SEATTLE – and Drew Lock had successful opening drives, but that was about it for the Broncos’ offense in their 22-14 loss to the on Thursday night at CenturyLink Field.
Flacco completed three of his four pass attempts for 19 yards in his only possession, which ended with a 25-yard field goal.
In the second quarter, Lock entered and was 5-of-7 passing for 55 yards and another McManus 25-yard field goal gave the Broncos a 6-0 lead.
But then entered the game for Seattle and his productive play, combined with all kinds of Broncos penalties, allowed the Seahawks to rally and then pull away in their preseason opener.
Lynch, the Broncos’ 2016 first-round pick who was cut after last year’s preseason and was out of football, is competing with to be ’s back-up. Lynch was 11-of-15 passing for 109 yards and also rushed for a 7-yard touchdown.
The Broncos dropped to 1-1. They will host San Francisco on Aug. 19.
The positives: The first-team offense scored and Lock looked more comfortable in his second preseason appearance. For the game, Lock was 17 of 28 for 180 yards, including a four-yard touchdown pass to Devontae Jackson late, and one interception.
“I think he made progress this week, both in practice and the game and it showed at times out there,” coach Vic Fangio said. “But itap still a process for him. I don’t know how long itap going to take. I think this past week and this game were great for him. He needs to learn from everything and not consider (bad) plays failures. They’re learning experiences right now, not failures.”
Said Lock: “It felt extremely different. I just dipped my toe in the water that first game and to be able to come out here, kind of get in a rhythm — it will look different on my behalf watching the film because I feel like I can watch it almost like a full game. We moved the ball a little bit tonight. Upset we didn’t come out with a win, but there is definitely stuff to learn from.”
The negatives: Penalties, penalties and more penalties. The Broncos had 11 flags for 94 yards. They resulted in drives starting in poor field position, ending with a punt and providing Seattle with free yards.
“(When) there (are) penalties during the course of the play, itap either because you have poor technique or you’re not good enough,” Fangio said. “If you’re either one, you have to cheat — you have to grab guys (or) you have to hold them. We have to make these guys aware of the proper technique and hopefully they’re good enough to play honest downs without fouling.”
Flacco and running backs and played only the opening possession, but it presented the ideal scenario in terms of length of drive (12 plays) and situations (third down, short-yardage and red zone).
“We did some simple things very well and it was definitely good to get live action,” Flacco said. “When you get 10, 12 plays, you want to make the most of them and make sure you’re going through your reads and not missing anything. There’s probably a couple things we can work on from that standpoint, but overall, we kept it simple and executed pretty well when we were in there.”
Lindsay’s first carry in a game since last December’s wrist injury was almost doomed from the start. He collided with Flacco as he got the hand-off, but re-grouped to gain 10 yards around the right side. On the next play, he turned Flacco’s screen pass into a nine-yard gain.
Two play later, on third-and-1 from the Broncos 35, Freeman burst through an opening for a 50-yard gain. Last year, Freeman’s longest gain in 130 carries was 24 yards.
Freeman’s catch on a Flacco check-down converted a third-and-1. But the drive stalled at the 5-yard line when Freeman and Lindsay lost a yard on consecutive carries and Flacco threw incomplete to receiver in the end zone.
The Broncos’ first-team defense played two possessions.
On the first drive, they gave up a third-and-11 conversion (Rashaad Penny 27-yard catch and run on a screen when linebacker Alexander Johnson appeared to lose track of him) but cornerback Isaac Yiadom broke up a Geno Smith pass on third-and-9. On the second drive, they forced a three-and-out, including a pass break-up/near interception by defensive end on a screen and a pass break-up by cornerback De’Vante Bausby.
As coach said on Tuesday, quarterback Kevin Hogan’s appearance was brief (two possessions).
Lock’s first drive represented progress from last week’s preseason opener. Leading a 12-play, 60-yard march, Lock converted a third-and-11 with a fine 14-yard pass to tight end and converted a fourth-and-1 with an eight-yard run. On the next play, Lock rolled right and hit a wide open (shallow cross) for a 24-yard gain.
Lynch started the second half for Seattle. His first drive ended with Jason Myers’ 43-yard field goal to tie the score at 6. Following a three-and-out by the Broncos, Seattle took its first lead (13-6) with 3:48 left in the third quarter on Lynch’s seven-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jazz Ferguson.
The Seahawks extended their lead to 15-6 on the ensuing possession when Lock was sacked by blitzing cornerback DeShawn Shead for a safety. Running back Khalfani Muhammad missed his assignment, running a route instead of picking up Shead.
Lynch went right back to work early in the fourth quarter, capping a 69-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run to give the Seahawks a 16-point lead.
Broncos fullback left the game in the first half with a shoulder injury (Fangio said it was a pectoral) and rookie tight end Austin Fort sustained a left knee injury while making a 29-yard catch in the fourth quarter. Fort was carted off the field. Fangio said both players will get MRI exams upon the team’s return to Denver.
