A Disastrous Tenure
- Arjun Peroor
- Aug 1, 2024
- 7 min read
Russell Wilson was regarded as one of the best QBs in the NFL from the day he started to his final game as a Seahawk. In Seattle, he had 292 TDs with just 87 interceptions. That is better than a 3:1 TD to Int ratio. In his 10 years there, he was a 9-time pro bowler, second-team all-pro in 2019, and a Super Bowl 48 Champ in 2014. Until that point, his resume looked like he was no doubt going to the Hall of Fame. Then came the Broncos era.
The Broncos gave up a king's ransom for him as they gave away a 2022 first, second, and fifth-round pick and a 2023 first and second-round pick. They also gave away 3 players Drew Lock, Noah Fant, and Shelby Harris. The franchise and their fanbase believed that this team was just one QB away from contention. Wilson at that point was certainly the best QB they had since Peyton Manning's retirement in 2016. The Broncos were coming off a season where they finished 7-10. Surely Russ could get them 3-4 more wins. The running game of Williams and Gordon looked dynamic as each finished with more than 900 yards. The defense was stout as they finished 3rd in overall defense according to pro football reference. The Broncos also hired Nathaniel Hackett who was the Packers' OC and many Broncos fans were happy to have him on board seeing that he was the one helping Rodgers call the shots in his back-to-back MVP seasons So the only missing piece was Russ, right? Wrong, Wrong, and Wrong again.
Russ's Broncos tenure started with him facing his former team back in Seattle where he threw for 29-42, 340 yards, and 1 TD in a 16-17 loss to Seattle. It wasn't a horrible debut but he looked a bit rusty overall it wasn't something to be discouraged by and I thought he would only get better as the season progressed. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the more admirable performances of the season. The Broncos started that season 2-2 and Russ didn't look great but he didn't look awful either. His performance up till that point could be looked past as he was still getting used to his new offense and play-caller. Then came the Colts game. The Broncos played the Colts in one of the worst offensive-produced games from both teams in recent memory as they 9-12. Wilson finished the game with 274 yards and 2 INTs with no TDs with just over a 50% completion rate. The game was so bad that fans left the stadium when the game went to OT after a 9-9 draw through 4 quarters. They couldn't believe what they were watching. It was at this moment that Broncos fans knew that this season was not going to be what they imagined. The Broncos would go on to lose 9 of their next 11 games. The offense would average 15.1 points per game in that stretch. The final straw was Christmas day when they lost 51-14 to Baker and the Rams and fired Nathaniel Hackett. The team hit rock bottom. However, optimism resurfaced in Denver after seeing How Russ played in the final 2 games of the season as the Broncos put up 24 and 31 in the final 2 games and Russ had 6 total TDs in the final 2 games. He finished the season with 19 total TDs with 6 of them coming in the final 2 games. So people looked at this and concluded that Hackett was the problem and Russ was still capable of playing football at a high level so optimism was back in Broncos Country.
The Broncos then hired Sean Payton and people were ready to see Russ cook again with competency at the HC position. Russ lost 15 pounds in the 2023 offseason and looked faster and leaner in the 2023 preseason and people were looking forward to a new and improved Russell Wilson. Week 1 comes and Russ plays a very good first half vs the Raiders throwing over 100 yards and 2 TDs. and had the team leading 13-10 However, he was not very good in the second half as the Broncos scored just a field goal losing the game 17-16. Losing 17-16 in the season opener? Hmm, that sounds familiar. But you know what, Russ did look a lot better and it was his first game with Payton I'm sure he'll give more complete games as the season goes on. We go to week 2 as the Broncos take on the Commanders and the Broncos offense looks amazing for the first 20 minutes of the first half. Rookie Marvin Mimms and Russell Wilson show off their chemistry early and often as Russ once again looks flawless in the early parts of the game but then he fumbles and then he just once again stinks it up after. It was similar to the Raiders game where was playing very well but then he fumbled the ball away and he just didn't look the same afterward and you have to believe that he's getting in his head. Denver starts 0-2 but looks much improved on offense from their 2022 counterparts. Oddly enough, the Broncos defense was letting them down and Broncos fans were letting newly hired DC Vance Joseph hear it after the first 2 games. The criticism only got louder after they lost 70-20 to Miami the next week. That was the story of the first 5 weeks of the season. Russ and the offense played fine and the defense was atrocious. In the first 5 weeks, Russ had 12 TDs and 2 Ints. The Broncos were giving up 36.2 ppg in that same stretch. So the criticism went from Russ to the defense quickly. Then came weeks 6-12. The Broncos' defense buckled up and gave up only 14.1 ppg and gave QBs such as Mahomes and Allen fits as the team went from 1-4 to 6-5 and right back in the playoff mix. Russ in these games was not throwing a lot of yards but he was safe with the football and made big plays down the stretch. The team was winning so we fans were fine with Russ's performance but looking back on it, the offense relied too much on the defense to create turnovers if the turnovers didn't happen the offense was unable to move the ball consistently and he would constantly miss potential big plays because he was being too safe with the football. 27% of his passes were behind the line of scrimmage which was number 1 in the NFL. He wasn't making mistakes but he was limiting the offense at the time we fans didn't care because they were riding a 5 game-win streak. Life was good as a Broncos fan. Then came the homestretch of the season.
Weeks 13-17. This was when I truly knew Russ was no longer Russ. In 2022, I chalked it up to injuries and coaching but in 2023, the team was as healthy as it has been in years and the coach was Sean Payton. I look at 2 games specifically. The game vs the Texans and the game vs the Lions. The Broncos in week 13 faced the 6-5 Texans. With both teams being 6-5, this was crucial for seeding. The Broncos lost 17-22 with Russ throwing 3 interceptions. The Russ and the Broncos did make a valiant effort as they were down 16-3 but it wasn't enough. Then came the Lions game 2 weeks later. The Broncos were sitting at 7-6 and needed this win to keep their playoff hopes in their own hands and not have to rely on other teams to sneak in. They lost the game 42-17. The offense couldn't do much. The defense wasn't great but I expected Russ to put up a better fight. Those 2 games were the reason why you get a QB like Russ and give up so much for him. You expect him to be able to carry the team in marquee matchups late in the season and be able to put the team on his back and win games that aren't going your way. It just was not the case at all with this team. This team could only win if the defense gets a bunch of turnovers, the running game is good, and if the game is tight, Russ will make some nice plays down the stretch. However, if this team went down 2 scores at any point you just knew as a fan that there is no way that this team was coming back because Russ was reluctant to push the ball downfield. The Broncos would lose to the 3-win Patriots next week 26-23 and Russ would be benched. That itself was a big story as he was told that he would be benched in the middle of the season if he didn't adjust an injury guarantee to his contract. He was told this in the middle of the win streak sometime in November. This tells me that Payton was upper management was not super pleased with how he was performing despite the Broncos winning and they didn't want to have to pay him 37 million if he got hurt in the final 2 games if he got hurt so they benched him to avoid the risk. Denver would finish 8-9 in 2023. The Broncos cut Russ and he was later signed by the Steelers in the offseason.
So looking back, it was just weird a tenure. He was awful in 2022. He was better in 2023 but with what he was being paid he needed to be better. He gave us some good moments but overall you could tell he was not the same guy as he was in Seattle. In Seattle, he could get away with a lot more because of his athleticism. But now that his athleticism has declined, he has to rely on his football IQ and be more of a traditional passer which was never his game. He isn't your typical QB who just stands in the pocket and goes through reads like Peyton or Brady. He is more like Favre and is more of an improv artist and that could be because of his height. His game is not built to age well because so much of it was predicated on his escapability and out-of-script wizardry. I fear that he is going to have to learn how to play QB more prototypically or else this could be his final year as a starter. If he cannot make it work under a great coach and a solid team in Pittsburgh, I'm not sure he can do it anywhere else. The 2024 season is a make-or-break season for him and I wish him the best.
If you enjoyed reading this and want to read more of The Sporting Maniac, you can make an account and click here:
If you want to see more of my personal work, you can visit:
Komentáře