We must also think about coaches. Tom Brady Madden 23 coins joined Bruce Arians, an established commodity with Super Bowl experience. Matthew Stafford went to the Rams which are managed by Sean McVay, another guy with experience at making it into the Super Bowl. Nathanial Hackett is an unproven first-year head coach who has not been tested. Even if we assume Hackett is a top coach, there's bound to be time for everything to connect.
Actually, it's kind an lateral play. I know Broncos supporters won't want hear about it, but that's my personal impression about the scenario. Both the Seahawks as well as the Broncos were teams that finished 7-10 last year, and sure, Seattle was 7-10 with Wilson but the Broncos were not -- but let's just be real: Wilson and Teddy Bridgewater were in fact, very similar last season.
The haul the Broncos send to Seattle is quite a bit for seven more touchdowns, and one less interception. One question that needs to be answered is: an additional 49 points is really putting more wins on the table for Denver?
In raw numbers, assuming Wilson follows the same pattern as 2021 in the same way, the Broncos could see their scoring average from 19.7 from 22.5. Defensively they allowed 18.9 per game, which means this small margin could be very significant -but I'm having an extremely difficult time being as optimistic about the 2022 Broncos as I am on the 2030 Buccaneers as I am with the 2021 Buccaneers or Rams.
It's possible that everything is aligned and Denver could emerge as a force. I'd prefer to be wrong as shaking up the playoff picture is a fantastic event to be a part of. As it stands I think it makes Denver an even stronger team from the start and not necessarily a top choice and they've secured their future to help ensure it happens.