5 significant, noticeable differences from the Broncos without Hackett

2. Russell Wilson on designed running plays (with success)

We all know that one thing Broncos fans have been clamoring for all season is more running from Russell Wilson. Now, people didn’t exactly expect what we saw on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs in terms of designed quarterback runs for Wilson, but that was a pleasant sight to behold.

What more people expected throughout the 2022 season from Russ was plays like this:

When the play breaks down, you make the play with your legs. That’s what Russell Wilson has done so well all throughout his career, but we haven’t seen a ton of that. Now, we can’t sit here and say that Nathaniel Hackett is the reason that wasn’t happening, but there’s something to be said about Wilson’s comfortability in the offense and how willing he is to play out of structure.

You can tell that Wilson is able to improvise and make those positive plays when the play otherwise is broken down when he’s comfortable with the rest of the structure. Against the Chiefs on Sunday, we saw a confident Russell Wilson. We saw a player operating on instinct rather than just trying to force square pegs into a round hole, which is what we’d seen a lot of throughout the 2022 season.

Maybe there really is something to the “let Russ cook” thing…