“Russ got his deep ball ‘back’?” Where did it ever go? He was the leader in deep-ball passing in 2023 under Sean Payton and 7th in the league even during his worst season: 2022 with Nathaniel Hackett as his coach. It was certainly there every year he was in Seattle.
I can’t “UNSEE” what I saw in Russ’s first 12 years, nor can I unsee the miracle I saw Russ pull off in 2023 and what I’m seeing now. You don’t need to “unsee” what you saw over the past two years. You need to figure out what you were really looking at. I’ll tell you what I saw: 2021: Russ suffered a career-threatening injury and still returned to nearly lead his team to the playoffs. You also saw incompetent coaching from Pete Carroll. Russ still managed to finish with 3,113 yards, 25 TDs, 6 INTs, 65% complete, and a 103.1 passer rating that year with a mangled throwing hand he had to have surgically repaired 11 hours after the game in which he injured it. 2022: Russ was lied to and lured to a franchise that was NOT a QB away to play for a coach who should never have been hired to begin with. Then you saw Nathaniel Hackett’s incompetent coaching amidst the poor judgment of bringing back a RB known for having butterfingers. You saw that same team suffer more injuries than any team in the league, including injuries to Russ. And even during the most horrific season of his career, there were bright spots: Riss outperforming Mahomes twice, wins vs. the Broncos’ 5 toughest opponents - including the 49ers - and Russ finishing 7th in deep-ball passing. Russ needed postseason knee surgery. 2023: Sean Payton, upon orders from ownership, throwing games and sabotaging Russ to jockey for draft position and embarrassing his own QB, who finished in the top 10 in about 12 different meaningful QB metrics, including #1 in game-winning drives (4), #1 in 4th quarter comebacks (4), #2 on adjusted completion% (79%), and even #8 in QB rush yards with 341 in 15 games, right behind 7th place Mahomes (who played in all 17 games). Incidentally, Russ rushed for 342 yards in 2019, which should tell everyone that his legs are still there. You also witnessed Sean Payton try to coax Russ into an altercation on national television so the Broncos could petition to void his contract. That’s how the Broncos thanked Russ for beating all of their toughest opponents and leading them to their first win over the Chiefs in about 8 years. The fact that you mention struggling to unsee what you saw tells me that you really don’t know what you saw. Even worse, you’re willing to give more weight to ONE outlier year (2022) than you are to 12 other years of excellence, including this year. That tells me a lot.
They took the biggest cap hit in NFL history to get rid of him and his market was not big despite everyone being able to look at the same film. Has to mean a lot that even though the stats may have been there for Russ last year, the Broncos were willing to pay him NOT to play for them. Just saying -Josh
@@jjintheevening That doesn't mean Russ was bad..Play wasn't the reason that Denver situation ended. Dnt just regurgitate national media points they're fkn clueless when it comes to the Steelers!🤣
@@jjintheeveningit’s definitely not all on Russ, the broncos didn’t really do anything to help him succeed. anyone who actually watches the games he’s played knows he thrives in a run PA heavy playbook. he thrives when he’s rolling out of the pocket. Sean Peyton ran a gun heavy offense which would mean he would have to work from the pocket. they didn’t adjust anything for him they just casted him out even though he finished with top 10 qb stats in 2022 despite the entire city ridiculing him
@@jjintheevening: And how smart was THAT, i.e., letting Russ walk away with a fat paycheck. Real Smart paying a HoF QB you had on your squad $39M to lead another team on a potential SB run.😏 Yeah…let’s applaud the Broncos, an organization that hadn’t won anything since 2016. With decisions like that, that lack of success is no wonder, and if Russ faces them in the playoffs, count on a bad beatdown. You’re clearly a Broncos fan! They infected Russ with their incompetent bs! Russ could’ve won 12 games for the Broncos. Payton didn’t want it. He wanted to have Russ for one more year and draft Drake Nate or Bo Nix and let that QB sit for a year. Then, he was going to send Russ packing anyway. Sean Payton is a very overrated coach and a cheater, and he is not respected. RUSS’S RANKINGS AS OF WEEK 13* #1 in YPA (8.7) #1 in Turnover-Worthy Play% (1.3) #1 in Pressure% (42.9) #2 in Passing YPG (271) #2 in Passing YPA (8.7) #2 in Passing YPC (13.22) #5 in Passer Rating (14.3) #5 in Big-Time Throw% (6.1) #6 in On-Target%: 78.7 #9 in INT percentage #10 in TD% (5.3) #11 in EPA (28.72) He has ALWAYS been a top-10 QB if not top-5, if not top-3, and #1 for significant stretches during multiple seasons. He’s still the best QB the NFL has had over the last 12.5 seasons overall. *HOW RUSS CAN INSERT HIMSELF INTO THE MVP CONVERSATION* If Russ averages 350 yards, 3 TDs, and 0.4 INTs over the next 5 games, which would be the midpoint between his averages over his first 6 games including vs. the Bengals and his single-game performance against the Bengals, and goes undefeated to reach 14-3, he deserves the MVP or at least to insert himself into the conversation. His injury will be held against him but he will receive votes. I personally believe he should be right in the thick of the conversation if he does that. Even at his current pace, he is already headed for *2,981 yards, 18 TDs, and 4 INTs (if we discount that bad no-call in the Bengals game, 66% complete and a 104.3 passer rating.* Those would be nice stats over an 11-game season (he missed the first 6 games). Imagine what he will have if he averages 350 yards, 3 TDs, and 0.4 INTs over the next 5 games. His stats for the season will be *3,376 yards, 25 TDs, 5 INTs, 66% complete, and at least the 104.3 passer rating he currently has.* OVER AN 11-GAME STRETCH! Over a 17-game schedule, those numbers equate to *5,217 yards, 39 TDS, and 8 INTs.* Coming back from injury to lead a team on a 10-1 tear and put up those kinds of numbers??? MVP! If Russ pulls that off, I’m sorry Saquan, Josh, Jared, Derrick, and Lamar, but Russ will fully deserve the MVP.
@@jjintheevening: You are oversimplifying a very complicated situation. First of all, the Broncos wanted to keep Russ, which is why they tried to get him to defer his injury guarantee for a year. You don’t ask a player to do that unless you plan on bringing him back. The Broncos paid Russ $39M in 2024 to avoid the risk of paying him $100M if he got injured in 2024, and it was all based on Sean Payton’s preferences. He wanted to hang onto Russ but tank to move up the draft, and he needed someone to blame for it so it would go undetected. That’s why he started sh!t with Russ. He was throwing games and Russ knew it. Then he benched Russ because he didn’t want to win the last two games. He wanted to inch up the draft board. You’re buying this garbage about Russ’s stats making him look better than he was, and it’s complete garbage! Russ is still an elite QB, which makes Sean Payton one of the dumbest and laziest coaches ever! A real coach adjusts to his players. Payton couldn’t do that. Instead, he floated a bunch of lies. And btw, Russ’s stats this year don’t look that different from his stats from last year. The difference is in the coaching and personnel. Fck Sean Payton! You’re drinking the wrong Kool-Aid, my man, and it’s watered down cough syrup. He’s an overrated coach, and Bo Nix won’t be as good as Russ…EVER. When I look at him, I see a better version of Tim Tebow. Wait until teams have film on him. He’ll be just like CJ Stroud…back down to Earth. This show is exactly what I thought it would be. 😒😏
Hard to say if the Chiefs are superbowl contenders then the Steelers are ......the Chiefs have won the last 6 playoffs games and roughly ab10 or so in the last 6 years including the last 2 superbowls......the Steelers haven't won a playoffs game in at least 8 years ......not a superbowl just a single playoffs game.....real talk
The Steelers look like a complete team in all 3 phases. They can beat you with a suffocating defense or beat you with a revitalized offense. With an experienced QB and tenured HC who is unwavering in the face of adversity.
People keep saying the Broncos paid Russ $39M to leave. First of all, that isn’t really what happened, but even if true, that wouldn’t be a flex! It makes the Broncos look stupid. They paid a HoF QB $39M to lead another team on a SB run! They’re a 6-7 team masquerading as an 8-5 team. They twice got lucky and won games they shouldn’t have won while the Steelers could easily be 12-1 right now if Russ hadn’t been injured. Bo Nix looking good and an inflated 8-5 record are the only two reasons Broncos fans aren’t calling for Sean Payton’s firing. A 6-7 record might not make fans impatient under normal conditions, but after treating a QB of Russ’s caliber like garbage, Payton doesn’t have much rope, and he knows it! When a coach treats a guy like Russ that way, he had better know what he’s doing, because Mike Tomlin does! I doubt that loser has had a good night’s sleep all season long. And it’s not true that “we all thought (Russ) was washed.” Speak for yourself man. 😂 Many fans spent the better part of two years speaking up for Russ and being laughed at by less informed, less intelligent so-called “fans.” We KNEW he wasn’t washed, and you haven’t even seen his best yet. He has another gear (i.e., the ability to play at an even higher level) that he hasn’t yet shown with the Steelers and didn’t get to show in Denver.
Russ is “looking like a legitimate starter?” What is it with you?😒 Even in Russ’s worst year, he was a top-20 QB, and last year he was top 10 while playing for a coach who didn’t want him and with sorry weapons and an inconsistent O-Line. You want to know what he has done LATELY? For comparison, he rushed for 342 yards in 2019 in 16 games. He rushed for 341 yards in 2023 in Denver while playing only 15 games (for a coach who didn’t even resign many runs for him), finishing 8th in QB rush yards right behind Mahomes at 7th. Russ had a 47% QB rushing first down rate in 2023. JF had a 37% first down rate. JF was at 29% entering the Raiders game. Here are Russ’s 2023 rankings with a coach sabotaging him by keeping the playbook closed, no run game, ONE reliable receiver, an inconsistent at best O-Line, and a horrible defense: #1 in 4th Qtr comebacks (4) #1 in Game-Winning Drives (4) #2 in Adj. Completion Rate (78.8%) #2 in TD% (5.9) #4 in Completion Differentials #5 in TD-INT Ratio (26:8) #7 in Passer Rating (98.0) *#8 in QB Rush Yards (341, 15 games)* #9 in TDs (26) #9 in INT Rate (1.8) #10 in INTs (8) #11 in Completion% (66.4%) Russ was a borderline top-10 QB last year with a HC sabotaging him and trying to tank. He beat the toughest teams on the Broncos’ schedule midseason with a horrible offense and barely one WR. Last year, he also had 4 of the top-5 LEAST probable pass completions in the league, two of which had nothing to do with so-called deep-balls. According to Sports Info Solutions (SIS), Russ in 2023 completed 6 passes of 40+ air yards past the original LoS (for 301 yards), good for #1 in the NFL. 4 of those 6 went for TDs. The 2 that didn’t were drops by his WRs. He attempted 16 such passes, 10 of which were deemed on target and none of which resulted in an INT…0 INTs! Going back to late 2022, after Nathaniel Hackett’s firing, Russ has ripped off at least one TD in the last 25 of 26 games (and had a 23-game streak until a few games ago). Games 13-17 for 5 games (2022) Games 1-15 for 15 games (2023) Games 7-12 (2024, Pittsburgh) No other QB has even come close to that! Let’s also remember how he knocked off the six toughest Broncos opponents with that inferior Broncos squad and would’ve beaten the Lions and others if Payton hadn’t purposely pulled the plug. He was tanking and sabotaging Russ to scapegoat him. The Broncos needed the fanbase to be against Russ to justify losing and later to justify moving off of him whether after the 2023 season or after 2024. It’s called “P.R.” They wanted to keep Russ for 2024 but Russ refused to accommodate them by deferring his injury guarantee for an additional year. Russ refused because he knew it was his ticket out of Denver and knew they’d have to pay him regardless. So, this narrative that it was a flex for Denver “pay Russ to leave,” an oversimplification, btw, is incredibly stupid! And the Broncos look stupid for doing it, because Bo Nix can’t do what Russ would be done, and Sean Payton isn’t nearly as good a coach as Mike Tomlin or Pete Carroll.
I think Sean Payton fully believed in Russ. That’s why he sabotaged him. People don’t understand why he did that, but he had multiple reasons: (1) Revenge for denying the Saints a potential SB appearance in 2013-14; (2) Russ’s potential to diminish Payton’s reputation as a “QB whisperer” if he performed well. There are two ways to view this issue. Russ plays well under Payton after a horrific year with Hackett, and Payton is the hero. The opposite view takes into account that Payton would have to adjust to Russ’s preexisting strengths, which were honed in Seattle. Payton didn’t develop Russ, so Payton would only get credit for not being incompetent. That would add fuel to the fire for Payton’s skeptics, many of whom believe he simply rode Drew Brees’s coattails. (3) Protecting Drew Brees’s legacy. Payton and Brees are close like father and son. Russ and Drew Brees are widely considered to be the greatest undersized QBs ever, with some believing until 2022 that Russ was the better, more dynamic QB. Past QB rankings show that Russ was largely a borderline top-5 QB in his early Seattle years (2013-2016) before becoming a presumptive top-5 and top-3 QB. By attempting to pile on another bad year for Russ and criticizing him publicly (it didn’t work), he would theoretically be seeking protection Brees’s legacy. Plus. It’s possible that Payton was just too lazy and stubborn to do the work it would take to adjust. Still, he made a mistake. That ability to adjust is what Mayes coaches like Andy Reid so special. (4) Ownership and Payton wanted to inch up the draft board to find Russ’s replacement, a young QB whose development observers would attribute to Payton. Payton made up his mind early that the Broncos wouldn’t make the playoffs and ownership signed off on that. In fact, it may have been their idea. Payton threw several early games, threw games vs. the Lions and Patriots, and, when benching Russ for financial reasons over the final two games, tried to lose those games to move further up the draft board. (5) Russ recognized what Payton was doing and fought against it. When Payton went off on Russ on the sideline on international television, he was hoping Russ weight physically attack him. That would’ve allowed the Broncos to petition to void Russ’s contract for violating the personal conduct clause. Assaulting any staff member is automatic grounds to seek to void a players contract. That scheme likely came from the owners too. (6) He didn’t like Russ’s eternal optimism. It’s crazy because those two seemed to really enjoy each other at Pro Bowls and other functions to the point that Russ considered Payton to be “a friend.” Clearly, it wasn’t a two-way street and Payton was faking. My question is, why did Russ have Payton’s phone number, and why did Russ feel so comfortable speaking with him?
Who will win the AFC?
Pittsburgh Steelers
Buffalo
Ravens… duh
Chiefs. It’s rigged that way.
“Russ got his deep ball ‘back’?”
Where did it ever go? He was the leader in deep-ball passing in 2023 under Sean Payton and 7th in the league even during his worst season: 2022 with Nathaniel Hackett as his coach. It was certainly there every year he was in Seattle.
Here we go Steelers....
All the way! To the superbowl
This aged terribly 😂
I can’t “UNSEE” what I saw in Russ’s first 12 years, nor can I unsee the miracle I saw Russ pull off in 2023 and what I’m seeing now.
You don’t need to “unsee” what you saw over the past two years. You need to figure out what you were really looking at. I’ll tell you what I saw:
2021: Russ suffered a career-threatening injury and still returned to nearly lead his team to the playoffs. You also saw incompetent coaching from Pete Carroll.
Russ still managed to finish with 3,113 yards, 25 TDs, 6 INTs, 65% complete, and a 103.1 passer rating that year with a mangled throwing hand he had to have surgically repaired 11 hours after the game in which he injured it.
2022: Russ was lied to and lured to a franchise that was NOT a QB away to play for a coach who should never have been hired to begin with. Then you saw Nathaniel Hackett’s incompetent coaching amidst the poor judgment of bringing back a RB known for having butterfingers. You saw that same team suffer more injuries than any team in the league, including injuries to Russ. And even during the most horrific season of his career, there were bright spots: Riss outperforming Mahomes twice, wins vs. the Broncos’ 5 toughest opponents - including the 49ers - and Russ finishing 7th in deep-ball passing. Russ needed postseason knee surgery.
2023: Sean Payton, upon orders from ownership, throwing games and sabotaging Russ to jockey for draft position and embarrassing his own QB, who finished in the top 10 in about 12 different meaningful QB metrics, including #1 in game-winning drives (4), #1 in 4th quarter comebacks (4), #2 on adjusted completion% (79%), and even #8 in QB rush yards with 341 in 15 games, right behind 7th place Mahomes (who played in all 17 games). Incidentally, Russ rushed for 342 yards in 2019, which should tell everyone that his legs are still there. You also witnessed Sean Payton try to coax Russ into an altercation on national television so the Broncos could petition to void his contract. That’s how the Broncos thanked Russ for beating all of their toughest opponents and leading them to their first win over the Chiefs in about 8 years.
The fact that you mention struggling to unsee what you saw tells me that you really don’t know what you saw.
Even worse, you’re willing to give more weight to ONE outlier year (2022) than you are to 12 other years of excellence, including this year.
That tells me a lot.
They took the biggest cap hit in NFL history to get rid of him and his market was not big despite everyone being able to look at the same film. Has to mean a lot that even though the stats may have been there for Russ last year, the Broncos were willing to pay him NOT to play for them. Just saying -Josh
@@jjintheevening That doesn't mean Russ was bad..Play wasn't the reason that Denver situation ended. Dnt just regurgitate national media points they're fkn clueless when it comes to the Steelers!🤣
@@jjintheeveningit’s definitely not all on Russ, the broncos didn’t really do anything to help him succeed. anyone who actually watches the games he’s played knows he thrives in a run PA heavy playbook. he thrives when he’s rolling out of the pocket. Sean Peyton ran a gun heavy offense which would mean he would have to work from the pocket. they didn’t adjust anything for him they just casted him out even though he finished with top 10 qb stats in 2022 despite the entire city ridiculing him
@@jjintheevening: And how smart was THAT, i.e., letting Russ walk away with a fat paycheck. Real Smart paying a HoF QB you had on your squad $39M to lead another team on a potential SB run.😏
Yeah…let’s applaud the Broncos, an organization that hadn’t won anything since 2016. With decisions like that, that lack of success is no wonder, and if Russ faces them in the playoffs, count on a bad beatdown. You’re clearly a Broncos fan!
They infected Russ with their incompetent bs! Russ could’ve won 12 games for the Broncos. Payton didn’t want it. He wanted to have Russ for one more year and draft Drake Nate or Bo Nix and let that QB sit for a year. Then, he was going to send Russ packing anyway.
Sean Payton is a very overrated coach and a cheater, and he is not respected.
RUSS’S RANKINGS AS OF WEEK 13*
#1 in YPA (8.7)
#1 in Turnover-Worthy Play% (1.3)
#1 in Pressure% (42.9)
#2 in Passing YPG (271)
#2 in Passing YPA (8.7)
#2 in Passing YPC (13.22)
#5 in Passer Rating (14.3)
#5 in Big-Time Throw% (6.1)
#6 in On-Target%: 78.7
#9 in INT percentage
#10 in TD% (5.3)
#11 in EPA (28.72)
He has ALWAYS been a top-10 QB if not top-5, if not top-3, and #1 for significant stretches during multiple seasons. He’s still the best QB the NFL has had over the last 12.5 seasons overall.
*HOW RUSS CAN INSERT HIMSELF INTO THE MVP CONVERSATION*
If Russ averages 350 yards, 3 TDs, and 0.4 INTs over the next 5 games, which would be the midpoint between his averages over his first 6 games including vs. the Bengals and his single-game performance against the Bengals, and goes undefeated to reach 14-3, he deserves the MVP or at least to insert himself into the conversation.
His injury will be held against him but he will receive votes. I personally believe he should be right in the thick of the conversation if he does that.
Even at his current pace, he is already headed for *2,981 yards, 18 TDs, and 4 INTs (if we discount that bad no-call in the Bengals game, 66% complete and a 104.3 passer rating.* Those would be nice stats over an 11-game season (he missed the first 6 games).
Imagine what he will have if he averages 350 yards, 3 TDs, and 0.4 INTs over the next 5 games.
His stats for the season will be *3,376 yards, 25 TDs, 5 INTs, 66% complete, and at least the 104.3 passer rating he currently has.*
OVER AN 11-GAME STRETCH!
Over a 17-game schedule, those numbers equate to *5,217 yards, 39 TDS, and 8 INTs.*
Coming back from injury to lead a team on a 10-1 tear and put up those kinds of numbers??? MVP!
If Russ pulls that off, I’m sorry Saquan, Josh, Jared, Derrick, and Lamar, but Russ will fully deserve the MVP.
@@jjintheevening: You are oversimplifying a very complicated situation. First of all, the Broncos wanted to keep Russ, which is why they tried to get him to defer his injury guarantee for a year. You don’t ask a player to do that unless you plan on bringing him back.
The Broncos paid Russ $39M in 2024 to avoid the risk of paying him $100M if he got injured in 2024, and it was all based on Sean Payton’s preferences. He wanted to hang onto Russ but tank to move up the draft, and he needed someone to blame for it so it would go undetected. That’s why he started sh!t with Russ. He was throwing games and Russ knew it.
Then he benched Russ because he didn’t want to win the last two games. He wanted to inch up the draft board.
You’re buying this garbage about Russ’s stats making him look better than he was, and it’s complete garbage!
Russ is still an elite QB, which makes Sean Payton one of the dumbest and laziest coaches ever!
A real coach adjusts to his players. Payton couldn’t do that. Instead, he floated a bunch of lies.
And btw, Russ’s stats this year don’t look that different from his stats from last year. The difference is in the coaching and personnel.
Fck Sean Payton! You’re drinking the wrong Kool-Aid, my man, and it’s watered down cough syrup. He’s an overrated coach, and Bo Nix won’t be as good as Russ…EVER. When I look at him, I see a better version of Tim Tebow. Wait until teams have film on him. He’ll be just like CJ Stroud…back down to Earth.
This show is exactly what I thought it would be. 😒😏
Hard to say if the Chiefs are superbowl contenders then the Steelers are ......the Chiefs have won the last 6 playoffs games and roughly ab10 or so in the last 6 years including the last 2 superbowls......the Steelers haven't won a playoffs game in at least 8 years ......not a superbowl just a single playoffs game.....real talk
The Steelers look like a complete team in all 3 phases. They can beat you with a suffocating defense or beat you with a revitalized offense. With an experienced QB and tenured HC who is unwavering in the face of adversity.
😂NOTHING you typed has ANYTHING to do with THIS SEASON. By your logic the Bengals weren't contenders in 2021🤣👎
LMAO. Where do y'all come up with this shit.
People keep saying the Broncos paid Russ $39M to leave. First of all, that isn’t really what happened, but even if true, that wouldn’t be a flex! It makes the Broncos look stupid. They paid a HoF QB $39M to lead another team on a SB run!
They’re a 6-7 team masquerading as an 8-5 team. They twice got lucky and won games they shouldn’t have won while the Steelers could easily be 12-1 right now if Russ hadn’t been injured.
Bo Nix looking good and an inflated 8-5 record are the only two reasons Broncos fans aren’t calling for Sean Payton’s firing.
A 6-7 record might not make fans impatient under normal conditions, but after treating a QB of Russ’s caliber like garbage, Payton doesn’t have much rope, and he knows it!
When a coach treats a guy like Russ that way, he had better know what he’s doing, because Mike Tomlin does!
I doubt that loser has had a good night’s sleep all season long.
And it’s not true that “we all thought (Russ) was washed.” Speak for yourself man. 😂 Many fans spent the better part of two years speaking up for Russ and being laughed at by less informed, less intelligent so-called “fans.”
We KNEW he wasn’t washed, and you haven’t even seen his best yet. He has another gear (i.e., the ability to play at an even higher level) that he hasn’t yet shown with the Steelers and didn’t get to show in Denver.
Russ is “looking like a legitimate starter?” What is it with you?😒
Even in Russ’s worst year, he was a top-20 QB, and last year he was top 10 while playing for a coach who didn’t want him and with sorry weapons and an inconsistent O-Line.
You want to know what he has done LATELY?
For comparison, he rushed for 342 yards in 2019 in 16 games. He rushed for 341 yards in 2023 in Denver while playing only 15 games (for a coach who didn’t even resign many runs for him), finishing 8th in QB rush yards right behind Mahomes at 7th.
Russ had a 47% QB rushing first down rate in 2023. JF had a 37% first down rate. JF was at 29% entering the Raiders game.
Here are Russ’s 2023 rankings with a coach sabotaging him by keeping the playbook closed, no run game, ONE reliable receiver, an inconsistent at best O-Line, and a horrible defense:
#1 in 4th Qtr comebacks (4)
#1 in Game-Winning Drives (4)
#2 in Adj. Completion Rate (78.8%)
#2 in TD% (5.9)
#4 in Completion Differentials
#5 in TD-INT Ratio (26:8)
#7 in Passer Rating (98.0)
*#8 in QB Rush Yards (341, 15 games)*
#9 in TDs (26)
#9 in INT Rate (1.8)
#10 in INTs (8)
#11 in Completion% (66.4%)
Russ was a borderline top-10 QB last year with a HC sabotaging him and trying to tank. He beat the toughest teams on the Broncos’ schedule midseason with a horrible offense and barely one WR.
Last year, he also had 4 of the top-5 LEAST probable pass completions in the league, two of which had nothing to do with so-called deep-balls.
According to Sports Info Solutions (SIS), Russ in 2023 completed 6 passes of 40+ air yards past the original LoS (for 301 yards), good for #1 in the NFL. 4 of those 6 went for TDs. The 2 that didn’t were drops by his WRs. He attempted 16 such passes, 10 of which were deemed on target and none of which resulted in an INT…0 INTs!
Going back to late 2022, after Nathaniel Hackett’s firing, Russ has ripped off at least one TD in the last 25 of 26 games (and had a 23-game streak until a few games ago).
Games 13-17 for 5 games (2022)
Games 1-15 for 15 games (2023)
Games 7-12 (2024, Pittsburgh)
No other QB has even come close to that!
Let’s also remember how he knocked off the six toughest Broncos opponents with that inferior Broncos squad and would’ve beaten the Lions and others if Payton hadn’t purposely pulled the plug.
He was tanking and sabotaging Russ to scapegoat him. The Broncos needed the fanbase to be against Russ to justify losing and later to justify moving off of him whether after the 2023 season or after 2024. It’s called “P.R.”
They wanted to keep Russ for 2024 but Russ refused to accommodate them by deferring his injury guarantee for an additional year.
Russ refused because he knew it was his ticket out of Denver and knew they’d have to pay him regardless.
So, this narrative that it was a flex for Denver “pay Russ to leave,” an oversimplification, btw, is incredibly stupid! And the Broncos look stupid for doing it, because Bo Nix can’t do what Russ would be done, and Sean Payton isn’t nearly as good a coach as Mike Tomlin or Pete Carroll.
I think Sean Payton fully believed in Russ. That’s why he sabotaged him. People don’t understand why he did that, but he had multiple reasons:
(1) Revenge for denying the Saints a potential SB appearance in 2013-14;
(2) Russ’s potential to diminish Payton’s reputation as a “QB whisperer” if he performed well. There are two ways to view this issue. Russ plays well under Payton after a horrific year with Hackett, and Payton is the hero. The opposite view takes into account that Payton would have to adjust to Russ’s preexisting strengths, which were honed in Seattle. Payton didn’t develop Russ, so Payton would only get credit for not being incompetent. That would add fuel to the fire for Payton’s skeptics, many of whom believe he simply rode Drew Brees’s coattails.
(3) Protecting Drew Brees’s legacy. Payton and Brees are close like father and son. Russ and Drew Brees are widely considered to be the greatest undersized QBs ever, with some believing until 2022 that Russ was the better, more dynamic QB. Past QB rankings show that Russ was largely a borderline top-5 QB in his early Seattle years (2013-2016) before becoming a presumptive top-5 and top-3 QB. By attempting to pile on another bad year for Russ and criticizing him publicly (it didn’t work), he would theoretically be seeking protection Brees’s legacy. Plus. It’s possible that Payton was just too lazy and stubborn to do the work it would take to adjust. Still, he made a mistake. That ability to adjust is what Mayes coaches like Andy Reid so special.
(4) Ownership and Payton wanted to inch up the draft board to find Russ’s replacement, a young QB whose development observers would attribute to Payton. Payton made up his mind early that the Broncos wouldn’t make the playoffs and ownership signed off on that. In fact, it may have been their idea. Payton threw several early games, threw games vs. the Lions and Patriots, and, when benching Russ for financial reasons over the final two games, tried to lose those games to move further up the draft board.
(5) Russ recognized what Payton was doing and fought against it. When Payton went off on Russ on the sideline on international television, he was hoping Russ weight physically attack him. That would’ve allowed the Broncos to petition to void Russ’s contract for violating the personal conduct clause. Assaulting any staff member is automatic grounds to seek to void a players contract. That scheme likely came from the owners too.
(6) He didn’t like Russ’s eternal optimism. It’s crazy because those two seemed to really enjoy each other at Pro Bowls and other functions to the point that Russ considered Payton to be “a friend.” Clearly, it wasn’t a two-way street and Payton was faking.
My question is, why did Russ have Payton’s phone number, and why did Russ feel so comfortable speaking with him?
Quit jinxing the team. Let’s see what happens after Christmas. The rest of the schedule is tough.