Broncos vs. Seahawks: 3 position battles that could determine the outcome

The Denver Broncos travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks on Monday Night Football to open up the 2022 regular season. The much-anticipated game features the return to Seattle for Russell Wilson as he plays his very first game with the Broncos at his old stomping ground.

With week one coming to a close, all eyes will be on Denver in primetime. There has been a lot of promise with this team and fans will finally get to see what Nathaniel Hackett has this team looking like.

There is a lot to look forward to in this season opener for the Broncos but let’s take a deeper dive into the game within itself. Here are three key position battles for the Broncos to watch on Monday Night Football.

Broncos Receiving Core vs. Seahawks Secondary

A key position battle that the Broncos must dominate to defeat the Seahawks is the receiving core, led by Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy, against the weak secondary of Seattle.

At the second-highest rate last year, the Seahawks’ secondary unit played zone coverage for the majority of the season. One of the weakest position groups for Seattle is their cornerbacks as they have a very inexperienced group leading that unit. As of now, the expected starters are Mike Jackson, Tariq Woolen, and Sidney Jones. Seattle also drafted Coby Bryant, who is expected to help out the secondary too.

The secondary unit is filled with rookies and players that have experienced very little in their NFL careers. The safety duo between Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs will need to carry the backside of the defense due to the lack of experience at cornerback.

For the Broncos, Sutton and Jeudy need to take advantage of this. For a while, fans have been waiting for the breakout season from Jeudy, and with Wilson at QB this year, this should be Jeudy’s season. The big frame of Sutton should be utilized heavily in this matchup too.

The x-factor in this matchup is KJ Hamler (if healthy enough to play). The speed of Hamler should stretch this zone defense and allow Sutton and Jeudy to pick up chunks of yards in the middle of the field.

This position battle is heavily favored towards the Broncos, and they must take advantage of this on Monday night.