By admin 
The Denver Broncos will dress in Orange Crush throwbacks Thursday night, and the Seattle Seahawks will show up in royal blue, a nod to the years these two shared the AFC West. The nostalgia ends at kickoff, because Mike Macdonald’s defense is the reason to worry. Denver is coming off a 23-17 win in Los Angeles that bailed out Bo Nix late, and Seattle arrives at 3-2 as the defending Super Bowl champion.
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Most Broncos fans know Seattle has Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Here’s what else should worry them.
Mike Macdonald already has the book on Bo
Nix’s first NFL start came against Macdonald in Seattle in 2024, and it was ugly: 26 of 42 for 138 yards with two interceptions in a 26-20 Seahawks win. Former Colorado interim coach Mike Sanford wrote in The Denver Gazette that Macdonald overloaded the line of scrimmage and smothered the quick game, holding Nix to 3.3 yards per attempt.
That defense is better now. Seattle ranks second in the league at minus-0.18 EPA per play, and no opponent has topped 301 yards against it. Denver has cleared 300 once.
Byron Murphy II in the middle
Broncos fans can trust Quinn Meinerz, who hasn’t allowed a quick pressure or sack, according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell. Seattle’s interior rush will still test him. Murphy has 15 pressures and three sacks, and his 75.2 PFF pass-rush grade ranks 13th among 133 interior defenders. He had two sacks of Brock Purdy on Sunday.
“Byron’s playing dominant football right now,” Macdonald said, per Seahawks.com. Leonard Williams also has three sacks, so Nix can’t escape pressure by sliding protection one way.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s grade
Smith-Njigba has 583 yards and seven touchdown catches in five games. The number that should worry Vance Joseph is his 92.0 PFF overall grade, first among 78 qualifying receivers through four weeks. He also leads all receivers with six touchdown catches on PFF’s count, on just 41 targets through four games.
Jahdae Barron has become an every-down corner, and he figures to see plenty of the All-Pro.
Takeaways and the road
Seattle’s defense leads the NFL with 11 forced turnovers, per Pro Football Reference, and Julian Love and Nehemiah Pritchett each have two interceptions. Denver converted 1 of 12 third downs against the Chargers, so long-yardage throws into this secondary are a real risk.
The Seahawks also travel well. They are 13-5-1 against the spread on the road under Macdonald, according to SI, and they opened as 2.5-point favorites at Mile High.
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Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
More on the Denver Broncos
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This story was originally published October 14, 2026 at 7:37 AM.