The Seattle Seahawks pulled off a surprise victory on Monday night. They capped Week 1 of the new NFL season with a 17-16 victory over the Denver Broncos. The result sees Seattle start 1-0 while the Broncos fell to 0-1.
The Broncos fell behind early but they had several second-half chances. Russell Wilson repeatedly marched his offense into scoring position in the third and fourth quarters. However, two goal-line fumbles cost the Broncos dearly as they attempted to take a second-half lead over the Seahawks. On another threatening drive, Denver was only able to come away with a field goal.
The game hung in the balance until the final moments. On their final possession and trailing by one point, the Broncos attempted a 64-yard field goal instead of trying to advance on fourth and five. The attempt was wide left off of Brandon McManus' foot.
Was the decision to kick a 64-yarder the right call?
64-yard field goals are nowhere near locks in the NFL. It's beyond the range of most kickers. That being the case, was the decision to make the attempt the right call in the final minute for Denver in this game?
The Broncos had other options as there were roughly 50 seconds left in the game before they decided to wind the clock down. With 4th and 5, they could have attempted to get the first down and then further attempted to eat up some yardage to make a winning field-goal attempt more manageable.
However, a failure on 4th and 5 would have effectively ended the game. Furthermore, McManus was on target in his previous three attempts, albeit from a much shorter range. You can see what the coaching staff for Denver saw in attempting to go for the win, even if the field-goal attempt wasn't a high-percentage play.
Denver's game will probably be critiqued a little for how it ended and much more for the red-zone fumbles. Had they not occurred, then Denver would have had Seattle on the back foot instead of in the driver's seat.
Next up for the Broncos is a game hosting Houston on Sunday in Week 2. The Seahawks will aim for 2-0 when they travel down to San Francisco to take on the 49ers on Sunday.
