Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos entered Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins in South Beach knowing that they were up against it. At 0-2, a loss on Sunday would make Denver pretty much irrelevant as it relates to the AFC Playoff picture before the calendar even hits October.
Only one team since 2002 has earned a spot in the playoffs after starting 0-3. Despite this, Wilson and Co. had confidence that an ugly 0-2 start wouldn’t give in to a downward spiral moving forward on the season.
“Yeah, definitely do. Definitely been to the playoffs before [after having] been down 0-2. The good thing is you’ve got more pitches coming, more games to play. You don’t blink. I think the biggest thing is staying focused on the task and staying focused on progress and staying focused on the journey.”
Russell Wilson on making the playoffs after an 0-2 start
Words of encouragement are fine. Doing your talking on the field is a completely different thing. Denver did not do its talking against the Dolphins. Instead, the team was absolutely routed in every possible way. An historically bad performance. A miserable day. Nothing short of the lowest Sunday of football in the history of the Broncos’ franchise.
Tua Tagovailoa hit Tyreek Hill on a 54-yard touchdown pass just 1:23 into the game. Once rookie De’Von Achane scored from eight yards out with 6:31 remaining in the first quarter to give Miami a 14-0 lead, this one was pretty much over.
The final score of 70-20 (yes, seventy) was indicative of just how dominant Miami was against a clearly inferior Broncos team. Tagovailoa completed 23-of-26 passes for 309 yards with four touchdowns. Achane added 203 yards on the ground while Raheem Mostert scored four touchdowns. All the while, Hill gained 157 yards through the air. The end result was Miami tallying 726 total yards of offense and putting up the third-most points in league history.
Much like what we saw during Denver’s brutal Week 2 home loss to the Washington Commanders, Sunday’s game was not necessarily on Wilson. The quarterback had no chance with the way the Broncos’ defense played. He was actually pretty good from a statistical perspective (23-of-38 passing, 306 yards, one TD, one INT).
But this has been a continual issue under new Broncos head coach Sean Payton. Struggles on the defensive end. Veteran Vance Joseph joined Payton on Denver’s staff this season to coordinate the defense. Much like Wilson, he entered Week 3 against Miami with optimism.
“We have good enough players to be a good defense, absolutely,” Joseph said Thursday, via the Denver Broncos official website. “I expect that. Coming here, my vision was to be a dominant defense, and that hasn’t changed. I’m telling you, on tape, in the first two games, you can see it happening.”
Again, talk is one thing. Actually showing up and doing it on the field is another thing. Through three games, Denver’s defense is giving up an average of 40.7 per. That’s not putting Wilson and the offense in a position to succeed. And in reality, it has the Wilson era in Mile High on the brink.
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Winner Russell Wilson was left behind in Seattle
During his 10-year run with the Seattle Seahawks, Wilson was known more for being a winner than anything else. He posted a 104-53-1 record as a starter in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle earned two Super Bowl appearances and a Lombardi during his time with the organization. Of the 10 seasons Wilson was Seattle’s starting quarterback, it made the playoffs all but two times.
This begs a major question. What the heck is going on in Denver with Wilson? He’s now 4-14 as a starter for the Broncos since they acquired the future Hall of Fame quarterback from the Seahawks ahead of last season.
Even before the 2023 campaign, there were major questions about Wilson’s ability to lead the Broncos out of their near decade funk.
“I think he was out of shape, I think he was reading his own press clippings last year, I think they bent over backwards for him in the trade, and he had them by the short hairs, but I think Sean Payton is going to get the most out of him. It would not surprise me if he plays well this year.”
Unnamed NFL offensive coordinator on Russell Wilson
Denver yielded two first-round picks, two second-round picks, multiple mid-round selections and players to acquire Wilson from Seattle ahead of last season. It then signed him to a whopping five-year, $242.6 million contract extension.
The hope was that Wilson’s MVP ways with Seattle would translate to Mile High. Hiring an offensive-minded head coach in Nathaniel Hackett added another layer to that.
Hackett didn’t even last a full season as the Broncos’ head coach. He was fired 15 games in after proving to be inept in that role.
Enter into the equation Denver’s decision to trade for former New Orleans Saints Super Bowl-winning head coach Sean Payton this past spring. The idea was obvious. If Payton can’t fix Wilson, it will end up being a lost cause. Giving up another first-round pick to acquire Payton added another layer to that belief.
Fast forward several months, and the Broncos now find themselves at 0-3 and pretty much playing out the string on the remainder of the season.
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Where do Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos go from here?
Wilson’s contract called for $124 million fully guaranteed at signing. Denver doesn’t have a realistic out on his contract until after the 2025 season.
If the Broncos were to move on from Wilson via a trade or release before June 1 of next year, it would come with a $85 million dead cap hit. That’s not sustainable. Even designating him a June 1 cut would result in a $35 million dead cap hit with the other $50 million being spread out throughout the remainder of Wilson deal (2028).
In short, the Broncos don’t have a real out.
The larger question here is how to build a team around Wilson given his contract issues and the lack of all-around talent in Denver.
Whether it’s current general manager George Paton or someone else leading the charge, something must change from a player personnel standpoint.
Newish majority owner Rob Walton didn’t spend $4.65 billion on this organization last year for the product we saw on the field Sunday in South Beach.
And while Wilson is not to blame for the embarrassment, he’s the face of the Broncos’ organization. He’ll rightfully receive criticism after losing for the 14th time in 18 starts with the Denver Broncos. That’s the reality of today’s NFL.