Broncos' QB Russell Wilson Predicts 'A Lot of Showtime Games' in the AFC West
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Frustrated by facing the internal battles for AFC West supremacy without a heavyweight quarterback to call his own, Denver Broncos' GM George Paton went and acquired his very own ruthless gladiator in Russell Wilson. In times past, acquiring a signal-caller of such magnitude would have made the Broncos immediate favorites for the division title.
But this time around, some of the more cynical analysts and anonymous NFL execs are still picking the Broncos as the team most likely to finish last in the AFC West. No doubt, fierce battles lie ahead.
In that spirit, Wilson checked in with former Seattle Seahawks tight end Greg Olsen, and current NFL on FOX color analyst, on his Youth Inc. podcast to talk up the box-office appeal of the newfangled AFC West.
“I think what we can expect is a lot of showtime games,” Wilson told Olsen. “You’ll definitely be calling them. There will be some good ones in the AFC West. … I think for me what’s the most important thing is it’s all about winning, whatever that means, to be able to do that. I think part of that is to be able to do that, right? To go and take over the game and whatever it may be. It’s time for that to happen, game in and game out, and that’ll definitely happen in this division, for sure.”
Wilson already achieved legendary status with the Seahawks by delivering their first-ever World Championship, ironically against the Broncos back in 2013. Some less positive media analysts have openly cast doubt about the sanity of Wilson taking on the mammoth challenge of going toe-to-toe in the loaded AFC West in the first place.
That being said, at least the way Wilson sees things, he has all the pieces already in place to fight fire-with-fire as a member of the Broncos.
“I’m excited about what’s ahead, though, and knowing that we’ve got a great football team in Denver, too,” Wilson told his former teammate. “And I’m excited about that, and the battle and challenges ahead of us and knowing that I really believe that’s going to be a great thing in Denver, as well, with some amazing players, amazing coaching staff. Coach [Nathaniel} Hackett’s amazing. The GM here, George [Paton], he’s great too; he has great vision. They have a vision of what they want to do and how they want to do it. I’m excited about it. And the players are excited about it too.”
As Wilson referenced, several of his new Broncos teammates have already spoken about how the entire atmosphere and levels of expectation have reached the stratosphere since he walked through the front doors at Dove Valley. Translating that into tangible success on the field starts with winning head-to-head matchups against AFC West rivals in what might end up going down as the most talented group of passers to ever do battle for divisional supremacy.
But remember: as trepidatious as Patrick Mahomes' 13-game winning streak over the Broncos might be for fans, Wilson doesn't fear the Kansas City Chiefs, or any team for that matter.
"When it comes to the AFC West, I wanna play against the best," Wilson said back on March 16. "I don't fear anything, so I'm looking forward to it.'
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