How Seattle Seahawks can start Mike Macdonald era strong vs. Denver Broncos in Week 1

welcome back to the first crossover Thursday edition of the 2024 season I'm Corbin Smith of lockon Seahawks glad to be joined by SAR bentinger of locked on Broncos a special thanks to all the twelves and Broncos fans out there for making locked on Seahawks and locked on Broncos your first listen five days a week we greatly appreciate it crossover Thursday is presented by Price pick the easiest most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports go to priz pick.com Lockton NFL and use the code all lowercase locked in NFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5 you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus prize picks run your game Seahawks and Broncos week one former AFC West Rivals battling at Lumen field both looking to get off to fast starts and obviously as you mentioned earlier Sarah a lot of newness for both teams different degrees of newness obviously the quarterback situation in Denver the new coaching staff in Seattle first time Pete Carrol isn't undecidable line since way back in 2009 so there's plenty of big changes for both these teams going into a game that creates a lot of uncertainty in week one more so than there already is week one is always kind of a wild card when it comes what you're going to see of the pre how limited the starters typic typically are for teams in the league now let's get to the most important things for both teams to accomplish to win this football game and we'll start with the visiting Denver Broncos and S you mentioned all the newness particularly with bonick first NFL regular season start he gets to go to one of the loudest venues in the NFL not an easy test but when you look at this game from a Broncos perspective what are the three most important things that are jumping out to you that Denver has to accomplish to get out of lumen field with a season opening win well I think number one you want to see Bon knck get into Rhythm and keeping him in Rhythm especially when they're you know mixing the run in the pass game number two you want to see the Broncos defensive front putting pressure on Gino Smith early and often and number three seeing this young secondary stepping up which against this Seattle Seahawks wide receiver group that could end up being one of the most key matchups of the game because we know Pat certan he can hold down his side of the field but on the other side the Broncos do have some question marks uh it could be Riley Moss a second-year player out of Iowa out there at the cornerback position it could be the veteran Levi Wallace getting some more playing time this week as the Broncos kind of try to acclimate Riley Moss into the mix because he hasn't played outside corner at this point yet in the NFL aside from a couple preseason games so that to me is one of those situations to where we know the Seahawks have guys who can make plays at wide receiver and and they can spread the ball around do the Broncos have the guys that can keep up with them in coverage especially because of their youth back there not only at corner but at the safety position where PJ lock taking on a full-time starting role this coming season after kind of having a breakout year last year for the Broncos and Brandon Jones coming in in free agency from the Dolphins a lot of Broncos fans concerned about Brandon because he was injured in OTAs he was hurt throughout training camp in the preseason we have not yet seen Brandon Jones play a game as a member of the Denver Broncos so this week one assuming he plays this will be the first time we all see number 22 out there and and so it it's going to be a very interesting sort of uh experience for everybody in real time to kind of figure out what is Vance Joseph's New Look secondary going to be able to do against maybe what could be their biggest test of the season in terms of Seattle's Personnel the Broncos want B Knicks to get comfortable they want him to get in a rhythm the Seahawks want to do the exact opposite in this game they want the crowd noise to get to the rookie they want the pass rush to get after him but to me most importantly put everything on bone knicks' shoulders don't let the Broncos get their run game going with gavon Williams and Company because that is the best way to come into Lumen and Seattle's run defense has been God awful the last two years they've been 30th and 31st in the NFL the last two seasons Mike McDonald's hoping to immediately come in and remedy that issue and so far the returns have been promising but you've got to limit the Run game and put everything on bonck his play to me that's the first key for the Seahawks in this game Force Bon knck to beat you in his NFL regular season debut if he ends up doing it then more power to him but Force the Young quarterback to have to shoulder the load and beat you and then on the offensive side of the football it's going to seem very Elementary but you got to keep Gino Smith upright in this game you mentioned the talent that the Broncos have on their defensive line that is probably my biggest concern on either side of the football coming in this game because Seattle doesn't have Abraham Lucas back yet from his knee injury we don't know if Conor Williams is going to be available to play in this game coming off the Toren ACL signs are trending towards him being available but there are a lot of question marks still on that offensive line it isn't going to matter if Jackson Smith and jiga is ready for a breakout year or Tyler Lockett still can get it done or DK meaf is poised to go for a team record of receiving yards none of that matters if Gino Smith does not have time to throw the football and so that is going to be a big question here because if has time if the Seahawks offensive line is able to protect him he's able to stay upright as you mentioned I do think if there's an area the Seahawks have a big Advantage even against Pat certan DK metf had success against him a couple years ago that is one of the few receivers that creates a little bit of a matchup issue for Pat San and the rest of the secondary's got a lot of question marks Seattle does not have question marks a receiver they are loaded there even their number four and five receivers Jake Bobo and Lisa Chanel are really good football players they've got a a lot of weapons but Gino Smith's got to have time to throw if they give him that time with the home crowd behind him I think Seattle has a chance to put a lot of points in the board but that is a big question mark are they going to be able to do that and then at home you got to win the turnover battle especially when you're playing a rookie quarterback making his NFL regular season debut it's Elementary but you got to win the turnover battle this is a defense that Mike McDonald and Baltimore orchestrated that created a lot of Havoc with their pre and post Snap uh changes with the comp complexity of the defense the blitzes and the Sim packages all different levels of the defense they're looking to create turnovers and that was something that Baltimore Ravens were as good as anybody at the last couple years so the Seahawks going to be able to pick that up with some of the talented players they have up front and in the secondary this will be a little bit of a litus test going against a rookie quarterback and an offense that's got some question marks with some of the pieces they're trying to implement so can you win the turnover battle I think if they win the turnover battle in this game their chances of winning go up EX exponentially because I do feel like the Seahawks have a little bit more continuity and a little more proven experience at a number of positions but again it boils down to o line protection and are you going to be able to get some of those turnovers to get some quick changes get the ball back into Gino Smith's hands and try to B get some points on the scoreboard quickly looking at this game from a FanDuel perspective with our betting lines the Seahawks coming in at five and a half Point favorites at home over thund a little on the lower side at 41 and a half I'm not really that surprised by that s because we are going to a game with a rookie quarterback making his first start in Denver so there's some question marks there and even was Seattle with all the talent that they've got you've got a new offensive coordinator and so nobody really knows what to expect in the regular season so I'm not surprised it's on a little lower end in terms of over under but from a prediction standpoint we'll dive into scores on our Friday shows respectively unlocked Seahawks and locked on Broncos but five and a half points underdogs do you see the Broncos covering that or do you see this being a game where that five and a half ends up being difficult for them to cover I do think they can cover that I think this this Broncos team is going to be better than a lot of people expect we're used to hearing the number five and a half from FanDuel this off season as that's the Broncos win total projection as well so I I've been smashing the over on five and a half all offseason long and I'm just glad the over under said at 50 and a half because you know 43 and eight those two numbers combined together that uh that still inflicts a little bit of Terror in the hearts of Broncos Country there but I do think the Broncos can cover five and a half points I think they're going to be a better team overall than is expected this year uh that doesn't mean they're not going to get their their butts kicked every now and again but I think they're going to be able to hang in this game and uh and we'll see what happens in terms of win loss but I think they are going to be playing everybody tight this season there is not a game on the schedule that's more unpredictable than week one and that's just for all 32 teams you just don't know what to expect and I look at this game look I have I have really high expectations for what this Broncos team could become down the line and I think in week one you never know what you're going to get so five and a half that might be a little bit Rich for me right now for the Seahawks even playing at home because there is a lot of newness for both these teams so I don't have them covering that now does that mean I have a winning or losing you'll have to listen to tomorrow's episode to find out but I expect that this is going to be a tight game I think the Denver Broncos have more Talent than people are giving them credit for in fact I could see Denver if things fall right being the second best team in the AFC West because I think the Chargers have questions the Raiders certainly have questions so I could see this being a team if everything falls right for Shawn pton that ends up being much better than advertised not saying it's a playoff team but certainly could be a team that rises up the division standings and and starts to pave a brighter future moving forward after the last couple years just didn't play out as as planned but I do think this is going to be a very close game and I expect it's going to be back and forth week one is crazy as it is