The Denver Broncos have started 0-2 following a shocking and almost unfathomable loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday.
This was a game the Broncos really had to win and it was a game in which things started out better than we have seen in some time. The Broncos got out to a 21-3 lead and it looked like they were going to run Washington out of the Mile High City. But from the moment this hit by Kareem Jackson on Logan Thomas took place, leading to Jackson's ejection, it looked like a completely different game.
There were many positives to take from this game, and that will be reflective in the winners and loser's section below. But at the end of the day, the Broncos are 0-2 and the schedule is not going to get any easier.
Winner: Russell Wilson
For the second week in a row, Russell Wilson makes the winners list. If there's anything positive that Broncos fans can draw from this 0-2 start, it's that the team is not losing because of the starting quarterback, something they couldn't say last season.
Wilson did everything he could to help his team win this game, even after it got to the point where it seemed that all hope was lost. Wilson completed 18-of-32 passes for 308 yards and threw three touchdowns. He also led the team with 56 yards rushing.
At the end of the game, with no time left on the clock, he managed to fling this ball all the way to the end zone to complete a miraculous Hail Mary to potentially send the game into overtime. Unfortunately, the ensuing two-point conversion attempt failed and the game ended with the Broncos losing 35-33.
Wilson has not been perfect in the first two weeks, but he's been good enough to be 2-0, not 0-2.
Loser: Jerry Jeudy
Perhaps Jerry Jeudy is still not 100 percent recovered from the hamstring injury that sidelined him to start the season, but if he truly is the best offensive weapon on this team, and many fans believe he is, when exactly is he going to show that on the field?
Jeudy's return to the lineup was supposed to provide a big spark for this offense and on Sunday, that was not the case.
Jeudy caught just three passes for 25 yards in this game and was only targeted five times all day. He rarely presents himself as that game-changing option in the passing game the way CeeDee Lamb or Justin Jefferson do, players that were drafted after Jeudy in 2020.
It just seems that Jeudy is the kind of player who has the ability to have two or three "good" games every season but more often than not, he's going to put up these kinds of numbers.
Winners: Marvin Mims, Brandon Johnson
Two other wide receivers on the team who are far less-recognized than Jeudy, Marvin Mims and Brandon Johnson, looked great for the Broncos in this game.
One of the most encouraging things that can be taken from this loss is the way that the rookie Mims played. He made a big play every time he touched the ball on Sunday, and that could be something the Broncos need to think about doing more often.
Mims caught two passes on the day and had 113 yards receiving, including a 60-yard touchdown in the first quarter that put the Broncos up 14-3.
Johnson did his part as well. He also only caught two passes but both of them ended up in the end zone. He was the guy on the receiving end of Wilson's Hail Mary. The ball bounced around several players hands near the end zone and it was Johnson who showed the proper concentration to grab the deflection in the end zone.
The Broncos need to look into getting both of these guys more involved in the passing game going forward.
Loser: Vance Joseph
There is always going to be a major scapegoat after every loss and this week, that is absolutely going to be defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. You can already hear it.
All of sports talk radio in Denver and all of the websites that cover the Broncos, including this one, are going to talk at length, bemoaning the decision to bring Joseph back to Denver. Though that will get repetitive, it's accurate.
Bringing Joseph back was always a questionable decision. Except, no one really questioned it because Sean Payton could do no wrong after being hired as the team's head coach. Fans just went with it.
Why Joseph continues to get NFL jobs is something I will never understand. He's never been a good coach at any level and this season is no different. A defense that was strong with Vic Fangio and even last season has been reduced to one of the worst in the league.
The Commanders did whatever they wanted to against this defense on Sunday and that is why the Broncos lost this game. There will be calls from fans to fire Joseph right now, but that is highly unlikely.
Winner: Broncos pass-rushers
We asked for the Broncos' pass-rush to step up, after being invisible against Las Vegas, and it did. Randy Gregory, Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper all played well in this game.
Cooper had two sacks and Gregory and Bonitto each had one. Both Gregory and Bonitto had an additional tackle for loss each as well. Bonitto did get flagged for a facemask penalty on Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, but it was encouraging to see the second-year player step up when the team needed him to.
It's equally good to see production out of Gregory, who has a long way to go to live up to the contract he received from the team as a free agent last year. Hopefully, this is a trend that he can continue.
As for Cooper, he continues to be a player that makes plays when one is needed for this defense. He might have been the team's best pass-rusher in this game and on one play, he knocked the ball out of Howell's hands, forcing a fumble. The Commanders were able to get on it but it resulted in a 16-yard loss.
Loser: Sean Payton
If Vance Joseph is here, Sean Payton has to be here too. After all, he wanted him in Denver.
Payton deserves credit for being a great head coach across his career but in his first two games with the Broncos, that hasn't been the case. It's possible that Payton doesn't have all of the pieces that he would like to have, but I will remind you that the first two games were against the Raiders and the Commanders. Those are two of the easiest games on the schedule.
No one is going to say that Payton is a bad coach or that bringing him in was a bad decision. But he is a long way away from turning this thing around and having the situation that he once had in New Orleans.
There will be lumps, and Payton is going to have to be willing to take them. His team is 0-2 and all signs currently point to things getting much worse. He is going to have some tough decisions to make on that road.