A new quarterback, a new coach, and a new owner. The 2022 Broncos were full of fresh faces and high hopes, but what happened? We take a dive into why they couldn't meet expectations this year.
Broncos Hire Packers' OC Nathaniel Hackett as Head Coach
Nathaniel Hackett manufactured a top-10 offense in Green Bay before being hired by the Broncos. As a team that struggled greatly on that side of the field, this looked to be a promising move to help Denver compete with the other AFC West powerhouses. Although some believe this was a strategic hire to woo the Packers' QB, Aaron Rodgers, into requesting them as a trade partner during his contract conflict. At the very least we all believed that anyone was better than their previous coach Vic Fangio.
"Bronco's Country, Let's Ride"
During the offseason, the Broncos surprise everyone and make a blockbuster trade in which they sent two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, starting QB Drew Lock, DL Shelby Harris, and TE Noah Fant in exchange for Seahawks' QB Russell Wilson and a fourth-round draft pick. The kicker is that this trade happened the day after Aaron Rodgers finally agreed to an extension with Green Bay. The Broncos subsequently sign Wilson to a mega-deal worth $243 million over five years.
Wilson had been struggling in Seattle as of recently with most of the blame being put on their OL and HC Pete Carroll's "antiquated" coaching that did not allow Wilson to "cook". With an offense-minded HC that would likely play to Wilson's strengths rather than stick to a strict playbook this pairing still seemed unmatched.
Week 1: Russell Wilson's Homecoming
In storybook fashion, the finale to the first week of the 2022 season was a matchup between Russell Wilson and his former team who had turned to Wilson's backup: Geno Smith as their starter. Smith was able to outplay Wilson and play spoiler to his revenge game. Geno Smith and the Seahawks were able to outlast the Broncos and win the game 17-16.
Wilson's 12 Bathroom House
Russell Wilson continues his horrible play and puts up stats that look decent for a backup. The internet gets ahold of Wilson's home details and notices that he has a twelve-bathroom house, and compares his lavatories to his passing touchdown total. As of Week 16 Wilson has finally matched his latrine total and looks to eclipse the total with two games remaining.
Russ Loses Locker Room
Wilson's robot-like charisma staves off his teammates and leads them to lose trust in their QB. Wilson becomes a cringy meme of himself after antics like working out during flights whilst teammates are sleeping. Former teammates from Seattle Richard Sherman and Marshawn Lynch reveal that they neither talk to Wilson nor even have his phone number. To top it all off nearly half of the Bronco's roster stood Wilson up at his birthday party that was organized on a player's day off from practice.
Christmas Day Massacre
This past weekend on Christmas Day the Broncos faced the Los Angeles Rams led by Baker Mayfield and broadcasted on Nickelodeon. This game was chosen to be a showdown between Chef Russ and defending Champion Matt Stafford and has slowly devolved into the matchup I had described. What we did not see coming was the outcome. Baker Mayfield led the most dominant offensive game of the season by dropping FIFTY-ONE points on Denver while Russell Wilson was heckled the entire game by none other than Patrick Star and barely managed to score one touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Immediately after the game, Denver fired HC Nathaniel Hackett making him the fifth coach in NFL history to be fired before completing his first season, leaving Denver just as lost as ever.
Bronco's Country, Let's Die
The Broncos currently sit at a measly 4-11 with two weeks left and can not even tank for an early pick as Seattle owns their 2023 first. The Broncos spent all this capital just to perform worse than the season before and do not have much to look forward to. If the new ownership group is smart they should look to rip this band-aid off and abort the Wilson project before his cap hit becomes too costly to operate with. As I see it they are either bad and strapped for cap space with a poorly performing Russ or they are bad and have some kind of future with a bridge QB to lead a tank for a few years as they rebuild. Whichever path they choose, they are sure to be in for... a long ride.
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