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Earl Thomas was limited to playing just two drives in his first preseason action of 2014 as the Seahawks opened their exhibition schedule on Thursday night in Denver against the Broncos.

But that didn’t stop ET III from making an impact.

Earl looked stronger than ever, leading the Seahawks with six tackles while getting his first chance to field punts. But despite Earl’s best effort, the showing was mostly sloppy from the defending champs, who combined with Denver to commit 25 penalties totaling 226 yards.

The Super Bowl rivals battled back and forth through the sea of yellow flags, and in the end it was the cohesiveness of the Broncos second unit that allowed Denver to grab a 21-16 victory. Afterward, Earl commented that he and his teammates need to put together a cleaner performance next time out, and that starts with being honest about their effort on Thursday.

“It was just out of rhythm, a real sloppy, choppy game,” No. 29 said. “We’ve definitely got to take a hard look at ourselves and grade ourselves tough. We’ve got to be honest and evaluate yourself like you need to be evaluated. And I think we’re going to do a great job with that because we have great leaders and great coaches that are going to give it to us plain.”

Because both teams had not lined up against an opponent since their Super Bowl appearance last February, Thursday night’s exhibition contest in Denver was bound to be a chippy affair, and head coach Pete Carroll concurred with the assessment of his defensive leader that the lack of rhythm in the game, caused by the penalty parade, contributed to a disappointing effort from the Hawks and Broncos alike.

“When you have 25 penalties, it’s going to be kind of messy,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “That kind of shrouded the game I think from both sides.”

ET III, Russell Wilson and Heath Farwell had the honor of serving as Seattle’s captains for the pre-game coin toss. The Seahawks won the toss and the defending champions elected to defer. Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense then took the field first. No. 29 got involved early, as he made a yard-saving tackle on Demaryius Thomas on the second play of the contest.

When Manning and Co. failed to move the chains following that play, it was Earl who lined up in the backfield to receive his first punt in the NFL.

Although ET III was given little to no room to work with, and found himself in a sea of Broncos before he even touched the ball, the way he successfully fielded the ball bodes well for his chances at becoming Seattle’s go-to guy at the position.

Some fans were concerned that receiving punts might make Earl more susceptible to injury, but the three-time All Pro remains steadfast in his ambitions.

“Somebody asked me, ‘You’re not scared to get hurt?’ But at the same time, man, I’ve been doing this,” Thomas told 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Salk” on Tuesday. “I’m an athlete. I’ve been returning punts; I did it in college and I’m excited about the opportunity. I love that rush. That’s why I like doing one-on-ones because it gives me those competitive juices. Same with punt return.”

After Earl’s return, the Seahawks offense stalled on its first drive and was forced to punt from its own 20-yard line, giving Manning a short field to work with on his next drive.

Earl made four key tackles on the ensuing drive to slow down the Broncos offense, including a textbook tackle on running back Ronnie Hillman.

But Denver put together a methodical, penalty-riddled trip down the field that resulted in a one-yard run from Hillman to give the home team an early lead.

“They did a great job of coming out and challenging us,’’ No. 29 said.

Then, adding to the choppiness of the game, nature took over. Lightning in the immediate area surrounding Sports Authority Field forced a 46-minute weather delay with a little over a minute-and-a-half remaining in the first quarter.

When the teams finally took the field again, the Seattle offense showed a much more lively version of itself.

Even without the threat of running back Marshawn Lynch, the Seahawks were able to efficiently march down the field. Fourteen plays and over nine minutes into the drive, Christine Michael fought his way into the end zone on first-and-goal to even the score at 7-7.

From there, the reserves for both squads took center stage. A Steven Hauschka 41-yard field goal on Seattle’s next drive gave the visitors a slight 10-7 edge heading into halftime. In the third, the Broncos took a 14-10 lead on a Kapri Bibbs run that was set up by several Seattle penalties.

Newly acquired Hawks backup quarterback Terrelle Pryor attempted to regain the lead for his team, but his drive stalled and Seattle ended up settling for another long field goal from Hauschka to make it 14-13 with just under fine minutes remaining in the third.

Both offenses struggled to find a groove as the game went into the fourth quarter. Even though they were on the sidelines, Earl and his Legion of Boom compatriot Richard Sherman remained animated, showing support to their backups.

Seattle took a 16-14 advantage on another Hauschka field goal, this time from 22-yards out. However, Brock Osweiler and the Broncos quickly answered back with a touchdown drive that put them up by five with 7:22 left in the game.

On the ensuing Seahawks drive, the team had one final chance to go ahead late, but Pryor’s pass intended for Ricardo Lockette on third-and-goal was intercepted, allowing Denver to hold on for the victory. Afterward, Earl summed up the game, noting some positives, while pointing out the myriad things the Hawks can work on, specifically the backbreaking penalties.

“It was ups and downs,” Earl said after the game. “There were penalties that kind of killed us. We were playing pretty good football, but on third down we definitely can’t let them off the leash like that.”

NEXT UP

The defending Super Bowl Champions will play their first home game since last year’s NFC Championship next Friday in Seattle when they welcome the San Diego Chargers to CenturyLink Field.

Earl and the Hawks starting defense are expected to get even more playing time next week as they ramp up toward the season opener against Green Bay in less than a month.

Kickoff of next Friday’s matchup with the Chargers is slated for 7 p.m. EDT and the game can be seen locally on Q13 FOX and nationally on NFL Network.

RELATED LINKS

• End-zone INT caps Broncos victory over Seahawks (Associated Press, Aug. 7, 2014)
• Observation Deck: Seattle Seahawks (ESPN, Aug. 8, 2014)
• Seahawks can’t make play that matters most (Seahawks.com, Aug. 8, 2014)
• Seahawks’ nine-game preseason win streak snapped (Seahawks.com, Aug. 8, 2014)
• Friday Round-Up: Reaction to Seahawks Opener (Seahawks.com, Aug. 8, 2014)
• Game in review (Seahawks.com, Aug. 8, 2014)
• Seahawks Daily Top 10: Reviewing Preseason Opener (Seattle Times, Aug. 8, 2014)
• Position-by-position postgame thoughts (Seattle Times, Aug. 8, 2014)
• What we learned: Broncos down Seahawks (Seattle PI, Aug. 7, 2014)