3 Broncos who will be blamed for devastating loss, but fans should pump the brakes

In a battle with key playoff implications at stake, the Denver Broncos fell short against the Houston Texans on Sunday, losing 22-17. The loss snaps the Broncos' 5-game winning streak and puts them at 6-6. If you believe this stat, making the playoffs could prove quite difficult.

Broncos Country is going to be frustrated by this defeat, to be sure. And if you have already been scouring social media, you have no doubt seen some of that frustration directed at a few players on the roster, blaming them for the defeat.

Sometimes, you just have to tip your hat to the other team. The Texans played a great game and they walked away with the victory, but it could have easily gone the other way and if it did, these things about these Broncos wouldn't be said.

This is still a team that is in contention. One game is not going to decide its fate one way or the other. The Broncos need to regroup and prepare for a Los Angeles Chargers team that will also be hungry for a win.

The Broncos were 1-5 at one point this year. THAT was the time to be disgusted with the product on the field. This is not.

All three of these Broncos are going to be needed if the team is going to be successful the rest of this season.

Russell Wilson

We'll start right at the top. Because football has just about always been a sport where the quarterback gets all the glory when his team wins and takes all the blame when his team loses, Russell Wilson is going to take some blame for this defeat.

Commenters on social media are talking about how he's washed up and how he is not the answer for this team. Yes, he threw three interceptions, but the first of those was a ball that was tipped (by Will Anderson, who was the biggest reason the Texans won this game).

The second interception was just a tremendous play made by Derek Stingley, who also had the first interception. His second was one of the best interceptions you will see this season.

On the third interception and the game-deciding play, Russ had the ball picked off in the end zone. But watching the play again, let's give the quarterback credit for even getting the pass away as he was under instant pressure. With no timeouts, if he takes a sack there, the game ends. At least he was able to give his team a chance.

Russ only completed 15 passes in this game and he threw for 186 yards. Statistically, it wasn't a good game. But he made plays with his feet, converting key third and fourth-down plays in the game. At one point, the Broncos were down in this game 22-10 in the fourth quarter and it looked like it was over.

The Broncos don't get back into this game with any chance for victory without the play of their quarterback.

Alex Singleton

Alex Singleton is facing some blame for one play he made in this game in which he was flagged for unnecessary roughness against C.J. Stroud. It came on fourth down and allowed the Texans to continue their drive, which resulted in a touchdown.

Of course, it's easy to say that the Broncos wouldn't have needed a touchdown to win the game had this touchdown, which happened in the first quarter, not happened. However, there are so many things that transpired between that play and the end of the game that all could have also been different if not for that play, so it's easy to say that but there's zero proof that things would have gone down the same way.

Singleton had a big sack late in the game and also led the team with 12 total tackles. On the season, he is the team's leading tackler by a pretty wide margin. He is one of those guys that Broncos fans seem to love to hate, but he is one of the best players on the defense.

But let's watch this play back, just for fun.

It's certainly not a "smart" play by Singleton, but, it was also a bad job of officiating. After some pushing and shoving between Singleton and Stroud, you see a Texans player come up and take a shot at Singleton, pushing him right in the head. Where was the flag for that? There should have been off-setting penalties. Just because there wasn't a flag, doesn't mean that Singleton lost this game for the Broncos and it's ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

Sean Payton

Sean Payton is going to take the heat for this loss and on social media, he already is, with many Broncos fans criticizing his play-calling. But the Broncos fell behind 13-0 in this game and then 22-10 in the fourth quarter and there was more than one reason for that and more than one member of the team to place the blame on.

How about this, the Broncos just got outplayed by a team that was slightly better on this day? Payton talked after the game about the hole the team put itself in.

That is all very accurate. The NFL is a difficult league to get wins in and on this day, the team just fell a little bit short after struggling in the beginning of the contest.

Payton's play-calling can be called into question for the way the game ended, but that same play-calling is what helped the team have a chance in the end, right? I've seen some Broncos fans talking about how this loss was worst than the 70-20 Miami Dolphins game and that, to me, is really strange.

The Broncos played a competitive game on the road against a team that has been tough for everyone this season. They had a chance to win it in the end and came very close to doing so. That's all you can ask for in this league.

Onto the Chargers in Week 14.