Broncos vs Seahawks Week 1: Can QB Geno Smith Get the Job Done?

• This Week 1 MNF matchup is between QB Russell Wilson’s new team and prior team
• The Seahawks are the home field underdogs, and the Broncos are expected to win
• See Broncos vs Seahawks on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, at 8:15 PM ET on ESPN & ABC

Broncos vs Seahawks Odds

Odds taken from Caesars Sportsbook. Click on the links below to head to the sportsbook and place your bet.

Broncos vs Seahawks Pick

It’s only Week 1 and even the Wilson led Broncos will be rusty so take the hometown Seahawks and all those points and expect them to keep it somewhat close.

Seahawks +6.5 (-110)

Go Full Caesar This Football Season

The NFL’s 2022 season Week 1 schedule ends with an MNF matchup between QB Russell Wilson’s new team, the Denver Broncos, and his prior team, the Seattle Seahawks, whose HC will start Wilson’s old backup, Geno Smith, under center in this cross-conference beauty.

Seahawks fans can’t be too happy that their franchise QB departed for loftier pastures, and they are likely to let Wilson hear it upon his return, but Broncos fans get what they have been lacking lately – a top-tier QB – to give their talented team that missing playmaker that can earn wins.

Sports bettors will be paying close attention to this last game of the first week of the 2022 NFL season so be sure to shop around for the best odds as oddsmakers will no doubt continue to adjust their numbers, and also take a look below at our best MNF predictions, odds, and picks.

See the best NFL Week 1 prop bets and parlays, here!

Denver Broncos vs Seattle Seahawks Predictions

Can Broncos New QB Russell Wilson Handle the Heat in Seattle?

It was bound to happen at some point – QB Russell Wilson having to play his old team in front of his former fans – but the fact that it is going down in Week 1 on Monday Night Football tells you that the NFL schedulers know exactly how to best milk the drama from every moment.

For anyone just back from Jupiter, in March the Seahawks traded away Wilson to the Broncos after he made it clear he was no longer happy playing there, and now the Super Bowl Champ and Pro Bowler will take his 65% completion rate, a rocket arm, and speedy legs to Denver.

Wilson is one of those rare NFL QBs who stands under six feet (5’ 11”) but his lack of height has not kept him from earning the highest ever passer rating (101.7) of any Seahawk, and now he gets to target two deep threat Broncos receivers – Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy (below).

Can Seahawks QB Geno Smith Get the Job Done?

Journeyman backup QB Geno Smith will play for Seattle on Monday night, a chance for him to finally be the starter, that job having eluded him since 2015 when he went from being the New York Jets starting QB to being the backup after a locker room brawl left him with a broken jaw.

Now a more experienced Smith takes the reins of a Seahawks offense that HC Pete Carroll and OC Shane Waldron have built around him getting the ball to deep threat receivers DK Metcalf (see below) and Tyler Lockett as well as pass-catching TE Noah Fant, all exciting playmakers.

Smith has a 58.8 career completion percentage and in the two seasons he started he threw 34 interceptions against 25 TDs, but that was a younger version of himself so the idea now is that he can lead the team to wins protected by two rookies Ts (Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas).

Broncos Key Player: (WRs) Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton

The Broncos’ new QB Russell Wilson will have two healthy and speedy targets in Denver with Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton on the roster, and Jeudy the third-year player out of Alabama is just itching to make up for the games he missed early last season from a high ankle sprain.

Sutton is an SMU alum and his size (6’ 4” and 216 pounds) and speed (4.54-second 40-yard dash) make him the perfect counterpart to Jeudy forcing opposing secondaries to make a choice on who to double-team between the two them and that gives him plenty of open field.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks are still figuring out who their secondary is with two rookies possibly starting – CB Tariq Woolen and NB Coby Bryant – so watch for that aspect to be exploited by Broncos OC Justin Outten as he and HC Nathaniel Hackett game plan Denver’s attack.

Seahawks Key Player: (WR) DK Metcalf

Now in his fourth NFL season, Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf is ready to rebound off a relatively mediocre 2021 where his targets stayed the same (129) as the prior year, but his number of catches decreased from 83 to 75 and his reception yardage declined from 1,303 to 967 yards.

The good news is Metcalf posted a career-high 12 TDs last season and that was with a QB who already had one cleat out the door, so expect him and QB Smith to hook up early and often on Monday night as Broncos CBs Pat Surtain and Ronald Darby and S Justin Simmons tag along.

Metcalf’s best NFL season was in 2020 when he caught 83 balls for 1,300+ yards and 10 TDs, his longest a 62-yarder, and now the 6’ 4” 235-pound receiver with the size of a tight end and the hands of a deep threat is hoping that QB Smith has the arm and patience to get him the ball.

Other NFL Games Happening This Week

Kansas City Chiefs vs Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns vs Carolina Panthers

New England Patriots vs Miami Dolphins

Las Vegas Raiders vs Los Angeles Chargers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Dallas Cowboys

How to Watch Broncos vs Seahawks