I’m not certain about a lot of things, especially when it comes to this huge Monday Night Football game with the Seattle Seahawks defending home turf against the Russell Wilson Denver Broncos. Wilson could have a magnificent night, and completely torch his former team. He could also struggle against a new look defense full of defenders who want to prove that the Seahawks weren’t just all about him the last few years.

One thing I am certain of is this; if the Seattle Seahawks lose to the Denver Broncos this Monday night, much of national takeaways will be brutal against Pete Carroll, and John Schneider. The talking points will be about how great Russell Wilson is and how clueless Seattle is as an organization. This has been Colin Cowherd’s shtick for many years now when it comes to the Seahawks, and I think it would probably be at a nuclear on Tuesday, if Wilson gets his “revenge.”

As a Seahawk fan, I couldn’t care less, honestly, and I would advise any diehard fan to do the same. It would be awesome for the Seahawks to beat this Bronco team, and truthfully, it would be better for Seattle in terms of draft position if Denver has a bad first season with Russell. Beating Denver helps that happen.

However, in terms of importance, this season for Seattle will not be about the wins and losses. It’s going to be about playing young talented football players, and getting them well seasoned for the next franchise quarterback likely to come onto the roster next year.

Getting Charles Cross, Abe Lucas, Ken Walker, Jordyn Brooks, Darrell Taylor, Boye Mafe, Tariq Woolen, Coby Bryant, Myles Adams, Dee Eskridge, and others to step up, understand, and play the NFL game on a solid level is the real goal. If they end up with a winning record while accomplishing this, then that’s a wonderful bonus.

But Colin Cowherd likely won’t be discussing that on his show, if the Seahawks lose. He will talk about how all-world Russell Wilson is, and how Pete Carroll should just call it quits because the modern game has passed him by. Cool. He’s entitled to his takes.

The truth is that Seattle is playing this game against the Broncos with house money at a casino. In fact, they are playing the whole 2022 with this house money.

They aren’t expected to win this game. They aren’t expected to have a winning season.

I suspect that Pete Carroll wouldn’t have it any other way, and I am here for it.

How the Seahawks upset Russell Wilson

They get inside his head early by confusing coverage, and getting after him. Seattle (and the league) knows Russ has troubles against cover two. I think he’s also had issues against defenses that show multiple looks out of the 3-4, sending pressures in different ways. If Seattle has done a good job not tipping its hand during the preseason at what it wants to do defensively, they could have a pretty clear advantage against their former QB. Darrell Taylor seems to be emerging as the type of edge rusher who has given him problems before, and Quandre Diggs knows him well. If they can pressure him and bait him into turnovers, this could be the golden ticket towards an upset.

Take away the run and force Russ into volume throws. Nathaniel Hackett might want to quiet the Lumen Field ruckus by establishing the run, and having Russ engineer long drives that lead to points. This is what I would do, anyway. If this proves true, the Seattle front seven needs to take care of business against Javonte Williams and company. Just get Russ into third and long situations. Tackling is a big time must for Seattle defenders, and the closer to the line of scrimmage the better.

Geno beats Russ on third down conversions. Another blemish with Russ’s game over the years is converting on third downs. If Geno can be better than Russ at converting on third down, that probably means that Seattle will have won the time of possession battle, which helps the defense, and likely puts Seattle into more scoring possessions. Win on third down, control clock, score points. It’s a nice recipe.

Don’t turn the ball over, and take the ball away. This is Pete’s chief tenet. If Seattle can execute this, they can win this game.

How Russell Wilson gets revenge against the Seahawks

He proves that going up tempo on offense is the best way for him to cook. If he has success going with a quick tempo attack, it could be a long night for the Seahawk defenders. He knows them as much as they know his tendencies. If he can get them in situations where they can’t probably substitute, he could be like a shark smelling blood in the water. This is probably how he wants to cook in this match.

Getting to Geno Smith early and often and rattling him. There’s going to be pressure on Russ to win this game, but I also think there’s going to be some pressure on Geno to prove he can be the guy moving forward in Seattle. Broncos need to confuse and rattle Geno Smith, and Russ knows what Shane Waldron wants to do as a play caller. Denver could a much better feel of Seattle’s offense than Seattle does of Denver’s.

Jason Myers does a horrible job kicking field goals, and Denver’s kicker doesn’t. Enough said on this one. If Denver’s kicker comes through better than Meyers, Seattle probably isn’t going to win this game.

Prediction

Shelby Harris gets his revenge against the team that traded him to Seattle, snuffs out the run, gets pressure on Russ, and helps force turnovers that upset Russell Wilson’s Denver Broncos. Seattle wins a close one, 24-22.

I think Seattle knows what kind of pressures and coverages effect Russell. I think the execute it in front of jacked up Twelves and a national audience.

I think Russell will turn the ball over, and that will lead to short field possession and points for Seattle. Geno won’t look flashy, but he will be the less jittery quarterback of the night, and his stat line will continue to show efficiency.

I suspect it will be a big night for Rashaad Penny, DK Metcalf, Quandre Diggs, and Darrell Taylor. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some flashy contributions from rookies Boye Mafe, Coby Bryant, and Tariq Woolen on defense. I think Carroll is going to play his young guns right out of the gate.

Russell leads a late drive that earns more points for Denver that make the final score respectable, but a failed two point conversion to tie seals the deal. Seattle stuns the world in this one, and it will be glorious.

At least, this is what I think will happen.

Go Hawks.