Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos have looked stable in recent weeks despite a shaky start to the season. Broncos have won their last three games and have managed a 4-5 record that equals their AFC East rivals, Los Angeles Chargers. Colin Cowherd praised the Broncos and highlighted how their starting quarterback has stepped up and improved this season.
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The NFL analyst on his show, “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Thursday, laid down Russell Wilson’s stats on the table and compared his current season performance with that of last year’s. Cowherd, after proving his point, stated how the 1x Super Bowl champ has transformed to Joe Burrow from Desmond Ridder after a coaching change.
“Russell Wilson through the first nine games – If you go back to last year’s numbers and then look at this year’s it’s unbelievable. Last year he was Desmond Ridder, this year he’s Joe Burrow.”
Russell Wilson, after moving on from the Seattle Seahawks, has been facing criticism for his mediocre performances with the Denver Broncos. However, Wilson has upscaled his performance and is turning out to be a better passer in the ongoing season. Wilson in nine games has thrown for 1806 yards and scored 18 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Last season, the Broncos’ quarterback threw only 16 touchdown passes, marking his career low as he had never thrown fewer than 20 touchdowns before.
Colin Cowherd Observes Coaching Influence on Russell Wilson
The Denver Broncos fired first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett in the middle of the last season after the Broncos went 4-11 under him. Following the move, Broncos’ assistant head coach, Jerry Rosburg, served as an interim head coach for the remaining games. However, right after the Broncos 2022 season ended, they hired Sean Payton for the role, who is currently serving as the 20th head coach of the franchise. The team looks stronger this year compared to last year, perhaps the coaching change has worked out for them.
During the show, Colin Cowherd expressed that when Russell Wilson struggled last year, people labeled him as “washed up”. He points out historical statistics that showed no quarterback with four consecutive seasons of 100+passer rating suddenly starts under-performing without a major injury. He thinks the change in Wilson’s performance is because of a coaching shift, which he mentions by the impact of a great coach compared to a bad one.
“I said ‘IT’S GOTTA BE HACKETT.’ We know the difference between a great player and a bad player. Do we not understand the difference between a bad coach and a great coach? It’s even more impactful.”
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Cowherd also compared Russell Wilson’s current statistics to his stats from last year to support his previous statement. In the 2022 season, Wilson had a passer rating of 83.3 and a pass completion percentage of 59.5 through the first nine games. He threw only seven touchdown passes and 5 interceptions in those games. Since Sean Payton started coaching the Broncos, Russell Wilson’s season has improved. In nine games, he has thrown 18 touchdowns with only 4 interceptions while completing 67.9% of his passes and achieving a passer rating of 104.0.
