Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy has branded the Seattle Seahawks "aura-less" — a comment that has been subtly mocked by the NFL.

Thursday saw the reigning Super Bowl champions fall on the road to the Denver Broncos 17-14 in overtime, dropping Seattle to 3-3 on the year. Quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 278 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions, finishing with a passer rating of 52.6.

Seattle's offense struggled against Denver, with the loss their third defeat in four games. Prior to the game, McCoy, speaking on ESPN's First Take, questioned the idea that the Seahawks went into the game at Mile High having lost their "aura."

In McCoy's eyes, Seattle has not lost its aura, but only because he believes they never had any to begin with, pointing to the fact that they won the Super Bowl last season out of nowhere.

"We talk about aura; are they losing their aura? I say they never had it, and let me tell you why," said McCoy.

"Last season, they caught everybody by surprise; nobody expected them to go as far as they did because we said Sam Darnold played great in Minnesota, but can he lead this team again?

"He was still turning the ball over, but they kept going, all the way up until they even went to the Super Bowl, we was still questioning can Sam Darnold get it done? They win the Super Bowl, and we gave them 24 hours of praise, and we was onto the Rams.

"We was on to the next team! Teams with aura, you not doing that with. And they came into this season, and I said before the season, the biggest problem with this team with repeating would be expectation.

"We finally expected something from them, and they didn't have this aura that everybody speaks of and now they come into the season, Sam Darnold's still turning the ball over and things are just the same.

McCoy continued, "But I believe losing [Klint] Kubiak [Seattle's former offensive coordinator, now head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders] is a big part of that, because you may not be able to run or have the guys like Kenneth Walker ... but the difference is they're drawing it up for him in Kansas City, and allowing him to be free and play like he can play.

"Kubiak ... he blocked a lot of flaws that this offense had."

Following McCoy's comments ahead of Thursday night's game, the NFL then posted a pair of photos on social media of Seahawks wide receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba, captioning the post: "aura."

Clearly, it did not have the intended effect, given the Seahawks lost on the road. Statistically and individually, however, Smith-Njigba enjoyed a strong night against the Broncos, catching 12 passes for 134 yards.