The rumors of Russell Wilson’s demise were unfounded, as it turns out. While Wilson suffered an awful regression in 2022 with the Broncos, that poor performance is starting to look like a fluke. Wilson has played far better in 2023 and he’s come on especially hot of late.
Denver has won five games in a row and over the last four Russ has played as well as he has since the first half of the 2020 season in Seattle. During that time, he’s thrown for seven touchdowns and zero interceptions. Wilson is also running the ball more than he has in years, totaling 95 yards and a touchdown on the ground in that stretch.
Wilson has performed so well in fact that the Broncos’ offense is now playing better than the Seahawks’, at least when we compare them by cumulative EPA.
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Some folks are getting carried away by claiming this means the Broncos won the Russell Wilson trade, citing Seattle’s 0-4 record against the 49ers since the deal went down. That’s just not the case. Getting what the Seahawks got in return and avoiding the price it would have cost to keep Wilson still makes it one of the best value deals of the Pete Carroll, John Schneider era – no matter how either offense is performing right now.
In any case, what’s separating these two units is not quarterbacks but coaching. Specifically, Sean Payton is renowned as one of the game’s top offensive minds, whereas Shane Waldron’s claim to fame is having previously worked for Sean McVay. It’s probably not fair to compare them – and Waldron does have some talent for designing plays. However, the Seahawks’ ongoing failures on third down are becoming a deal-breaker.
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