The frigid conditions were not enough to deter 72,713 from taking in this game, which advances to the fourth quarter with Denver in field-position purgatory back at its 1-yard-line. The temperature has risen to 21 degrees tonight, with the wind chill now at 11.

8:38 P.M. MST: Bryce Fisher gets to Jay Cutler on third down … but Cutler holds on to the football, and managed to step one yard out of the end zone, avoiding a safety — but forcing Paul Ernster to punt from deep in his end zone. Ernster kicks a 40-yard punt that Nate Burleson returns six yards to the Denver 36.

8:42 P.M. MST: Huge third-and-4 … and Elvis Dumervil collapses the pocket along with Gerard Warren. Dumervil gets credit for the sack, setting up a 52-yard Josh Brown field-goal attempt … or perhaps no, as Brown pooches the punt, which Darrent Williams comes forward to field, which he proceeds to muff … and then recover on his own.

8:43 P.M. MST: Denver didn’t lose the ball, but might have lost something far more valuabke, as Al Wilson has yet to rise after the play.

8:47 P.M. MST: Wilson is still on the grass. He momentarily sat up, but is laying down on the cold grass at around the Denver 20-yard-line once again. A chant of “Wil-son, Wil-son, Wil-son,” rises from the frigid fans as virtually the entire Broncos team encircles the All-Pro linebacker.

8:52 P.M. MST: An immobilized Wilson leaves the field. Meanwhile, Tatum Bell is injured one play later and is helped by the team’s training staff to the sidelines.

8:55 P.M. MST: It appears that Wilson’s injury has — quite understandably — dripped the liveliness from this crowd, and perhaps the Broncos. Denver goes three-and-out and punts; Seattle takes over at its 39-yard-line with 9:42 left.

8:59 P.M. MST: Three plays later, Seattle is in the end zone.

9:02 P.M. MST: Turnover No. 4 comes when Brian Clark fumbles the football on the ensuing return. Seattle’s Joe Tafoya recovers the fumble at the Denver 40.

9:12 P.M. MST: Since Wilson left the game, nothing has gone right for the Broncos; the team yields a field goal, and then a Jay Cutler pass is tipped and intercepted.

9:13 P.M. MST: NBC’s Andrea Kremer reported that Wilson was moving his extremities and was taken to a local hospital for “precautionary measures.”

9:16 P.M. MST: The Wilson-less defense gamely holds Seattle to a field goal, and gives Cutler one more opportunity.

10:46 P.M. MST: Back in the press box after a crushing defeat for the Broncos. It gives them their third straight home defeat — the longest skid in Denver since 2002 — and places them in a tie for the last wild-card slot with Cincinnati, Kansas City, Jacksonville and the New York Jets. All trail their respective divisional leaders by at least two games with four to play.

The second half begins with Brian Clark returning the opening kickoff to the Denver 34-yard-line. Punter/kickoff specialist Paul Ernster was practicing field goals just before the half began; regular kicker Jason Elam hobbled off the field after hitting a 41-yard field goal just before halftime.

8:04 P.M. MST: Another Jay Cutler third-down completion … quite impressively, one might add, with pressure from Bryce Fisher bearing down upon him. He found Javon Walker — who was blanketed by cornerback Kelly Jennings — to keep Denver’s opening second-half possession alive.

8:08 P.M. MST: But it doesn’t last long, as the Broncos advanced near field-goal range, then moved backward, first with a holding penalty on Mike Bell, then when Bell fumbled the football, giving Seattle possession at its 46-yard-line.

8:13 P.M. MST: Another three-and-out for Denver’s defense, which so far tonight is tackling exactly as defensive coordinator Larry Coyer would like. Denver has outagined Seattle 203 yards to 79 so far tonight.

8:17 P.M. MST: Tatum Bell returns to action on this possession, gains 9 yards on two runs, then turns the work over to Cecil Sapp, who sprints 20 yards on a third-and-1 to get the Broncos to their 40-yard-line. Denver is now outrushing Seattle 170 yards to 31.

8:18 P.M. MST: Jay Cutler is sacked to end the possession, but Paul Ernster notches a net of 44 yards on the punt, leaving Seattle to start its second possession of the quarter at its 27.

8:22 P.M. MST: Shaun Alexander just gained as many yards on one carry as he had on his previous 10. One play later, he reverses field to transform a potential 4-yard loss into a 7-yard gain, and the Seahawks are across midfield.

8:25 P.M. MST: A lob up the left sideline. Champ Bailey in pursuit. The ball flying near the end zone. Looks like most of Bailey’s interceptions this year. In the words of Darth Vader, “All too easy.” Denver’s defense stops Seattle once again; it needs some support from the offense, which has been a party to all 20 of the game’s points tonight.

8:28 P.M. MST: Three and out — the Broncos’ first such drive since early in the second quarter. Paul Ernster’s punt sails 55 yards, but no Broncos are in the area of Nate Burleson as he fields the punt, allowing him a 12-yard return — which is promptly negated by an illegal-block-in-the-back infraction on Joe Tafoya.

8:30 P.M. MST: Cold As Ice by Foreigner as NBC goes into commercial. Appropriate choice.

8:32 P.M. MST: Shaun Alexander goes 12 yards on the first play of this Seattle possession and Al Wilson is going Mauna Kea afterwards. It might be 18 degrees right now in Denver; in the vicinity of the obviously furious linebacker it’s roughly 1,400 degrees higher.

8:34 P.M. MST: Three plays later, the Broncos force a punt … that promptly dribbles back to the Denver 1-yard-line.

The second quarter begins with a reversal of the first-quarter field-position trend, as the Broncos start their fourth possession of the night at their 2-yard-line.

6:59 P.M. MST: Cutler’s third pass yields his first completion … for one yard.

7:00 P.M. MST: Paul Ernster channeled his inner Thurman Thomas for a moment, running onto the field without a helmet before quickly returning to the bench to retrieve his headgear. “Really, to be honest with you, he could play without a helmet,” NBC’s John Madden says. Head Coach Mike Shanahan had some words for the second-year punter as he returned to the bench. His subsequent punt covered 43 yards, accounting for a net of 35.

7:04 P.M. MST: Five possessions, two delay-of-game penalties against Seattle. This one helps force a third-down stop — and Seattle’s Pro Bowl stalwart tackle, Walter Jones, is slow to arise after the third-down run.

7:08 P.M. MST: Denver’s lead remains 3-0 after Josh Brown misses from 40 yards away. So far, field position has set up two field-goal tries … the difference is that Jason Elam hit his.

7:11 P.M. MST: A fumbled snap … that’s going to happen when you change half of the center-quarterback partnership. Two plays later, though, Julian Peterson yanks Cutler’s facemask on a scramble, and the infraction pushes Denver across midfield.

7:13 P.M. MST: Cutler looks for Tony Scheffler for a second time tonight, but his pass is behind the fellow rookie and incomplete.

7:14 P.M. MST: A play later, Cutler gets his initial first down through the air — thanks in part to the body control of Stephen Alexander, who keeps his feet inbounds long enough to get the needed yardage. One play later, Tatum Bell totes the frozen rock 31 yards to the Seattle 7-yard-line.

7:16 P.M. MST: Stephen Alexander knew there was only one thing to do with the football he used to score on a 7-yard touchdown reception — give it to the man who sent it in his direction. So after the Broncos all went up to Cutler one-by-one to congratulate him, the nine-year veteran takes his spot at the end of the line and hands Cutler the prized football, one that Cutler will forever treasure.

Oh, and the Broncos now lead 10-0.

7:20 P.M. MST: Delay of game No. 3 against Seattle. At least we know that the crowd’s lips aren’t frozen.

7:22 P.M. MST: Three and out. Seattle fullback Mack Strong is grappling with an ankle injury, although Walter Jones returned after missing no time.

7:26 P.M. MST: Well, no one said Cutler’s first night was going to be perfect. But his first career interception was, well, distinct. Probably as unforgettable for the rookie quarterback as his previous pass, which went for a touchdown.

7:29 P.M. MST: Stephen Alexander walks off the field, but does so with assistance after incurring an injury during an 11-yard Tatum Bell run.

7:31 P.M. MST: Denver’s ground game becoming a significant thread in the storyline: One-hundred thirty yards and counting.

7:32 P.M. MST: Moments after Denver’s youngest offensive starter gives away the football, its oldest loses the handle after a reception as the ball bounces away from Rod Smith.

7:37 P.M. MST: Denver’s defense posts yet another three-and-out. Josh Brown misses from 53 yards away, and a holding penalty on Will Heller — who clotheslined Domonique Foxworth on the play — will give the Broncos possession at the Seattle 47, since it’s assessed 10 yards from the spot of the missed kick. Cutler has 107 seconds and all three timeouts to work with as the Broncos begin this possession.

7:45 P.M. MST: Jason Elam outran Kelly Herndon for a first down, and then drilled a 41-yard field-goal attempt seconds later as the half expires … but Elam came up from the kick hobbling and in obvious pain. Halftime in Denver … Broncos up, 13-7.