Every week it seems like things can’t get much worse for the Denver Broncos offense. And, nearly every week, things get worse.
Russell Wilson, the embattled quarterback who arrived in Colorado and quickly disintegrated into a pile of mush, had one of his most efficient outings of the season. He completed 17 of his 22 pass attempts. His 102.3 passer rating was the second-highest of his 2022 season to date.
And none of this mattered, because he found the end zone zero times and was beaten by Baltimore Ravens backup Tyler Huntley.
Huntley, inserted at the start of the second quarter thanks to a Lamar Jackson knee injury, was similarly accurate through the air. In the end, the third-year passer and former undrafted free agent was the catalyst behind a 91-yard drive that provided the game’s only touchdown and kept the Broncos plumbing new depths in their quest for rock bottom.
D-O-DOUBLE G❗️
Tune in on cbs! pic.twitter.com/x2x4mEYALs
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 4, 2022
Denver would be 10-2 if its offense, which was supposed to be revitalized by the Wilson trade, had just scored 18 points in regulation in each game so far. Instead this team is 3-9. Every loss only makes the price they paid for their dud of a quarterback more expensive; as of today, the Broncos will send the third and 35th picks in next spring’s draft to Seattle to complete the trade that gave them a below-average quarterback for the eighth straight season.
What’s worse is the list of players who’ve outdueled Wilson on his spelunking journey. In Week 5 it was a washed Matt Ryan. In Week 12 he had his spotlight stolen by Sam Darnold. On Sunday, he couldn’t match the heroics of Tyler by-god Huntley.
Wilson played one of his most efficient games of the season and was only good for two expected points added (EPA), per NFL’s Next Gen Stats. He was, on a per-play basis, roughly half as valuable as Baltimore’s backup. This isn’t a new development. 34 quarterbacks have played at least 176 snaps in 2022 so far. Wilson, with a -0.006 EPA per play, doesn’t even rank in the top 25 among them.
Wilson’s last-ditch comeback effort covered 37 yards in 28 seconds bolstered by a pair of scrambles to set up a game-winning 63-yard field goal attempt. It failed, because it was a 63-yard field goal attempt, but it also gave the illusion that Wilson still has something to offer this team. But that’s not true. His failure to gain three extra yards to set up a makeable field goal tracks back to all the little failures that followed him throughout the game.
Wilson completed all but five of his passes but his offense converted only two of 12 third down opportunities as he took sacks he couldn’t afford to take and consistently threw short of the sticks. He didn’t run with the ball until the final drive, furthering the narrative he’s no longer confident in his scrambling chops or ability to make throws on the run.
He was, for the most part, an inoffensive quarterback more worried about making mistakes than making plays. When a pair of second half Baltimore interceptions gave Denver the chance to seize momentum and ice this game with a touchdown drive, Wilson led his offense to exactly 19 yards and a field goal made possible solely because the Broncos started in prime territory.
This is what you’re getting with Russell Wilson in 2022. This is the man the Broncos cannot extract themselves from until 2025 at the earliest after handing him an extension with $161 million guaranteed before he ever played a snap in Colorado. Wilson occasionally shows signs of life, but mostly makes you sorry you invested any time in watching him.
Now he can add Huntley to the list of underwhelming quarterbacks who’ve gotten the better of him. Two games against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs loom. This is going to get worse before it gets any better — and it’s already been so, so bad for the Broncos.
