Russell Wilson says the obvious about where the Broncos could be
Oct 8, 2023, 6:37 PM | Updated: Oct 9, 2023, 3:37 pm
The Denver Broncos are now 1-4 after their Week 5 loss to the New York Jets where they again dropped in a tight game, 31-21.
But this is the NFL where 50.38% of games in the last 23 years have ended with a score of eight points or tighter. No, the Broncos didn’t lose in a single score game this Sunday, but they are 1-2 in those contests this year and had a chance with the ball to tie or take the lead.
Russell Wilson’s meandering offense got the ball back thanks to a pick by Zach Wilson. The Broncos only needed about 20 yards and had 45 seconds to do it to get a last-ditch field goal to tie the contest and send it to overtime. Instead, Russ’ creativity turned dangerous with a strip sack going for a game-sealing scoop-and-score by the Jets.
“He made a good play, he got me from behind I was trying to scamper out and look for Courtland Sutton,” Wilson said about the game-ending play. “I was trying to get something positive and it didn’t work out and we just had to move on.”
In truth, the Jets win probability was at 96.7% with just under seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter. At that point, Denver had gained one yard in the second half and had gone -20 yards in their last 12 plays with a turnover too. But a Wilson strike and Jets penalty got the Broncos moving down 11 and the team scored a touchdown.
“That’s the truth, we could and should be 4-1,” Wilson said. “But coulda, shoulda woulda is not good enough. The good thing about it is that the season is a journey, there are still a lot of good things ahead. We showed a lot of good things but we can’t hurt ourselves that’s the biggest thing. The games we’ve lost we’ve hurt ourselves.”
The Broncos led 13-8 in the first half and were seemingly cruising to a win. The defense allowed four-straight scores from the Jets all the while Denver had three three-and-outs and a turnover.
“We’ve played some really good ball, we won all three phases in the first half. That’s the part, little mistakes that really matter through the game. When we get momentum we need to keep the momentum.”
Instead of 4-1, which would be tied for the best in the AFC—the Broncos currently hold the No. 3 pick in next spring’s draft. But that’s the NFL—tight games and bounces, Wilson thinks Denver is just a few little things away from turning this around. Tim Tebow did it, but only seven teams have started 1-4 and played in the postseason.
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