The Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos is a clash of turnover-forcing defenses.
This Thursday Night Football game is likely to be a low-scoring, tough-nosed, defensive battle.
And whoever wins the turnover battle will likely win the game.
Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos is a clash of dominant defenses
The Broncos and Seahawks come into Thursday Night’s game each at 3-2 on the season.
And both teams are unsurprisingly being held up by their defense.
Seattle’s defense was projected to be the best in the league for a second straight season, and while they’ve fallen off a bit in terms of points allowed (17.2 in 2025 vs. 21.0 in 2026) they’re still 8th in scoring defense.
Similarly, the Broncos have been led by the dominant defense for years now, and while they’ve slipped a bit from 18.3 PPG allowed in 2025 to 22.2 this year, they’re still a solid unit.
In fact, the Broncos defense won the game for Denver on Sunday in LA vs. the hapless Chargers.
Denver held LA to a mere 19 yards on their final 18 plays from scrimmage, and they won the turnover battle 3-1. Their first forced turnover came in the first quarter and set up the Broncos initial touchdown on the day. Then in the fourth quarter Zach Allen forced Justin Herbert to fumble, resulting in a field goal on the ensuing drive, and Brandon Jones picked off Herbert to set up another field goal.
Not only was it 13 points off turnovers, but the Broncos are finally forcing turnovers at a higher rate.
Last year they were undoubtedly a better defense. They set a franchise record with 68.0 sacks on the season, they’re way off pace this year (44.2). And they gave up nearly four points per game fewer last year.
But the Broncos biggest weakness was forcing those turnovers. Through five games this year they already have seven forced turnovers and are 12th in that department. They managed only 14 through the entirety of 2025. Denver’s currently on pace for 23.8 forced turnovers this season.
“I think the ball security, the punch out we get early is a huge play and the interceptions we’ve had to date,” Sean Payton said on Monday. “Obviously, and you guys probably have seen it, it can cure a lot of what ails you. There are a number of things right now that we have to clean up and get better, but we won the game yesterday because of it.”
So, it seems like they’ve fixed their biggest weakness on defense.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks are the best in the NFL in forcing turnovers, with 11 on the year to this point. That’s bad news for the Broncos, but the silver lining is Seattle’s offense turns it over a lot too.
Broncos and Seahawks offenses are careless with the ball
Denver’s offense is riding the struggle bus currently.
Their 19.6 points per game are 26th, and they’re 25th in both passing and rushing yards to this point. Bo Nix has regressed compared to 2025 and seems to have lost his confidence in the process.
Sean Payton has said repeatedly that the run game needs to improve to help Nix, and the offensive line has to protect better.
“I would say this. I think the one area, I think obviously there’s a lot been said about his feet, I think he’s settling that down,” Payton said on Monday. “It’s important from a protection standpoint, that early in games we provide that clean pocket so that clock doesn’t get juiced up a little bit.”
And one area in particular the Broncos have struggled is turning the ball over themselves. Denver has six turnovers to this point, three of them Nix interceptions and two of them have been Nix fumbles. At six total turnovers, they’re currently 14th in the NFL.
But the Seahawks have been notably worse in the giveaways department.
Seattle has turned it over nine times, which is 25th in the league, including five interceptions thrown by Sam Darnold. In both games they lost the turnover battle, the Seahawks lost this year.
That includes Sunday’s 32-29 defeat at the hands of the undefeated San Francisco 49ers. Darnold threw two picks while backup running backs Emmanuel Wilson and George Holani lost one fumble each (and Holani fumbled twice).
This week, the Broncos are without Patrick Surtain again, but it looks like Riley Moss is trending toward playing. He was a limited participant in Monday’s practice. If Moss can play, that will be a boost to the defense, especially if safety Talanoa Hufanga is out (ankle).
Denver’s defense has to continue to play better against the run, too. They were decent last Sunday, but also missed 14 tackles per Pro Football Focus. If they can wrap up and punch at the ball, it’s possible Denver forces a fumble or two from those running backs on Thursday.
Winning the turnover battle is one of the most consistent indicators of playing winning football. If the Broncos can do just that, they’ll have a chance at beating a very good Seahawks team in the Mile High City this week.
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