Live Blog: Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks	Sunday, September 21, 2014 - 2:25 pm MT			Denver Broncos
	AVG. YDS (RNK)	TEAM CATEGORY	AVG. YDS (RNK)
	25th	Pass Off.	11th
	4th	Rush Off.	24th
	17th	Pass Def.	31st
	9th	Rush Def.	10th
1-1	CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington			2-0
T-2nd	Spread: +5			First Place
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The Denver Broncos have a chance to redeem their Super Bowl catastrophe a little today with a good solid game against the Seattle Seahawks. Even a loss could be a positive, provided Peyton Manning and the offense can erase some of the embarrassing performance seven months ago.

With Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, the Broncos now have speed and fury which should even out the mismatch the Broncos faced in the Super Bowl with Eric Decker being a non-factor. Julius Thomas will hopefully break free of coverage as well to help keep the Legion of Boom as exposed as they were last week down in San Diego when Richard Sherman was getting juked out of his jockstrap every other play.

Still, I'm going to take heat here, because I am just completely unhappy with the Broncos defensive effort thus far. They are second-worst in third down defense, behind only the Seahawks. They needed more goal line stands in two games than most teams get in an entire season to help win both of those first two home games this season. I just can't see an outcome where the Broncos win right now, but I think they compete and keep the game somewhere in hand late.

Prediction: Seahawks 31, Broncos 21.

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SB Nation blogs: Field Gulls and Mile High Report

Late Game Predictions

It's no wonder CBS wanted the Broncos/Seahawks, because the rest of the late games are a bunch of snooze fests. Who wants to watch Miami and Kansas City suck it up for three hours anyway?

San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals

With Colin Kaepernick regressing and the 49ers defense getting a little exposed as well, I had initially picked the Cardinals to take this game at home. That was before Carson Palmer was ruled out for the second consecutive week and I'm not sure I can roll with an inexperienced quarterback against a veteran defense - even a struggling one. It won't be easy, but somehow the 49ers come out with the win today. Prediction: 49ers 20, Cardinals 16.

Kansas City Chiefs at Miami Dolphins

Alex Smith and the Chiefs were third down converting machines and even put together a 19 play drive against the Broncos last week. The problem is, those 19 plays resulted in a big fat zero points and the third down conversions were often helped along by stupid penalties from the opposition. Meanwhile, the Dolphins have issues of their own. I'm just glad I won't have to watch a single minute of this game, but let's go with the home team for the win. Prediction: Dolphins 30, Chiefs 20.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Carolina Panthers (SNF)

This Panthers defense is definitely for real as I alluded to in this weeks power rankings. If they hadn't taken their foot off the gas in Week 1 and allowed the Buccaneers a few late scores, this defense have far more impressive rankings overall, but I'm sold either way. The Steelers on the other hand are certainly pretenders and that offensive line is going to be a thorn in Ben Roethlisberger's side tonight. Prediction: Panthers 24, Steelers 9.