The Seattle Seahawks are entering their first year under Mike Macdonald as head coach. Expectations are high in Seattle as the Seahawks transition to a new defensive scheme and get the last drops of greatness out of QB Geno Smith. It appears that Seattle will be at full strength on offense in Week 1 thanks to some positive injury news.
Seahawks veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett is expected to play Sunday against the Broncos, per NFL Network's Ian Rapaport. Lockett is listed as questionable on the injury report with a thigh injury. However, he is expected to suit up and play the entire game.
Lockett will line up with DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba as one of Geno Smith's top weapons in Week 1.
The Seahawks are expecting a big day for their offense against a suspect Broncos defense. Having Lockett in the starting lineup just makes the Seahawks offense even more dangerous.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton compared Seahawks' 12s to college football crowds ahead of Week 1 matchup
Broncos head coach Sean Payton made some comments about the crowd noise in Seattle that Seahawks fans may not appreciate.
On Monday, Payton said “it's going to be loud” when Bo Nix makes his first NFL start against the Seahawks on Sunday, per Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette.
Payton then went on to compare the noise of the 12s in Seattle to the college football environments Nix play in at Oregon. He specifically mentioned when Oregon would play Washington, which is basically the same fanbase.
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That might sound like a compliment to some people, but the 12s may not see it that way. Payton may have just guaranteed that Lumen Field will be extra loud on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks have to be excited about facing rookie QB Bo Nix.
Rookie QBs do not tend to perform well in their first NFL games, particularly when it is Week 1. They are 16-35-1 in season openers, including a 0-7-1 record over the past five seasons, per Yahoo Sports. In fact, the last rookie QB to win a Week 1 start is Sam Darnold against the Detroit Lions in 2018.
The Seahawks are heavily favorited at home with a line of -5.5 earlier this week.
