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DENVER (AP) — Josh Brown tied an NFL single-season record with his fourth winning field goal in the final minute, nailing a 50-yarder with 4 seconds left to give the Seattle Seahawks a 23-20 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday night.
Rookie defensive lineman Darryl Tapp returned Jay Cutler’s first interception 25 yards for a touchdown and the Seahawks (8-4) took advantage of five turnovers to send the Broncos (7-5) to their third straight loss.
Seattle started its winning drive from its 14 with 2:31 left after the Broncos had tied it at 20 on Cutler’s 71-yard touchdown toss to fellow rookie Brandon Marshall, who broke three tackles on the play.
On third-and-4 from his 20-yard line, Matt Hasselbeck found Nate Burleson for 16 yards. Brown, who missed from 40 and 53 yards in the first half but was good from 44, 23 in the fourth quarter, soon won it from 50 yards.
“Josh Brown’s been clutch for us all season long,” Hasselbeck said. “He’s a great kicker.”
Cutler, the last of the “Big Three” quarterbacks from the 2006 draft class to make his debut, met the same fate as Vince Young and Matt Leinart — a loss.
He looked like a raw rookie for most of the night, but did show flashes of brilliance, such as his touchdown pass to Marshall.
Denver lost middle linebacker Al Wilson to a sprained neck in the fourth quarter — Wilson was carted off the field — and kicker Jason Elam appeared to hurt his left leg on a fake field goal run just before halftime.
Coach Mike Shanahan said he was pleased with Cutler’s performance.
“I think he did pretty good for being his first game,” Shanahan said. “I’m a little disappointed in myself. I think I put too much in the game plan for this being his first game.”
Seattle’s only score in the first half came when Cutler was wrapped up by Bryce Fisher and threw the ball up for grabs. Tapp snared it and sprinted 25 yards for the score that cut Denver’s lead to 10-7.
“I made some mistakes,” Cutler said. “I blame myself.”
The Broncos hadn’t lost three straight since 2003 and hadn’t dropped three in a row at home since 2002.
The Seahawks stumbled themselves for three quarters.
Hasselbeck was just 10-for-20 for 75 yards when the Seahawks got the ball at their 39 with 9:42 left, trailing 13-7. He hit Darrell Jackson for gains of 27 and 33 yards, then handed to Shaun Alexander, who took it in from 1 yard to give Seattle a 14-13 lead.
Brian Clark fumbled the kickoff and Joe Tafoya recovered at the Denver 40, leading to Brown’s 44-yard field goal with 4:08 left that made it 18-13.
Cutler then threw an interception to Jordan Babineaux and Brown’s 23-yarder made it 20-13 before Marshall’s sensational TD.
Hasselbeck finished 16-for-28 for 168 yards.
Cutler, the first rookie to start for Denver since Tommy Maddox filled in for an injured John Elway 14 years ago, expected to spend this season watching and learning.
But the Broncos turned to the former Vanderbilt star and 11th pick in the NFL draft after an ineffective Jake Plummer was benched following back-to-back losses to AFC West rivals San Diego and Kansas City that threatened to derail their season.
Cutler, who also hit tight end Stephen Alexander for a 7-yard touchdown in the first half, finished 10-for-21 for 143 yards with two TDs and two interceptions. He was sacked three times.
Cutler’s best moves were handoffs to Tatum Bell, who gained 133 yards on 23 carries. But Bell had just 21 yards in the second half.
Alexander, coming off a 201-yard performance against the Packers in his return from a two-month absence with a broken foot, ran 26 times for 90 yards despite the loss for much of the game of his lead back, Mack Strong, to a sprained ankle.
