We were all told during the 2022 offseason that the Broncos had a much-better offensive line than the Seahawks, great weapons, and a great defense. We were told Wilson was sliding into an ideal situation. Wilson himself said publicly that he wanted to go to Denver because he "wouldn't have to carry" the team. "Experts" around here told us the Broncos were among the best-managed teams in the league and the Seahawks among the worst-managed (including Hackett being a better head coach than Carroll... let's not let that claim "fade" from memory), that the Seahawks would be bad for years and the Broncos perennial title contenders because of the trade, and that Wilson would have more TD passes in the opening game against the Seahawks than the Seahawks would have wins in the season (only off by nine touchdown passes in the first game, or by thirteen games out of Wilson's fifteen-game season). And yet, that team, with its excellent defense and its offensive line and weapons that looked good before Wilson ruined it for them (as he had done in Seattle), ended up being so bad it "earned" the fifth pick in the draft, only to have to let the Seahawks have it. The Broncos ended up in last place in their division, a game behind the woefully mismanaged Raiders.
As incredible as it may seem,
@12AngryHawks actually
understates how good the Broncos defense was and how bad the offense was in 2022. If the Broncos had scored just 17 points in regulation through their first 12 games, they would have won at least ten of those games, and their game against the Titans would have gone to overtime. So they'd have been 10-2, 11-1, or 10-1-1. Seventeen measly points, but they couldn't manage even that.
I find it hilarious that Wilson apologists around here give Wilson all the credit for the Seahawks' success here and claim he made the team win despite Carroll supposedly being a terrible coach, but then those same people turn around and blame Hackett for Wilson being one of the three worst starting QBs in the league in 2022. I have to wonder how Wilson, upon going to a team that everyone agreed had more talent than the Seahawks, suddenly lost his magic team-carrying powers and started losing despite a truly great performance by his team's defense through the first 14 games of the season.