Denver Broncos: 5 best moments of Russell Wilson era

3. Game-winning FG drive versus Bills in Week 10, 2023

The Denver Broncos went into the bye week riding a two-game winning streak. They were 3-5 and had their biggest test of the season up to that point. The Broncos hung with the Buffalo Bills all game, and really played some of their best ball on defense all year, forcing multiple turnovers.

Well, the Bills took a 22-21 lead with under two minutes left, and the offense needed to at least get in FG range. Well, this game-winning FG drive was vintage Russell Wilson. He made insane, smart plays and drove the Broncos down the field. Wil Lutz missed the first attempt to win the game, but the Bills had 12 men on the field, so Lutz got another shot, and he aced it.

This was a very fun game.

2. Being demoted to QB2 after Week 16, 2023

This might sound very petty and unnecessary, but Russell Wilson being demoted to the bench essentially signals the end of the era in Denver. Even though Wilson is top-10 in a handful of QB categories, a lot of what he's done has been empty calories, as the Broncos offense is very one-dimensional. It doesn't have a dropback game at all; there is no intermediate passing game in the offense, and it's one of the most inefficient passing attacks in the NFL.

If Russell Wilson wasn't checking it done to a RB or throwing it deep, there was nothing happening. He was either taking a sack or throwing incompletions. What we may see over the next two games are the Broncos trying to run this offense the way Sean Payton has envisioned. Backup QB Jarrett Stidham fits this offense more than Wilson does, and I think if the unit goes out and performs the way Payton hopes they do, we'll have even more confirmation that benching Wilson was the right move.