Russell Wilson and the Broncos’ first year together has fallen apart. The quarterback has got off to a 3-6 start, and the offense looks to be in shambles, especially the o-line and passing game.
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After years of rotating through quarterbacks since Peyton Manning’s retirement, the Broncos finally made the bold move to go for it and trade for a superstar.
They went all-in on Russell Wilson, trading away multiple picks and players as they hoped the former Seahawk would unlock something special in the Broncos team. They even gave him a 5-year, $250 million extension.
It hasn’t worked that way so far though. The Broncos have one of the worst offenses in the league, and they have lost to teams that you wouldn’t have expected them to lose to coming into the season.
More than anything, the team seems to have taken no step forward from where they were last year. If anything, they may have even stepped backward.
Russell Wilson. Jalen Virgil. 66 yards! #BroncosCountry
📺: #DENvsTEN on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/4IOGDX8TuC pic.twitter.com/ksHyr7E2Yp— NFL (@NFL) November 13, 2022
Russell Wilson is on pace for a record number of sacks
The Broncos have failed in a number of areas this year, and a lot of the blame can be traced back to Russell Wilson. He’s looked much slower this year, and he hasn’t been able to take the Broncos offense to the next level.
The deep ball threat is almost non-existent, and the team is horrific in the redzone. Denver is scoring a touchdown on only 35% of their trips to the redzone, by far the lowest mark in the league. The next closest team is the Colts at 44%.
However, more than Wilson’s inability to make the most out of his team’s weapons, the Broncos o-line is failing to give their quarterback any protection.
One of the biggest reasons people thought Wilson would leave Seattle was because of how often he got hit there. Seattle didn’t do a good job protecting Wilson as he was sacked at record levels.
It looks like those problems are coming back to haunt him with Denver. Currently, the Broncos quarterback is on pace to be sacked 55 times. In today’s 21-16 loss to the Titans, Wilson was sacked 6 times.
This year, the Broncos might be down and out, but that doesn’t mean they can set up well for next year. They can learn from this year and figure out how to maximize Wilson’s abilities for next year and be competitive once more.