For the second season in a row, the sky is falling for Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos.
Last year, they had traded for Wilson and possessed Super Bowl aspirations. But they won only five games as Wilson had, by far, the worst season of his storied career.
This season was supposed to be redemption, especially after they brought in head coach Sean Payton. But even though Wilson has played reasonably well for much of the season so far, Denver is just 1-4, and this time around, its defense is its main bugaboo.
Still, Wilson contributed to its 31-21 loss on Sunday to the New York Jets, and there is a feeling his strong numbers on the season are misleading. ESPN’s Mike Greenberg said on “Get Up” that Wilson is playing the worst ball of his career.
There were two miscues that stood out the most on Sunday. The first one came with 4:24 left in the first quarter when he was sacked in his own red zone for a safety, cutting the Broncos’ lead to 7-5. Then late in the fourth quarter, with his team down by just three points, he was strip-sacked by Quincy Williams, and Bryce Hall recovered the fumble and ran it in for a touchdown.
Overall, Wilson completed a solid 20 of 31 passes and threw two touchdown passes and zero interceptions, but he was sacked four times in total.
On the other side of the football, the Broncos are last in points and total yards allowed. It comes in stark contrast to last season when their defense was fairly solid and often gave them a chance to win.
One has to wonder what is causing Wilson to, at times, look so inept, especially considering how consistently brilliant he was during his 10 seasons at the helm of the Seattle Seahawks. Granted, he is nearing his 35th birthday, but there is no real reason to believe that all of his troubles are due to an accumulation of wear and tear.
More and more, it is starting to look like the Broncos made a big mistake in trading for him in the first place, especially given all they gave up to get him.
There is a growing feeling they may decide to cut their losses and trade at least one of their key players, perhaps even Russell Wilson.
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