The Denver Broncos just scraped by our Seahawks on October 15, pulling out a 17-14 overtime victory at Empower Field at Mile High, and honestly, the whole thing just plain stings. Losing in OT is always tough, but when the winning coach himself is talking about how much *his* team needs to improve, it really hits different for us on the losing side.
The Winners Aren’t Even Happy
Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton admitted his team has “a lot of things that we can improve on, we have to.” He even said “it’s hard to figure out” what teams will be like year to year, especially after a “six-game gauntlet” to start their season. What’s frustrating is that even with their victory over us, Payton was still focused on needing to become “more effective, more efficient offensively.” He gave credit where it was due, though, stating his defense “really was lights out.” But here’s the kicker, the part that makes this loss feel even more like a missed opportunity: Payton acknowledged that “they” (meaning our Hawks!) “won that battle tonight, they did relative to field position.” So we were out there fighting for inches, winning the field position game, and still ended up with the L. Payton’s crew sits at 4-2, a helluva feat for them, but it feels like a punch to the gut when they’re still talking about needing to get better after beating us.
Execution Is Everything
Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins echoed his coach, talking about the need to “execute” and needing to “go to the drawing board” because they’ve “played some really good defenses” so far. Quarterback Bo Nix backed that up too, saying they’ll “find ways to get better and better” throughout the season, calling their 4-2 start after a “tough” schedule a “complete team effort to get four of those wins.” He even had the gall to say they “could be 5-1” if they hadn’t “came up short just barely in San Fran.” This is the bitter pill, right? Even a 4-2 team that just handed us an overtime defeat is focused on needing to improve their offense and execution.
This 17-14 overtime gut punch in Denver highlighted one harsh truth: even when our Hawks are fighting for field position and making it a true battle, those critical moments of execution are where games are lost. We can’t let these close ones slip away, especially when the other side isn’t even playing their best football. It’s time to dig deep, figure out where those improvements need to happen, and make sure we’re the ones finding ways to close out games moving forward.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Mile High Report.
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