On Sunday, Russell Wilson didn’t get to play in the Broncos highly anticipated home opener. But just like a year ago, the quarterback trotted off the field following an ugly Broncos loss. This time around, however, he had to be pretty happy on the way back to the locker room.
Last year’s loss was pinned on Wilson. On Sunday, he had nothing to do with the loss, Denver’s second on the young season. Nursing an injury, Wilson never saw the field as Pittsburgh’s quarterback, yet, the Steelers win surely tasted pretty sweet.
And why wouldn’t it? The bulk, as in 96.9 percent, of Wilson’s paycheck is being scratched by the Broncos. As the Steelers accounting department (or the IRS, for that matter) sees it, Wilson is being paid $37.79 million – by the Broncos – simply to not be the quarterback in Denver.
That’s an expensive way to say, “It was your fault.”
With the Broncos sitting at 0-2 – potentially 0-3 following a rarely friendly road trip to Tampa Bay next weekend – the start to the season looks eerily similar (remember, that’s exactly how the team began last year’s campaign). What’s noticeably different can be seen in the Broncos backfield, where rookie quarterback Bo Nix has replaced Wilson.
While their records will likely be identical a week from now, the statistics attached to Wilson in 2023 and Nix in 2024 look very different through two weeks. In Wilson’s first two games under Payton, he threw for 485 yards, 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. By comparison, Denver’s rookie has thrown for 384 yards, no touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
At the time, Wilson was considered by some to be a future Hall of Famer, even if his maiden year in Denver (under Nathaniel Hackett) was uninspiring at best. Even at 0-2, there was still hope that Wilson could lead Denver to the postseason. Ultimately, he didn’t, but managed to make things interesting along the way, going 7-8 as the starter, before getting yanked for good by Payton with two games left to play.
Nix is a rookie, so the comparison isn’t entirely fair. There’s still plenty of hope in Denver that their young signal caller can be the guy. Pinning an opening game loss in Seattle on a rookie seems rough, but asking any starting NFL quarterback to overcome 13 points seems reasonable. The Broncos ultimately lost 13-6, failing to score a touchdown and turning in an offensive performance that was actually worse than what the stat sheet might indicate.
After the game, Payton, who has been widely considered an offensive mastermind, said of the offense: “That side of the ball needs to get cleaned up.” That’s an understatement. At halftime against the Steelers, the Broncos were being shut out; Nix was 7/11 for 39 yards and no touchdowns.
Across the field, Wilson stood there holding a clip board, smiling, being the most positive gosh darn teammate there ever was. Blameless.
Payton has never said as much explicitly, but his actions both this season and last would indicate where his finger points when it comes to pinning last year’s playoff-less campaign on someone – directly at Wilson. Starting the season at 0-2, however, there’s only one set of fingerprints common to both seasons – and those digits belong to Payton.
One can blame Nix and his inexperience for the Broncos rocky start. One can blame a roster devoid of talent – especially playmakers surrounding Nix – as well. The problem, however, is that everything about the Broncos offense leads back to Payton. It’s his quarterback now. It’s his offense, not the hybrid version he had to compromise with Wilson under center. If his name was Nathaniel Hackett and not Sean Payton, the masses would be pointing out the obvious ineptitude.
It’s been reported that Payton makes approximately $18 million per year, a five-year commitment from the Walton-Penner Group that, at the time, made Payton the second-highest paid coach in all of American sports. Only Bill Belichick made more, and he’s now on Insta-Face and out of the league. Whether ownership is paying off Wilson simply to leave, or paying a pretty penny for Payton’s reputation as an offensive genius, it looks as if the return on investment is low – embarrassingly low.
It’s not 0-2 that should bother fans or even the team; it’s the complete and utter lack of offense that’s most troubling. Whether it’s this season or last, those troubles share a a common denominator.
And it’s not the quarterback.
