Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Denver 31 at Seattle 9 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Denver Broncos: Big news is QB Brian Griese left the game with a sprained knee. Early reports vary wildly from him missing a few days to missing 4 weeks. Stay tuned for an MRI on Monday. He actually played quite a bit better than his stats would indicate. After a few shaky goalline plays, Beuerlein looked sharp throwing touchdowns on his first two pass attempts. The first to Patrick Hape was a bit off target and Hape dove to make a nice catch. Denver focused on running the ball while Beuerlein played in the 4th quarter to protect their lead. In limited action, it appeared he favored Rod Smith throwing 2 of his 3 passes (1 was an unofficial pass interference penalty) to him including a wonderfully thrown 14 yard touchdown. RB Clinton Portis dominated this game with 188 total yards. Considering that he was still giving away some touches to Anderson and Gary, this was a dominating performance. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry. It has to be somewhat of a disappointment that he didn't score a touchdown when Anderson did but Portis had his chances in the red zone including the 3rd down goal line attempt. He showed no signs of fumbling and in fact Mike Anderson fumbled which could actually improve Portis' chances at getting touches late in the game. Mike Anderson accounted for only 26 yards but scored a touchdown. He recovered his own fumble in the 4th quarter and it appears that he'll continue to be used as a change-of-pace back. Rod Smith caught 5 passes for 58 yards and 1 touchdown. He should have had another touchdown except for a bad call by the officials and an apparent lack of urgency for the Broncos to review the play. While Dwayne Carswell started in place of the injured Shannon Sharpe, he caught just 1 pass for 12 yards. He was targeted on a pass in the red zone but the ball was poorly thrown and he had no chance to catch it. The Denver Tight End situation is murky without Sharpe. Seattle Seahawks: Matt Hasselbeck's performance was not even as good as his mediocre numbers may indicate. He completed 22 of 36 passes but 17 (yes 17) of those were dump off passes to running backs and tight ends. Still looks sketchy. RB Maurice Morris was declared inactive prior to the game. Shaun Alexander may as well have been declared inactive after the game. He averaged only 1.6 yards per carry for 18 rushing yards on 11 carries. In his defense, he had little room to run and the Seattle offensive line missed key blocks that could have sprung him loose. Bobby Engram was as active in the game as Hasselbeck allowed any wide receiver to be, catching 3 passes for 40 yards but fumbled. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Denver Broncos QB: Big news is Brian Griese left the game with a sprained knee. Early reports vary wildly from him missing a few days to missing 4 weeks. Stay tuned for an MRI on Monday. Griese's was 17-27 for 194 yards, 0 TD, 1 Interception. But his stats do not tell the true story of his performance. His lone interception was the result of an uncalled defensive pass interference penalty that allowed Shawn Springs to make the pick. He commanded the offense well leading them as they racked up much of their 411 yards of offense on the day. He scored twice in a bizarre series that resulted in his injury. On that series, Griese threw a beautiful pass to Rod Smith for what appeared to be close to a touchdown but the official marked Smith out at the 2 yard line, despite replays showing him nearly hit the pylon as he reached for the end zone. On first down, Griese rushed for a touchdown but it was called back on a delay of game penalty. The following play Rod Smith clearly scored on a catch as he reached and broke the plane of the goal line. The play was originally ruled a touchdown, by the side judge, then inexplicably reversed it on the field. There were defensive penalties on the play (one, a roughing the quarterback call which resulted in Griese's injury) which gave Denver 1st and goal from the 1 foot line. Shanahan must have assumed a challenge unnecessary at the time because they were sure to score from there. The replay showed that Smith had scored. On first down, Beuerlein was stuffed for a loss. On second down, he had a clear shot at getting in on the quarterback sneak but slipped and fell short of the goal line. On third down Portis was stuffed (McCaffrey was hurt on that play). On 4th down Beuerlein threw a nice pass to an open Patrick Hape. From this odd series it appears that Rod Smith is as active as ever in the red zone and that Beuerlein has no business running quarterback sneaks. Beuerlein looked sharp throwing touchdowns on his first two pass attempts. The first to Patrick Hape was a bit off target and Hape dove to make a nice catch. Denver heavily ran the ball while Beuerlein played in the 4th quarter to protect their lead. In limited action, it appeared he favored Rod Smith throwing 2 of his 3 passes (1 was an unofficial pass interference penalty) to him including a wonderfully thrown 14 yard touchdown. RB: Clinton Portis dominated this game with 188 total yards. Considering that he was still giving away some touches to Anderson and Gary, this was a dominating performance. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry. It has to be somewhat of a disappointment that he didn't score a touchdown when Anderson did but Portis had his chances in the red zone including the 3rd down goal line attempt. He showed no signs of fumbling and in fact Mike Anderson fumbled which could actually improve Portis' chances at getting touches late in the game. Mike Anderson accounted for only 26 yards but scored a touchdown. He recovered his own fumble in the 4th quarter and it appears that he'll continue to be used as a change-of-pace back. Olandis Gary played an active part in 1 Denver series. The stats show him with only 1 rushing attempt for 19 yards and 2 receptions for 9 yards but he had 2 receptions negated on that drive by penalties. At the end of the 1st half, in the hurry up offense he lined up as a receiver. WR: Rod Smith caught 5 passes for 58 yards and 1 touchdown. As was explained above, he should have had another touchdown except for a bad call by the officials and an apparent lack of urgency for the Broncos to review the play. Ed McCaffrey caught only 4 passes for 36 yards. Griese looked for McCaffrey on 4th and 2 and he came through for a catch. He left the game with an injured hand and did not return but it wasn't apparent if he could have played but was held out because of the large Bronco lead. TE: While Dwayne Carswell started in place of the injured Shannon Sharpe, he caught just 1 pass for 12 yards. He was targeted on a pass in the red zone but the ball was poorly thrown and he had no chance to catch it. The Denver Tight End situation is murky without Sharpe. Patrick Hape had 1 pass thrown to him, the 1 yard touchdown which he made a nice play to catch. Rookie Jeb Putzier had 1 pass thrown to him which he dropped. Bronco Pass Defense: This unit did a phenomenal job considering Seattle abandoned the run. Still Denver only gave up 180 passing yards. They also added 4 sacks and 2 interceptions, one of them for a touchdown. Granted, Deltha O'Neal's touchdown came with 14 seconds left when Seattle had clearly given up but I doubt Denver fantasy owners will complain. Bronco Rush Defense: This unit is clearly the #1 rushing defense in the league for a reason. Of Seattle's whopping 14 first half rushing yards, 5 of them came on a Hasselbeck scramble. Seattle gained only 51 yards rushing on the day. Bronco Special Teams: On the first series of the game Jason Elam hooked a 40 yard field goal attempt. On the next series, rather than attempt a 42 yard field goal the Broncos elected to go for the 1st down which they got. However later that series, Griese threw an interception and Denver came away with no points. Two series' later, rather than go for it on 4th and 1, Shanahan elected to have Elam attempt a 45 yard field goal, which he connected on. This situation bears watching. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Seattle Seahawks QB: Matt Hasselbeck's performance was not even as good as his mediocre numbers may indicate. He completed 22 of 36 passes but 17 (yes 17) of those were dump off passes to running backs and tight ends. Even 1 of the 5 passes thrown to wide receivers was a screen pass to Bobby Engram. Denver sacked him two plays in a row early and Hasselbeck had happy feet from the pressure most of the day. He seemed to gain some confidence in the 4th quarter before the game got out of hand but then broke down in the red zone going 3 straight times to running backs and tight ends. He failed to lead his team to the end zone. RB: Maurice Morris was declared inactive prior to the game. Shaun Alexander may as well have been declared inactive after the game. He averaged only 1.6 yards per carry for 18 rushing yards on 11 carries. In his defense, he had little room to run and the Seattle offensive line missed key blocks that could have sprung him loose. WR: Bobby Engram was as active in the game as Hasselbeck allowed any wide receiver to be, catching 3 passes for 40 yards but fumbled. Koren Robinson caught only 2 passes for 21 yards but was a step behind coverage and was underthown on a long pass in the first half. Had the ball been thrown properly it likely would have been a touchdown. James Williams was targeted 5 times including a red zone attempt in the end zone. TE: The Seattle tight ends accounted for 7 catches for 79 yards but was spread out between Itula Mili and Jerramy Stevens. Mili was the most active catching 4 passes for 41 yards. Stevens was targeted 3 times. Seahawk Pass Defense: Shawn Springs accounted for Seattle's only turnover but replays showed that he clearly grabbed Rod Smith's jersey and pulled him back creating separation in order to make the interception. Seahawk Rush Defense: They stacked the line of scrimmage but missed the first tackle most of the time and allowed all the Denver running backs huge chunks of yards on nearly every run. The Broncos averaged 5.9 yards per carry as a team. Start any questionable running back you have against this unit. Seahawk Special Teams: Rian Lindell connected on all 3 field goal attempts and will get nearly as many attempts as Seattle has trips to the red zone.