Since the day the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Russell Wilson as a free agent, the 2024 matchup between Wilson, the Steelers and the Denver Broncos has been much anticipated.
Now, following last week’s schedule release, we know when that matchup will occur: Week 2 at Empower Field at Mile High, 4:25 p.m. on CBS. That will likely be the Jim Nantz-Tony Romo broadcast, too, putting the eyes of the nation on the matchup.
It’s been quite hyped as a real revenge game, but for ESPN’s Kevin Clark, it’s not a revenge game for either Wilson or the Broncos. Appearing on the latest episode of his podcast “Not Just Football” Friday, Clark pushed back on the revenge game narrative that has formed for Wilson against the Broncos.
“What does a revenge game mean? A revenge game means, ‘I’m trying to get back at a team.’ Russell Wilson was given every opportunity,” Clark said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “…They did a shakedown of him, but he was objectively bad. He was objectively bad enough to say, ‘We don’t want you to be as part of our future.’ So that’s why they said take less guarantees. And then when they did that, they turned to another quarterback.”
Clark makes a fair point that Wilson was given every opportunity to turn things around in 2023 with the Broncos. But saying he was “objectively bad” just doesn’t line up. Wilson was just fine in 2023, throwing for 3,070 yards, 26 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
He had a 98 QB rating on the year and completed 66% of his passes. Wilson just didn’t match up well with Sean Payton. That led to Denver approaching Wilson to rework his contract, to which he fairly refused to, leading to his benching.
Once Payton put Jarrett Stidham into the lineup, the Broncos were much worse. Stidham had just 165.3 passing yards per game last season to Wilson’s 208. Stidham also had just two touchdowns, completed just 60% of his passes and had a QB rating of 87.7.
Stidham, objectively, was much worse than Wilson.
After he was benched, Wilson was unceremoniously dumped by the Broncos. They took on an $80-plus million dead cap charge to send Wilson packing, landing him in Pittsburgh on a one-year deal. And since he’s left town, there have been quite a few leaks coming out about Wilson in a negative light, which could only be coming from one place.
Now, Wilson will get a shot at beating his old team on the road, attempting to get one over on his former head coach, a coach with whom very clearly did not mesh well.
Despite that storyline being very clearly in play, Clark just doesn’t see it and refuses to acknowledge it.
“I just think you were given ample opportunity. You were given unbelievable amounts of money. I just don’t know. And also, what is Russell Wilson gonna do to the Broncos? What’s he gonna do? What is he capable of doing?” Clark said of Wilson and a revenge factor against the Broncos. “This is not Randy Moss playing against the Cowboys and saying, ‘I’m gonna get 900 yards every time we play.’
“Russell Wilson is not capable of revenge.”
Maybe Wilson isn’t capable of revenge. But maybe he is. He’s always had a chip on his shoulder as an overlooked guy, one who has thrived off being doubted. The Broncos — specifically Payton — doubted him. You’d be crazy to think that doesn’t fuel him in his preparation for the 2024 season and won’t drive him to do whatever it takes leading up to that Week 2 matchup to ensure he gets a win over Payton and the Broncos in their home stadium.
The last time he was in a “revenge” situation was Week 1 of the 2022 season against the Seattle Seahawks on the road. Wilson went in there and lit up the Seahawks, throwing for 340 yards and a touchdown in Seattle. However, the Broncos lost that game 17-16, due in large part to then head coach Nathaniel Hackett having no idea what he was doing.
Now, Wilson has Tomlin, a great defense, a rebuilt offensive line and a strong rushing attack behind him. This Steelers team is built similarly to how the Seahawks were built during Wilson’s best seasons. He could be in line for a big bounce back season.
And that “revenge” matchup could be the springboard to that. Doubt him at your own peril, Kevin Clark.
