Russ-O-Meter: Rushing Russ returns but Wilson is still far from greatness

In a season full of the bizarre for Russell Wilson, the star quarterback had yet another whacky week; culminating with Wilson nearly weeping in his press conference following the Denver Broncos 27-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Broncos fired Nathaniel Hackett on Monday and are now being led by Jerry Rosburg. Later in the week, national pundits criticized the much-maligned Wilson for what’s gone on in Denver, hinting at behind-the-scenes issues. But Wilson’s teammates hit back, defending their quarterback, which led to Wilson’s show of emotion following the Week 17 loss.

In the weekly “Russ-O-Meter,” we’ll grade and cover what’s gone on in the wide world of Wilson this week. The meter represents how psyched Broncos Country is with Russell.

Meter: 2 (->0)

Stat line: 26-for-38 passing, 222 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 4 carries, 27 rushing yards, 2 TD, 4 sacks for 32 yards, 48.3 QBR, 81.3 Passer Rating

Wilson was much better against the Chiefs than he was the prior week against the Rams, which could be argued was the worst start of his career. The bounce back came thanks to Wilson’s legs being a bit more of a factor. He certainly looks slower than from his days in Seattle but that may just come with being 34 years old. The worry is, can Wilson succeed in the league still when a huge part of his game is running? And do the Broncos even want their quarterback roaming when they’ve committed nearly a quarter-billion dollars to him?

Wilson’s better though was nowhere near greatness. Sure, it was only a three-point loss and the Broncos were robbed of what would’ve been their best play of the day on a long pass to Courtland Sutton, but that doesn’t tell the real story.

Wilson was hit time and time again. Balls flew free into the air, some balls were batted down and the juice is just not on his throws. Even with a decent completion rate of 68%, Wilson was still averaging under six yards per attempt. Once the league’s best scrambler and deep ball thrower has been reduced to dink, dunk and run.

Speaking of which… Jim Harbaugh could be the next Broncos head coach. Wilson and the Michigan man were once fierce NFC West foes when Harbaugh led a 49ers team to a Super Bowl appearance with Colin Kaepernick quarterbacking. The now civil rights activist got the job done in San Francisco in a similar manner to how Wilson could find success now. Harbaugh to restore Russ could be a very interesting wrinkle.

When comparing what a successful Wilson in 2023 could look like it’s still nowhere close to what the Kansas City Chiefs have. Wilson is likely closer to Tim Tebow than Patrick Mahomes for the rest of his career. Even Tebow got his team to the playoffs and won, so there’s a way to salvage Russ without needing him to be the star he once was.

Oh, and it’s not just fixing Russ headed into the new year, get this man a competent offensive line.

Denver has one more meaningless game left, they play at home against the playoff-bound Chargers on Sunday.

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