2023 Broncos Draft Picks Watch: Titans rally, topple Denver in unwatchable puntfest

It wasn’t all bad news for the Seattle Seahawks!

While the Seahawks lost in Munich to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the better of their two first- and second-round draft picks just improved once again. The Denver Broncos plunged to 3-6 out of the bye week after a 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans that was so bereft of action that NFL RedZone hardly had any reason to cut to the game. There were a whopping 17 punts on the afternoon.

The first nine possessions ended in punts before Russell Wilson threw a 66-yard touchdown to an uncovered Jalen Virgil. You know, THE Jalen Virgil. Jerry Jeudy’s opening quarter injury, combined with KJ Hamler already being inactive for the game meant bare bones at receiver for Denver. Tennessee foolishly did a Cover-0 blitz on Wilson like they’ve not got any film on him.

A 10-0 start by Denver with the Titans unable to mount any offense gave way to a pair of Ryan Tannehill touchdowns to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. The first TD was right before halftime and gave Tennessee life:

Then some trickery on a flea-flicker produced the longest pass play allowed by Denver since the Geno Smith touchdown to Will Dissly on opening night:

61 yards to the house for the go-ahead score. The punts continued until morale improved, then Tennessee tacked on a field goal in the 4th quarter. Russell Wilson had a chance to force overtime, but he got walloped on 3rd down for a strip-sack and then threw a desperation interception on 4th and 8.

Wilson finished 21/42 for 286 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 6 sacks taken, and 18 QB hits. He easily could’ve thrown three or four picks with his fixation on throwing deep passes into double coverage. Denver was 4/17 on 3rd down and didn’t score in the 2nd half, but the good news for them is Derrick Henry was held to just 53 yards on 19 carries. If you’re expecting this Broncos offense to magically fix itself you’re relying on your past memories of Russell Wilson’s greatness, the Broncos injury situation to improve, and for Nathaniel Hackett to be anything but a head coach who is way out of his depth.

Picks Status: According to Tankathon, Seattle’s Denver pick is now 7th overall. You love to see it.

Up next: While the Seahawks’ next opponent is the Las Vegas Raiders on November 27th, the Raiders will take on the Broncos in Denver on November 20th.