Russell Wilson and the Broncos keep searching for rock bottom after an embarrassing loss to Panthers
The Denver Broncos traded away their future to acquire Russell Wilson. That decision now looks like an all-time awful move in the history of NFL transactions.
Denver entered Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers with a 3-7 record. A matchup against Sam Darnold seemed favorable for Wilson and his squad to get back on track. Instead, the nightmare continued with a 23-10 loss that featured Wilson getting screamed at by a teammate while head coach Nathaniel Hackett stood by saying nothing.
Russell Wilson and the Broncos are an unmitigated disaster
The Panthers are going nowhere this season. Darnold is the third quarterback to start and will likely be heading for free agency once the season is over. Yet somehow, he outdueled Wilson and the Panthers now have more wins than the Broncos.
Each week you think "at least the Broncos can't get worse on offense"
And then they do.
Hackett and Wilson were expected to be the dynamic duo on offense that would solve years of struggles since Peyton Manning retired. Nonetheless, Sunday saw the offense score only 10 points, failing to even reach their poor season average of 14.7 points per game.
The idea of rock bottom particularly comes into play after a moment in Sunday's game. Defender Mike Purcell was coming off the field when he started screaming at Wilson, who just stood there and took it. Meanwhile, Hackett was right there as well and said nothing. This begs the question of where the leadership is coming from in Denver.
Here’s the clip of Mike Purcell getting in Russell Wilson’s face 👇
https://t.co/bWHcIY362x
The most points the team has scored in a single game this year is 23, which came in a 32-23 loss against the Las Vegas Raiders. That came in Week 4 as a 2-1 start began morphing into the current 3-8 record.
Fans looking at the schedule during the preseason likely thought a win over Carolina was a given. Now, it's hard to see the Broncos winning another game this season. That would mean the Seattle Seahawks could land a top-three draft pick while also making the postseason.
So what comes next? A glance at social media shows fans desperately calling for the team to fire Hackett. Yet he recently gave up play-calling and not much has changed. Firing the coach may only distract everyone from the potentially franchise-shattering reality that they are stuck with a version of Wilson worse than anyone could have imagined.