Adamo Marinelli
November 15, 2022
The Denver Broncos are currently 3-6 after week 10, third place in the AFC West, and two games out of a playoff spot.
The Broncos after completing a trade for all-star and future Hall of Fame quarterback Russell Wilson were projected to contend for an AFC West division title, but that has not been the case.
The Broncos’ defense is among the best unit in the league in many statistical categories.
They have given up the fewest number of points, the fewest number of passing touchdowns and total touchdowns, given up the second-fewest yards, and have the best red-zone defense in the league. The Broncos have also given up 17 or fewer points in all but two games this season, one of which went to overtime.
So, why is their season gone so horribly wrong?
The answer is a mix of offensive incompetence, horrible play calling, poor coaching, a lack of discipline, too many penalties, and many mistakes on offense which stall drives. Is Nathaniel Hackett or Russell Wilson more to blame? Or is it both?
The Broncos are the most penalized team in the NFL with 78 penalties. In addition, with Nathaniel Hackett, an offensive-minded head coach, and star QB Russell Wilson, the Broncos are only averaging 14.6 points per game, by far the fewest in the NFL.
If the Broncos’ offense even scored 18 points in all their games this season, they would be 8-1 (because the Chargers game wouldn’t have gone to OT if Denver had scored 18). The offense is wasting this phenomenal performance by the defense and it’s sickening to see.
Russell Wilson has not been anywhere near as good as he was advertised to be but he is not the worst quarterback in the league this season. He has 1,980 passing yards, seven passing TDs, 5 INTs, and one rushing TD but is only completing 57.4 percent of his passes.
The Broncos have had numerous injury issues including losing wide receiver Tim Patrick before the season, and explosive running back Javonte Williams, and they have been a revolving door at the offensive line. The Broncos have used nine offensive line combinations this year and are onto backup and third-string right and left tackles, right guard, and center.
However, that is no excuse for the Broncos’ poor offensive showing.
The Broncos have been called for the most penalties in the league and have not been able to effectively set up the run, which consistently puts them behind the chains.
They miss on a pass - drops have been a huge issue for the Broncos this season - or take a sack on first down, they get a small gain on second down, leading to a third and long which they cannot convert because they either take a penalty, sack or a minimal gain with a screen pass that is poorly executed.
Their inefficiency on early downs puts them in tough situations on third down. The Broncos have given up 30 sacks this season, sixth highest in the NFL, because they are so often in third and long scenarios - where Wilson has to hold onto the ball for a long time in order for a receiver to get home - and with a backup offensive line, that’s a recipe that leads to a lot of sacks, a lot of three and outs, and a lot of punts.
Corliss Waitman has punted 54 times for 2,476 yards, the most in the NFL, and have had the most three-and-outs this season too.
Wilson takes part of the blame, for sure, because he has occasionally missed a few open receivers, held onto the ball too long, or made a costly mistake but the coaching and play-calling also play a very high role.
At the beginning of the season, head coach Nathaniel Hackett second-guessed almost every play-call he made, which led to several delays of game penalties and the team looked unorganized. His time management before halftime and at the end of games has been bad too, and he made many questionable decisions, including wasting nearly 60 seconds and electing to try at 64 yard field goal in the season opener against Seattle instead of trying a fourth and five from midfield.
The team could not get any rhythm on offense and Russell Wilson couldn’t seem to find his groove or establish any form of consistency. It looked as if the Seattle Seahawks had sold the Broncos a lemon. They played undisciplined football, and made a lot of mistakes on offense including dropped passes, missed blocking assignments, running incorrect routes, turning the ball over 10 times, and several penalties that extended opponents’ drives whole simultaneously stalling Broncos’ drives.
The game management was so bad, the Broncos had to hire Jerry Rosburg as an assistant coach to help Hackett with time management. The time management had improved and the Broncos were able to call plays and relay them to Wilson faster, but the penalties remained a huge issue, costing the Broncos in big moments of games, and the questionable play calling continued in many games, putting the Broncos behind the sticks; leading to many three & outs.
Considering how long the defense was on the field every week, it’s impressive how good they’ve managed to be this year. The Broncos forced 10 turnovers, which is middle of the pack, and are tied for the seventh most sacks in the league with 25.
While Wilson has been good in spurts and while Hackett has his moments of brilliant offensive playcalling, the Broncos have not been able to be good consistently on offense, which has led to
their losing record. That has led Broncos fans to speculate whether Hackett will be fired before the end of the season or in the off-season.
Wilson is signed long term, at a high cap hit too, so if any change will be made, it’s Hackett. But no change is guaranteed right now.
General Manager George Paton supports Hackett 100 percent despite the struggles. It is undetermined if he has lost the locker room, according to reports, players still have his back, but are tired of losing and want to turn it around.
There is still time to turn the season around; the Broncos are only two games back of the final wildcard, but the Broncos will have to do it quickly, as they have one of the hardest remaining schedules.
The next few weeks will truly prove if the Broncos can improve their offense enough to help their strong defense win games or if the Broncos will just have to reset and prep for 2023.
The Broncos host the Las Vegas Raiders on November 20 at 4:05 ET, hoping to improve to 4-6.
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