Why Hasn’t Russ Been Cooking?

Oct 9

Five games into the 2022 NFL Season, the Denver Broncos are amongst the league’s most disappointing teams. After this offseason’s blockbuster trade for nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson, the team extended Wilson for five years on a contract worth $265 million. Russ seemed like the answer to many of the problems that Denver has faced in recent seasons, but after another low-scoring and unimpressive loss, it is time to look at why Russ hasn’t been able to perform to his standards.

Starting with Wilson himself, while he isn’t the only one struggling, he simply needs to step it up. Big time. The Broncos haven’t had a quarterback on the level of Russ since the prime Peyton Manning days more than half a decade ago, but Wilson’s play has been more comparable to the recent quarterbacks who have struggled in Denver.

During their week five 12-9 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Wilson was 0-6 on pass attempts into the endzone, one resulting in an interception. His biggest mistake ended up costing Denver the game, missing a wide-open K.J. Hamler in the endzone on fourth-and-one in overtime. As Russ said in the postgame press conference, he’s “got to be better.”

With an offense that has been severely underachieving, the blame that Wilson has been hearing has also been directed toward Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett. Maybe to a lesser extent than Wilson, Hackett also came into Denver this year with some expectations. Hackett served as offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers for the past three years, with two of those seasons resulting in quarterback Aaron Rodgers winning NFL MVP.

One can easily argue that Hackett is the primary root for Denver’s offense being unable to click instead of Wilson. Starting with the two’s first game together, Hackett would elect to attempt a 64-yard field goal on fourth-and-five with two timeouts and 20 seconds left. The field goal would be no good and Denver was upset 17-16 by the Seattle Seahawks. The decision by Hackett left many confused. Hackett attempting such a long kick in that situation was also a sign of if there is trust between him and Wilson.

Since then Hackett has been running the offense with very few changes, as the Broncos have only scored above 20 points one time in five games (week five’s 32-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders).

After another disappointing offensive performance, adjustments that need to be made simply aren’t being made. Despite the injuries, the group still has talent - but is failing to consistently produce explosive plays. With everything misclicking and frequent poor decision-making from coach and quarterback, a feeling of trust across the offense seems like it is missing.

The Broncos sit at 2-3, and while there are still 12 games left, adjustments and improvement need to happen now, otherwise, Broncos fans will have to get ready for yet another season with no playoff appearance.