An Open Letter To Broncos Country: Stop Bashing Russell Wilson

Let me start out by saying this, it's not all of the fans but a lot.

The NFL season is young. There have been 3 games played and currently the Denver Broncos are sitting at 2-1 and in first place in the very strong AFC West division with a first year and first time head coach in Nathaniel Hackett and new quarterback in Russell Wilson.

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The hype surrounding this season was amped up big time with the signing of Wilson back on March 8 and the expectations have been and still are through the roof. That's all fine and dandy and understandable for a fanbase that has endured some really bad football since Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset and into retirement following the Super Bowl 50 win over Carolina in February 2016.

Check out this list of starting quarterbacks the Broncos have had since Peyton's retirement-- (OOF)

Trevor Siemien

Paxton Lynch

Brock Osweiler

Case Keenum

Joe Flacco

Brandon Allen

Drew Lock

Jeff Driskel

Brett Rypien

Teddy Bridgewater

Yikes. That's a long line of awful to average at best quarterbacks along with coaches that have come through since then and the fact that Broncos Country has endured so much over the past 6 years, it's no wonder patience are really thin but it's important to not take it out on the current team and players.

Granted, the start of the season has been ugly and the fact that 99% of the Broncos starters got zero reps in preseason games is a big part of that. When you have so many new faces in so many important positions including coaching, it was almost inevitable that things were going to start slow without some preseason game reps.

Is Russell corny and cringeworthy at times? Absolutely and that is just something that is part of his personality and it's simply who he is but we can't let that creep into what he's doing and can do and in my opinion will do eventually with the Broncos.

Here's the latest example of a major cringe moment.

A little painful right?

That's not the first time he's been cringy and corny, those moments go back to his Seattle days like the time he announced to the world that he signed a big extension to stay with the team...from his bed with Ciara.

Even his teammates made some fun of him for this one.

YouTube/Shane Coats

And let's not forget about his alter ego "Mr. Unlimited"

So between all of those little cringy moments and him yelling "let's ride" every since he rode into Colorado, it's understandable how people are rolling their eyes a bit and chomping at the bit to see him back things up on the field but I implore you, give it time.

While Russ has struggled so far, the bottom line is he's led two 4th quarter comebacks in the last two weeks to get victories, ugly victories albeit but victories nonetheless and after the past 6 years, we need to appreciate and enjoy every victory we can get.

Also keep this in mind, the team has been one of the most if not the most penalized team in the league over the first 3 weeks, coaching decisions have been questionable at best and flat out bad at times and Russell Wilson's stats have been less than stellar during this time as well.

Something to keep in mind though if you are bashing Russ, this isn't the first time a big time quarterback new to the Mile High City has had some growing pains. Some guy named Peyton Manning wasn't super stellar either in the beginning as the two quarterbacks through 3 games actually have pretty similar stats.

With all of that being said, the team is 2-1 and in first place but that's not enough. The Broncos spent a LOT to get Wilson both in players traded, draft picks and of course financially.

Here's what I think is a big problem though, the team extended Wilson for 5 years and about $250 MILLION before he even took a snap in Broncos uniform when he still had 2 years left on his existing contract and when you do that, the expectations go even higher and while I'm not about bashing Russell and the offense fpr their slow start, when you get that kind of money, the product better match what the price tag is and it simply hasn't so far and that's where the frustration is coming in.

So, let's all take a deep breath and give Russ a break. With a whole core of new teammates, coaches, with no time to get used to each other in the preseason and some key injuries in the receiving corps early on, I think it's completely understandable that there are some early season struggles and it's going to take some time.

I truly believe the big stats and wins will be there this year and for many years to come and while both Russ and some of this teammates on offense go through some growing pains, let's keep supporting them and admire some of the incredible things Russ is doing in the community and bringing his teammates on board for like this:

So if you're going to be criticizing now, you better be on board when this team is cooking towards the playoffs and contending because it's going to happen because there is too much talent on this team not to.

At least it better because there is no turning back now.

Let's ride.