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Has Russell Wilson lost his 'superpower' in Denver?

Updated Oct. 7, 2022 3:03 p.m. ET

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The Denver Broncos have bucked off a lot of riders who had high hopes for them heading into the season. And while some members of Broncos country are still buckled into the bandwagon, the entire carriage is on the brink of implosion amid the team's continued struggles. 

Following their latest lackluster effort, a 12-9 loss to Indianapolis on Thursday Night Football to open Week 5, the Broncos belong in "The Herd" host Colin Cowherd's "Early Season Disappointments" tier of NFL teams.

There's no bigger individual disappointment in Denver, of course, than quarterback Russell Wilson. 

The Broncos fell to the Colts in overtime after the star quarterback completed just 21 of 39 passes for 274 yards with two interceptions, both of which came in the fourth quarter inside Indy's 5-yard line. Denver, which didn't score a touchdown in the game, is now 2-3 on the season.

"I don't think this coach [Nathaniel Hackett] is ready to be a head coach," Cowherd said hours before Thursday's defeat. "And Russell Wilson, for whatever reasons, is not leaning into his superpower. … Kyler [Murray] is not the same quarterback when he doesn't run. Lamar [Jackson] is not the same quarterback when he doesn't run. [Justin] Herbert? Better staying in the pocket and throwing darts. Lean in to whatever your superpower is.

"Russell Wilson — he's not Drew Brees from the pocket. Still — we've seen it in glimpses — he has the ability to make a lot of people miss when he's out and mobile. Right now, he doesn't have the head coach schematically to just run this offense without some juice, superpower and wiggle, 'cause it's just base stuff."

Wilson and Hackett were supposed to be a dream pairing, what with Wilson earning nine pro Bowl nods in the past decade with the Seahawks and Hackett recently tutoring reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. Thus far, their brief partnership in Denver has been a rocky ride.

Through five games, the veteran signal-caller has completed 59.4% of his passes (101 of 170) for 1,254 yards (250.8 per game), four touchdowns — the lowest total of his career through Week 5 in a single season — and three interceptions. 

This pales in comparison to what Wilson has done in recent years. Despite getting off to a 2-3 start with Seattle in 2021, Wilson completed 72% of his passes for 1,196 yards, 10 scores and just one interception through the first five games of last season.

In 2020, Wilson threw for 1,502 yards (300.4 per game) on 72.8% passing, including 19:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio en route to a 5-0 start for the Seahawks. Wilson & Co. got off to a 4-1 start the season before, with the former Super Bowl champ tallying 1,409 yards (281.8 per game), 12 touchdowns and not a single interception on 73.1% passing through the first five games of the 2019 season.

On Friday, Cowherd pointed to two reasons in particular for Wilson's early-season struggles in Denver. 

"His deep ball — his velocity on it— and his accuracy is shot, from what I can tell," Cowherd said. "Is he doing too many commercials? Did he put on weight? His No. 2 pitch was always the deep ball. His No. 1 pitch was always his mobility. But the second thing he did, and he did it as well as anybody, was that picturesque, elegant, beautiful, perfectly-touched deep ball. The rainbow. 

"If Russell Wilson is reluctant to run, and he appears to be, and he’s lost his velocity, accuracy and touch on the deep ball, he's not the same player."

Wilson and the Broncos have extra time to regroup ahead of their next matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football (Oct. 17 at 5:15 p.m. ET) to close out Week 6. It's clear that they need it.

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