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3 Brutal Takeaways From Broncos’ Disheartening 26-20 Loss to Seahawks

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3 Brutal Takeaways From Broncos’ Disheartening 26-20 Loss to Seahawks


For the second time in three seasons, the Seattle Seahawks handed the Denver Broncos their first loss to start the regular season, emerging victorious on Sunday, 26-20. The first loss of the Bo Nix era continues a streak of Seahawks dominance, as the Broncos haven’t earned a victory in Seattle since 2002.

Denver’s defense dominated the first half of action, flustering quarterback Geno Smith and the Seahawks offense with dynamic pass rushes and defensive line penetration that earned the Broncos four points on two safeties. But what looked to be a long day for the raucous crowd of Seahawks faithful quickly turned due to a Broncos anemic offense that scored just one touchdown late in the fourth quarter. 

I picked the Broncos to upset the Seahawks (27-24) in a close game against a hostile fan base on the road. But the most frustrating aspect of this loss isn’t the fact that I was wrong in my prediction or that the Broncos started the year with another loss.

Instead, it’s that Broncos Country is forced to lament what should’ve been a very winnable game for Sean Payton’s squad. 

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With that said, let’s rip off the band-aid and get to three sad but true takeaways from the Broncos’ first loss. 

The first chapter in the Nix-Payton novel begins with an embarrassing road loss. Denver’s dynamic duo was quickly humbled by Seahawks first-year head coach Mike Macdonald’s smothering defense, which put the Broncos on notice, illustrating the difference between preseason and regular season NFL action. 

As a rookie team captain, Nix looked largely out of place for most of the game as he finished the contest 26-of-42 for 138 yards and two interceptions, with 35 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. He faced a barrage of pressure, taking two sacks, enduring multiple hits, and looking bothered and frustrated.

The Broncos offense continually stalled despite prime field position and was outmatched in virtually every statistical category, including total net yards, first downs, third-down efficiency, and penalties. 

Payton did his rookie QB1 no favors in this game. The veteran play-caller abandoned his ineffective rushing attack early with his three-headed stable of Javonte Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin, and Audric Estime. Denver finished the game with 99 yards rushing on 25 attempts, but those stats were padded by Nix’s five rushes and a drive that resulted in his four-yard scoring scramble in the fourth quarter.

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The most alarming aspect of Denver’s disappointing offense was that it felt eerily similar to the 2023 season, where Payton would panic and strictly throw the football. By waving the white flag on the most critical principle of Payton’s offense, which is running the football, opposing defenders will continue to tee off on the Broncos’ rookie QB, putting Nix in the unsettling position of playing hero ball. 

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Linebacker Alex Singleton picked off Geno Smith on Seattle’s opening drive. Usually, when a road team’s defense starts the game with a series of QB pressures that force an interception, it’s a sign of good things to come. That should be doubly true when the Broncos defense outscores its own offense with a pair of safeties in the first half against a Seahawks offense that was reeling under Smith. 

Instead, Vance Joseph’s defense left fans with more questions than answers. The box score will show two sacks logged on Smith, both by outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper, who played extremely well off the edge. The Broncos interior D-line — John Franklin-Myers, Zach Allen, and Malcolm Roach — lived in Seattle’s backfield during the first two quarters, posting a productive stat line. 

But as fast as Denver’s pass rushers pummeled Seattle in the first half, they crumbled after halftime, and succumbed to one of Joseph’s biggest flaws: a porous and pathetic run defense. Joseph’s defense allowed Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III to average 5.2 yards per carry at will as their rushing attack gashed Denver’s defense to the tune of 33 attempts for 146 yards and two touchdowns. 

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Additionally, Smith found a rhythm by dissecting Denver’s secondary with 171 passing yards, including a touchdown to running back Zach Charbonnet that allowed Seattle to dismantle and take over the game coming out of Denver’s 13-9 lead at halftime. 

Team apologists may argue that Joseph’s defense held its own by limiting the Seahawks’ formidable wideouts DK Metcalf and Tyler Locket to nine combined catches for 106 yards. However, statistics don’t count in a game of wins and losses where ‘VJ’ has again proven that he struggles to make in-game adjustments after finding success early.

When Payton was asked about the Broncos’ first half of offense coming out of halftime, he explained from the sideline that Nix couldn’t do it all by himself and that he needed some help. That help would never come, as the rookie QB was forced to singlehandedly lead a seven-play, 54-yard drive that resulted in his first NFL touchdown on the ground.

Seventh-round rookie wideout Devaughn Vele would finish as Nix’s leading receiver in receptions, with eight catches for 39 yards(!), while Josh Reynolds led the team in 45 yards and a long of 25 yards. Nix’s fellow team captain Courtland Sutton was limited to just four catches for 38 yards, while the Broncos’ tight ends were largely ineffective through the air, with Greg Dulcich only logging two catches for a measly 12 yards.

When Denver’s receivers would catch a pass from Nix, they would immediately be smothered by Seahawks defenders, resulting in negative yards or hardly any yards after contact, although the rookie signal-caller did miss several key throws in this game.

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Instead of capitalizing on Williams and Estime’s productive rushing early in the first few possessions, the diminutive McLaughlin was asked to be the bell cow and was continually bullied at the line of scrimmage. Payton’s offensive mismanagement of his playmaking resources spelled disaster for Nix for most of the game. 

None of this even mentions that Denver’s offense will likely be ice skating uphill following the injury of starting left tackle Garett Bolles, who exited the game with a lower leg injury that is presumed to be an ankle. 

If the Broncos offense hopes to improve in moving the chains and scoring points this season, Payton will need to remove his playmakers from the milk cartons and get to work quickly. 

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Denver, CO

Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others

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Suspects sought in Denver shooting that killed teen, wounded 3 others


Denver police are searching for suspects in a Saturday night parking lot shooting that killed a 16-year-old and wounded three men, at least one of whom is not expected to survive, according to the agency.

Officers responded to the shooting in the 10100 block of East Hampden Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, near where East Hampden intersects South Galena Street, according to an alert from the Denver Police Department.

Police said a group of people had gathered in a parking lot on the edge of the city’s Kennedy neighborhood to celebrate the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro when the shooting happened.

Paramedics took one victim to a hospital, and two others were taken to the hospital in private vehicles, police said. A fourth victim, identified by police as 16-year-old William Rodriguez Salas, was dropped off near Iliff Avenue and South Havana Street, where he died from his wounds.

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At least one of the three victims taken to hospitals — a 26-year-old man, a 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old man — is not expected to survive, police said Tuesday. One man was in critical condition Sunday night, one was in serious condition and one was treated for a graze wound and released.



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Denver’s flavored vape ban sends customers across city lines

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Denver’s flavored vape ban sends customers across city lines


The new year in Colorado brought new restrictions for people who vape in Denver. As of January 1, a voter-approved ban on flavored nicotine products is now in effect in Denver, prohibiting the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products within city limits.

Just outside the Denver border, vape shops say they’re already feeling the ripple effects.

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At Tokerz Head Shop in Aurora, located about a block and a half from the Denver city line, owner Gordon McMillon says customers are beginning to trickle in from Denver.

“I was in shock it passed, to be honest,” McMillon said. “Just because of how many people vape in Denver. But we’re hoping to take care of everybody that doesn’t get their needs met over there anymore.”

One of those customers is Justin Morrison, who lives in the Denver area and vapes daily. He stopped by the Aurora shop a day after the ban went into place.

Morrison says the ban won’t stop him from vaping. It will just change where he buys his products.

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“I’m going to have to come all the way to Aurora to get them,” he said. “It’s pretty inconvenient. I smoke flavored vapes every day.”

The goal of the ban, according to public health advocates, is to reduce youth vaping.

Morrison said flavored vapes helped him quit smoking cigarettes, an argument frequently raised by adult users and vape retailers who oppose flavor bans.

“It helped tremendously,” he said. “I stopped liking the flavor of cigarettes. The taste was nasty, the smell was nasty. I switched all the way over to vapes, and it helped me stop smoking cigarettes completely.”

McMillon worries bans like Denver’s could push some former smokers back to cigarettes.

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“If they can’t get their vapes, some will go back to cigarettes, for sure,” he said. “I’ve asked people myself, and it’s about 50-50.”

While McMillon acknowledges it will bring more business to shops outside Denver, he says the ban wasn’t something he wanted.

“Even if it helps me over here in Aurora, I’m against it,” he said. “I feel like adults should have the rights if they want to vape or not.”

More than 500 retailers in Denver removed their flavored products. For many, they accounted for the majority of their sales. Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment says it will begin issuing fines and suspensions to retailers found selling flavored tobacco products.

Both McMillan and Morrison say they’re concerned the ban could spread to other cities. For now, Aurora vape shops remain legal alternatives for Denver customers.

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Despite the added drive, Morrison says quitting isn’t on the table.

“It’s an addiction. You’re going to find a way to get it. That’s why I don’t see the point of banning it here,” Morrison said.

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Planning to begin in Denver for American Indian Cultural Embassy

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Planning to begin in Denver for American Indian Cultural Embassy


Denver will be the site of the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy.

Funding for the project was approved by Denver voters in the Vibrant Denver Bond measure.

The vision is for the embassy to welcome Native people back home to Colorado.

On the snowy day of CBS News Colorado’s visit, Rick Williams observed the buffalo herd at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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“These animals are sacred to us,” said Williams, who is Oglala Lakota and Cheyenne. “This was our economy. They provided everything we needed to live a wonderful lifestyle.”

Rick Williams, president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy, looks at buffalo at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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Williams is president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy.

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“‘Homeland’ is a special term for everybody, right?” Williams asked. “But for people who were alienated, for American Indians who were alienated from Colorado, they don’t have a home, they don’t have a home community that you can go to, this is it. And I think that’s sad.”

The First Creek Open Space — near 56th and Peña, near the southeast corner of the Arsenal — is owned by the City and County of Denver and is being considered for development of the embassy.

“To have a space that’s an embassy that would be government-to-government relations on neutral space,” said Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore, who represents northeast Denver District 11. “But then also supporting the community’s economic development and their cultural preservation.”

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Denver City Councilmember Stacie Gilmore speaks from the First Creek Open Space in northeast Denver about the possibility of building the United States’ first-ever American Indian Cultural Embassy at the site.

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Gilmore said $20 million from the Vibrant Denver Bond will support the design and construction of the center to support Indigenous trade, arts, and education.

“That sense of connection and that sense of place and having a site is so important if you’re going to welcome people back home,” added Gilmore.

“What a great treasure for people in Colorado,” Williams said as he read the interpretive sign at the wildlife refuge.

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Rick Williams, president of People of the Sacred Land and a leader in the effort to build an American Indian Cultural Embassy, reads a sign at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

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He said the proposed location makes perfect sense: “Near the metropolitan area, but not necessarily in the metropolitan area, we would love to be near buffalo. We would love to be in an area where there’s opportunities for access to the airport.”

The Denver March Powwow could one day be held at the embassy.

Williams dreams of expanding the buffalo herd nearby and having the embassy teach future generations Indigenous skills and culture.

The concept for the embassy is one of the recommendations emerging from the Truth, Restoration, and Education Commission, a group of American Indian leaders in Colorado who began to organize four years ago to study the history of Native Americans in our state.

And the work is just beginning.

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“We have to think about, ‘how do we maintain sustainability and perpetuity of a facility like this?’” Williams said. “So there’s lots of issues that are going to be worked on over the next year or so.”

Williams added, “One day our dreams are going to come true, and those tribes are going to come, and we’re going to have a big celebration out here. We’re going to have a drum, and we’re going to sing honor songs, and we’re going to have just the best time ever welcoming these people back to their homeland.”

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s staff sent the following statement:

“We are excited about the passing of the Vibrant Denver Bond and the opportunity it creates to invest in our city’s first American Indian Cultural Embassy. We are committed to working hand-in-hand with the Indigenous community to plan and develop the future embassy, and city staff have already been invited to listen and engage with some of our local American Indian groups, like the People of the Sacred Land. We are not yet at the stage of formal plans, but we are excited to see the momentum of this project continue.”

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