The Denver Broncos will kick off the 2024 NFL season against the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday.
It's an exciting time to be a Broncos fan. Bo Nix is the new quarterback and coming off a positive preseason, it seems that the team is back on the right track. But any coach in the league will tell you that they take things one game at a time.
So for Sean Payton and his staff, the focus is on the Seahawks and only the Seahawks.
Seattle is a team with a storied history with the Broncos. Once AFC West rivals, the two famously squared off in one of the most lopsided Super Bowls ever — a 43-8 beatdown handed down by the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII. But how many times have they played each other to start a season?
The answer to that question would be four. Here's a look back at those games.
Denver Broncos have faced the Seattle Seahawks 4 times to start a season
September 13, 1987: Broncos 40, Seahawks 17
The 1987 season will always be remembered for the strike that canceled the third week of the season and saw replacement players used from Weeks 4-6. The Broncos and Seahawks locked horns in the season opener before replacement players were needed.
This was a great way to start a season for the Broncos as John Elway put together perhaps the best Week 1 performance in team history, throwing for 338 yards and four touchdowns. The Broncos also intercepted three passes from Seattle quarterback Dave Krieg in the blowout victory.
September 4, 1988: Seahawks 21, Broncos 14
One year later, these teams started another season off in Week 1 and this time, the Seahawks were the ones to start 1-0.
In this game, Elway completed less than half his passes and threw two interceptions while Seahawks running back Curt Warner scored two touchdowns.
September 9, 2018: Broncos 27, Seahawks 24
As bad as Vance Joseph was as a head coach, he actually started 1-0 in each of his seasons in Denver.
In his Broncos debut, Case Keenum threw three interceptions but also passed for 329 yards and three touchdowns, including a fourth-quarter toss to Demaryius Thomas that proved to be the big winner.
The home fans were rocking in this one, which was a great way to open the year.
September 12, 2022: Seahawks 17, Broncos 16
This game still has to be fresh in the minds of most Broncos fans as just two years ago, these two teams opened the season against each other.
It was billed as a revenge game for Russell Wilson, his first game as Broncos quarterback against his old team. It is the only game on this list that was played in Seattle.
But it was also the debut of Nathaniel Hackett as Broncos head coach and a glimpse of how bad he would be was shown in this game, played on Monday Night Football.
Late in the game, Hackett chose to bring kicker Brandon McManus on for a 64-yard field goal attempt on fourth down rather than go for it on 4th-and-5 from the Seattle 46-yard line. McManus missed and it started what would be one of the worst seasons in Broncos history.
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