It was a tale of two halves for the Seahawks offense. Which one was real?

Moments before kickoff Sunday, Taima — the team’s 19-year-old augur hawk — was released as the Seahawks’ reserves ran out of the southwest tunnel attached to Lumen Field. Instead of coasting to its trainer, Taima took an impromptu left turn, circling the seats before settling on a railing on the west side of the stadium. As fans posed for photos and attempted to pet the hawk, a Lumen Field employee frantically waved toward the field, evidently asking for help.

Eventually, order was restored.

But early, it was ugly.

The same can be said of the Seahawks’ offense, which found its way in the second half of a season-opening 26-20 win.

Or, as left guard Laken Tomlinson concluded: “Everything that [could have] happened, happened in that first half. But coming out like that in the second half, that shows what kind of team we are.”

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Fans would certainly like to see more of the second-half Seahawks — who scored 17 of their 26 points on three consecutive drives; who paved the way for Kenneth Walker III to total 103 rushing yards, including a 23-yard trot around the right edge and into the end zone; who effectively sealed the win with a 9-yard completion on third-and-6 from Geno Smith to Tyler Lockett, who stabbed the ball with his reliable left hand despite cornerback Riley Moss hanging off him like a cape.

You’d love to believe first-year coordinator Ryan Grubb solved his offense’s ills at halftime, that the Seahawks turned a symbolic corner and will sprint unimpeded for 16 games straight.

But progress, as they say, is not a straight line. Taima will take more left turns.

How will the Seahawks respond?

“It didn’t start out great, not the way we want to start a football game,” said Smith, who completed 18 of 25 passes and threw for 171 yards with a passing touchdown, a 34-yard rushing touchdown and an interception. “It was very ugly. But I thought we stayed poised throughout. I was really proud of the guys and how the communication was on the sideline. Everyone was picking each other up. No one was getting down on themselves.”

In this case, very ugly is not an overstatement. Smith was sacked on the Seahawks’ first offensive play, then delivered an interception directly to Denver linebacker Alex Singleton on the second. Their second and third drives — both three-and-outs — began with a false start and a holding penalty, respectively.

Twice the Seahawks started with the ball at their 1-yard line, and twice they surrendered safeties — via an Anthony Bradford holding penalty, and a Zach Charbonnet carry that failed to exit the end zone. The offensive line lost starting right tackle George Fant to a knee injury after 13 plays, while guards Tomlinson and Bradford surrendered steady pressure.

This, truly, was a buffet of blunders.

But Grubb didn’t blink.

“The same as always,” Smith said of Grubb’s demeanor during the game. “That’s what I love about him: he’s the same guy every day, no matter the situation, no matter what’s going on. He’s got that same calming tone and demeanor.

“That’s something we love about him. It rubs off on all the coaches and down to the players. I think that’s a big part of why we were able to find our groove in the second half.”

On Sunday, the coordinator’s composure seemed to trickle down. Lockett — who led the Seahawks with six catches for 77 yards — attributed the dual safeties to “first game jitters. It was kind of surprising, because I don’t know if I ever seen anything like that before, or even heard of something like that before.

“But the biggest thing, I think, was resilience. Because you didn’t see people complaining. You didn’t see people putting their head down and being like, ‘Bro, what are we doing?’ It was just, ‘Hey man, let’s buy in.’”

For fans, a win makes it easy to buy in. But what should you believe?

Is this the offense that managed 102 total yards, nine points and six first downs in a forgettable first half? Is it the unit whose poor offensive-line play rendered the playbook obsolete? Or is it the outfit that bombarded the Broncos in a commanding third quarter, perhaps providing promise of more production to come?

The truth probably sits somewhere in between.

Against a more menacing opponent, a half that disastrous would have spelled the Seahawks’ doom. They were blessed to go through “first game jitters” — Lockett’s words — against a first-time starting quarterback (Bo Nix) who gifted two interceptions and often resembled a rattled rookie. Wide receivers DK Metcalf (three catches for 29 yards) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (two catches for 19 yards) also had disappointingly quiet days.

And yet, a win’s a win — even if the Seahawks’ offense started the season with an impromptu left turn.

“We know what we have in this locker room,” Tomlinson said. “We have the right men in this locker room to go out there and do the job. All we have to do is execute on an individual level and we’ll have a really, really good football team.”

One half at a time.