018<doc-sep>Von Miller took over the game in the Broncos’ 27-24 win over the Seahawks in Week 1 of the 2018 NFL season. Miller recorded three sacks, forced two fumbles and recovered a fumble in the win, completely dominating Seattle’s offensive line. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was sacked six times on the day. Miller and Denver’s defense helped make up for quarterback Case Keenum’s three interceptions. The 30-year-old QB also threw three touchdown passes but it was a so-so day at best for the team’s new signal caller. Keenum did do a good job getting the team’s top two receivers involved. Emmanuel Sanders hauled in 10 catches for 135 yards and a score and Demaryius Thomas caught six passes for 63 yards and a score of his own. Rookie running back Phillip Lindsay was the Broncos’ offensive star, leading the team’s backfield with 102 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. Up next for Denver is a home game against the Raiders in Week 2.<doc-sep>Note: Mobile streaming for Seahawks games this season will be unavailable through 710 ESPN Seattle, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and MyNorthwest due to NFL rules. You can hear the games on Seahawks.com or the Seahawks mobile app if you are within 75 miles of CenturyLink Field. If you live outside of that radius, the NFL offers subscription services to access radio streams of games. With both the Seattle Seahawks opening the regular season and the Seattle Mariners wrapping up their three-game series against the Yankees on Sunday afternoon, here’s where to find the radio broadcasts of each game: Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos Stations: 710 ESPN Seattle, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM Pregame show: 10 a.m. Kickoff: 1:25 p.m. Online streaming: At Seahawks.com or on the Seahawks mobile app (available only within 75 miles of CenturyLink Field) Mariners vs. New York Yankees Stations: AM 770 KTTH, AM 570 KVI Mariners Magazine: 11 a.m. Pregame show: Noon First pitch: 1:10 p.m. Online streaming: Available at this link (available only in the Seattle-Tacoma area) In a change this season due to NFL rules, 710 ESPN Seattle and KIRO Radio 97.3 FM will not be permitted to stream live Seahawks game coverage online. If you are within 75 miles of CenturyLink Field, you can stream Seahawks games on Seahawks.com or on the Seahawks mobile app. If you live outside of that radius, the NFL offers subscription services to access radio streams of games.<doc-sep>
The Seattle Seahawks travel to Mile High City to take on the Denver Broncos on Sunday and the injury report showed advantage Denver. While the Seahawks returned All-Pro safety Earl Thomas to the fold on Wednesday; their injury report revealed a few nagging preseason injuries have carried over to the regular season and could throw their offensive line continuity into disarray early. The Seahawks certainly aren't the walking wounded and will take their injury luck over what they had to endure last season but they do have a few concerning names on their first injury report. Meanwhile, the Broncos had everyone available for practice all week and come into the week fairly clean. They only had two players limited at all on Wedneday and had everyone available in full on Thursday “We’re pretty clean, so we’re lucky. Week 1, that’s your hope -- to be pretty clean," Broncos head coach Vance Joseph said on Wednesday. Now, they'll have everyone available for Sunday according to Joseph on Friday. As of this injury report, the Broncos have a little bit of an advantage to add to their homefield and altitude advantage on Sunday. The Seahawks have their work cut out for them to beat a solid Broncos defense and new quarterback Case Keenum in Denver. Injuries certainly aren't helping their case but they can at least take solace in the fact they remain relatively healthy and have the better quarterback in the matchup. Right now, both teams are clean enough injury-wise to expect a solid game with both team's at full strength. Here's who the teams left inactive either due to injury or because of coaching decision not to play them.