SEATTLE — The Broncos gave themselves chances from the beginning against the Seahawks.
Inside linebacker Alex Singleton intercepted quarterback Geno Smith's first pass attempt and returned the takeaway to the Seattle 20-yard line.
Early in the second quarter, the Broncos punted the ball away and benefitted when the Seattle returner muffed the punt. Denver recovered the ball at the Seattle 9-yard line with an opportunity to push their lead to two possessions.
The Broncos, though, were unable to fully realize the potential advantage. In both red-zone opportunities, the Broncos came away with field goals.
"We weren't able to punch it in when we had the opportunity today," tackle Mike McGlinchey said. "We've got a lot to improve on. [I'm] excited for where we're going to go, but yeah, can't make that many mistakes like we did today."
In Sunday's 26-20 loss to open Denver's season, Head Coach Sean Payton later pointed to those situations as critical moments.
"The muffed punt, the interception — we've got to be better and I've got to be better," Payton said.
For much of the first half, the Broncos held the edge. They picked up the initial field goal to take a 3-0 lead and regained a two-point advantage when Seattle was whistled for a holding call in the end zone on the Seahawks' first possession of the second quarter.
When Denver briefly trailed after a 34-yard Smith rushing touchdown, Zach Allen recorded another safety via a tackle for loss to push the lead back to 10-9. And after another impressive stop to end the second quarter, Denver picked up a 13-9 advantage via a well-executed two-minute drill.
While the Broncos held the edge at halftime, Payton said the missed opportunities were "in the back of everyone's mind" when the team is unable to score touchdowns in the situation. He acknowledged that securing six points off two turnovers wasn't ultimately enough.
"Not enough came of it," Payton said.
The takeaways and safeties — Denver became the first team to earn two in the same game since 2017 — gave the Broncos early momentum. But as Payton said after the game, that edge is bound to shift. That's what happened early in the third quarter, as the Seahawks went up-tempo on offense and responded from a nine-point first half to score 10 points and take a 19-13 lead. Seattle would later push the lead to double digits with a Zach Charbonnet touchdown that opened the fourth quarter.
As the offense endured a stretch of nine possessions with one or fewer first downs, the defense was tasked with keeping Denver within striking distance. And ultimately, Seattle found a way to put the game away.
"It was a game where you felt the momentum shift [from] first half [to] second half," Payton said. "I just finished telling the team that there's not many games where momentum doesn't swing toward each team. It's pretty common, and then getting it back as quickly as possible's important."
Denver would make a late push via a Bo Nix rushing touchdown with just over two minutes to play, but Denver couldn't cap the comeback as Tyler Lockett caught a game-clinching pass on third down with less than two minutes to play.
The chances were there. As Denver moves forward toward Week 2, the team will look to seize them.
"We had chances today, and unfortunately we didn't capitalize on them — and that's why we lost the game," McGlinchey said.
