Let’s not be silly about this.
An encouraging preseason opener is a long way from a Super Bowl beatdown. Revenge is for February, maybe even September, but never in August.
Yet, there was satisfaction, maybe even a touch of glee, in the Broncos for not only standing up to the bullying Seattle Seahawks, but landing a punch or two.
In their lightning-delayed preseason game against the Super Seahawks on Thursday night at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, the Broncos defeated Seattle 21-16, and in the process, showed a new brand of toughness. Broncos grit is along the lines of a 6-yard completion and a cloud of dust.
“It meant something to win, especially against the Seahawks,” defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “It shows we got better and closed the gap in a couple of areas.”
At the very least, the Broncos may have proved to themselves, if not quite the rest of the NFL, that the 43-8 whipping they took from the Seahawks back in February was somewhat fluky.
As preseason games go, this meant something to the Broncos. Coach John Fox delivered an inspired speech the night before, appealing to his team’s sense of pride in front of its home crowd.
“(Coach Fox) wanted this game; the city wanted this game,” Knighton said. “We got DeMarcus Ware running around out there. T.J. Ward is flying around. You could see it’s a different team this year.”
BOX SCORE: Denver 21, Seattle 16
The Seahawks had not only embarrassed the Broncos in the Super Bowl six months earlier, they kept blabbing about it. Middle linebacker Bobby Wagner even said the Broncos were timid.
“I can’t say much to that,” Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas said of being timid. “They did a good job winning the Super Bowl. It’s another year.
“I think we showed as a whole group — first team, second team and third team — we have a good team.”
The Broncos got the ball first, and this time center Manny Ramirez and quarterback Peyton Manning executed the snap without drama. Manning was knocked down as he attempted his first pass. He held up long enough to complete a 15-yard in-route to Thomas.
PHOTOS: Seahawks-Broncos preseason game Thursday
On their second possession, the Broncos traveled at a near-interior lineman’s pace of nine seconds per yard.
That’s what 61 yards in nine minutes and nine seconds comes to. The Broncos scored an NFL-record 606 points last year and never had a drive last more than eight minutes.
“I don’t remember ever remember having an 18-play drive (including penalties) in the preseason,” Manning said. “You don’t like to have those penalties, but it was good that we were able to overcome them.”
The Seahawks’ defense may have been without strong safety Kam Chancellor and linebackers Malcolm Smith and Bobby Wagner, but they still had star free safety Earl Thomas and cornerback Richard Sherman.
Manning gave those secondary stalwarts the ultimate respect by instead picking on right cornerback Byron Maxwell, who kept getting beat on slants and button hooks by Thomas.
After establishing a Super Bowl standard with 13 catches in a lopsided defeat, Thomas may have set an unofficial, first-string, preseason opener record with five receptions for 52 yards.
Scary production for a guy engaged in contract-extension talks worth between $12 million and $16 million a year.
Manning was efficient, and tough. Efficient while completing 10-of-13 passes for 78 yards. Tough while getting knocked down again during the Broncos’ 14-play drive. After he was decked by Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett, Manning got up and on the next play completed a 9-yard hook to Thomas to convert a third-and-7 into first-and-goal.
The final yard gained, on the final play, was not a nice Manning toss to an open receiver, as happened so many times in 2013. It was on Ronnie Hillman’s ram across the goal line. The score set off an unsportsmanlike penalty against Seattle and some pushing and shoving by the Broncos’ offensive linemen. Grr, grr.
“It’s your job. It’s your first game of 2014. Guys are fighting for jobs,” Manning said. “Guys are trying to establish themselves in 2014. We have guys who have starting jobs who are trying to keep their jobs and try to execute.”
Then came a 45-minute lightning delay. The Seahawks’ first-team offense, minus running back Marshawn Lynch, came back with its own marathon march. This one took 9:18 to go 90 yards. The big play was a inadvertent face-mask penalty on Broncos blitzing safety T.J. Ward that turned fourth-and-long into an automatic first-and-10.
Pity the second-stringers. The first-stringers hogged the first-half playing time with back-to-back drives that took up a combined 18:27.
After the starters finally stopped playing, the game’s standout player was Broncos’ rookie running back Juwan Thompson. Subbing in earlier than expected because of a concussion suffered by backup C.J. Anderson, Thompson rushed for 59 yards on his first five carries.
Mike Klis: mklis@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mikeklis
