Russell Wilson: ‘We have play cleaner there and I have to be better’

It’s not going to be a Victory Monday for Broncos Country and, while we’re used to it, the disappointment stings just as much — if not more — this time around.

Despite some explosive offensive plays at the start, there was a paradigm shift somewhere just before the end of the first half, and Denver gave up an eighteen-point lead. In the end, we would be trailing two points behind them.

Wallowing in defeat won’t help anything, but toxic positivity won’t, either. The Denver Broncos must find a balance here and apply it when they face the 2-0 Dolphins next week. An 0-2 start is bad enough; we absolutely can’t afford 0-3.

Along with head coach Sean Payton and a number of other players, QB Russell Wilson had the mic on him after tonight’s game. He shared his own perspective on what went wrong, what they need to change, and what the positives were (because there WERE obvious positives, honestly).

“I think that—first of all, everybody battled,” Wilson emphasized, noting that the beginning was particularly exciting. “In the first half, we played some of the best football we’ve played in a while. We have to make it two halves. That’s just the name of the game.”

“The biggest thing is making sure that we stay on schedule,” he continued, “Making sure that I play cleaner. Can’t turn the ball over.”

Wilson noted that, fortunately for the Broncos, the Commanders didn’t capitalize offensively on the interception; but the drives need to keep going, and that can’t happen if he’s being intercepted.

“We have to stay on schedule and continue to get first downs in certain situations. Especially coming out of the halves—the end of halves. Those are really big scoring moments for us,” he insisted, “We need to capitalize on those like we did last week.”

From Wilson’s perspective, they played well right before the half, but next time they have to come into the second half with a bang. He also noted why deferring is a good idea.

“That’s why you defer. We want to be able to get the ball back right at the [end of the] half,” he explained, “We have play cleaner there and I have to be better.”