After enjoying a long prolific career with the Seattle Seahawks, NFL legend Russell Wilson joined the Denver Broncos last season in a trade. Since his start with the Broncos, he has been exploring his name in the headlines for giving the Broncos a losing streak as well as their trust for giving him a hefty deal.
Even the team’s recently appointed head coach, Sean Payton, seemingly lost interest in backing their franchise quarterback. Amid these, the NFL analysts did not mince words, dragging Wilson’s declining performances in relation to his Broncos’ deal.
Sean Payton points finger at Russell Wilson
After a destructive season, the Broncos sacked their Nathaniel Hackett and shouldered head coaching duties to Payton. After taking over the role, Payton firmly blamed Hackett for failing to appropriately use Russell’s athleticism, though he later sought an apology for talking unprofessionally.
Hence, after the Broncos suffered a loss to the New York Jets, Sean had to swallow his own words, receiving a pile of backlash from the Jets team. Even the team’s offensive leader, Aaron Rodgers, threw a subtle jab at him with a cunning X post.
Till then, Payton exercised his temper, yet the Broncos’ most recent defeat against the Kansas City Chiefs infuriated the head coach enough to raise eyebrows about Russell Wilson’s contribution to the game. In a post-match interview, Payton bashed his nine-time Pro Bowler quarterback.
“To win in our league. You’ve got to be better throwing the ball,” he said.
As days pass, instead of putting more points on the scorecard, the Broncos are making headlines for their downward trajectory. Against the Chiefs, the Russell Wilson-led Broncos only compiled 8 points before the final whistle of the game. The dual-threat quarterback compiled only 13 of 22 passes for 95 yards while recording one touchdown and two interceptions.
Colin Cowherd highlights Wilson’s underwhelming performance
Following the loss to the Chiefs, the Broncos dropped to 5-1, apparently rushing to have another failed season under the leadership of Russell Wilson.
Payton’s taunting words for his predecessor, Hackett, did not go well for him. Just after five games this season, the Broncos head coach admitted it was Wilson who should be blamed for the Broncos’ losing streak.
Nevertheless, NFL analyst Robert Griffin mentioned the Denver team’s losing streak as their unwillingness to win in a post. The analyst also did not let his post upload without pointing a finger at Payton for “throwing shades at his Super Bowl-winning QB, Russell Wilson”.
Another analyst, Colin Cowherd, threw questions at the productivity of the Broncos’ starter despite enjoying injury-free stints. He also slammed Wilson for his bad input in spite of having a $245 million mega deal, while blaming Payton entirely for putting unnecessary trust in Wilson.
“Where you see a star quarterback with no major injury. Dropped off a cliff. It’s unprecedented in the history of the NFL. I’ve never seen anything like it.. His salary, combined with his lack of juice, have been the issue. Russ has never had a major injury. He’s a workaholic. It’s just you know, Pete Carroll saw a lot of things. He saw him age quickly. And now it’s Sean Payton’s problem.”
After five games of this season, the former Seahawks player tossed 1305 Yards with 12 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
If the quarterback continuously disappoints the head coach and team management, perhaps Wilson’s tenure will come to an end soon.
