DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 06: Head coach Nathaniel Hackett and Russell Wilson #3 of the Denver Broncos talk with the referees during the first half of the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Empower Field At Mile High on October 6, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/Getty Images)
Audio By Carbonatix
The Denver Broncos have zero faith in themselves. This is despite Russell Wilson being arguably the most optimistic and corniest person in the NFL. His bright light hasn’t done anything to lift up the 2-4 Broncos who made one of the most cowardly decisions in decades of NFL play.
If you’ve never heard of it before, the ‘Surrender Index’ is a metric created by Jon Bois that quantitatively determines how ‘cowardly’ each punt is in the NFL. The index uses Field Position, First Down Distance, Score Differential, and Time Remaining to assign a ‘Surrender Index’ score and there’s even a calculator you can play around with yourself to see how it works.
The Denver Broncos are as cowardly as they come. We now know this because they punted in a 13-13 game on Monday Night Football and the play ranked in the 98th percentile of the Surrender Index for all NFL punts since 1999.
Denver Broncos punting in a 13-13 game was amongst the most cowardly decisions in years
DEN decided to punt to LAC from the LAC 39 on 4th & 8 with 10:49 remaining in the 4th while tied 13 to 13.
With a Surrender Index of 38.93, this punt ranks at the 99.3rd percentile of cowardly punts of the 2022 season, and the 98th percentile of all punts since 1999.
— Surrender Index 90 (@surrender_idx90) October 18, 2022
With the game on the line, they punted and showed the team has no faith in Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos offense. They were legitimately playing for overtime and a tie at this point and there are actual analytics to back it up.
If I’m Russell Wilson I am INCENSED after Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett decided to punt. He left Seattle to come to compete and even if he’s half the player he used to be they still need to give him the opportunity to make big plays or fail.
Denver lost the game and fans let them hear about it
By punting from the LAC 39 on 4th and 8 with nearly 11 minutes on the clock in a tie game, the Denver Broncos effectively played for overtime and the tie and then went on to lose in overtime. It was a decision that certainly didn’t go unnoticed by the fans.
Broncos this season have been the epitome of "a sad way to play football"
— Motorsports fan (@nascarfan242015) October 18, 2022
Maybe he needs to get his contacts checked:
Russell Wilson may actually be blind… pic.twitter.com/MmEQSisQzP
— TPS (@TotalProSports) October 18, 2022
Absolutely brutal stat line:
Russell Wilson tonight:
First quarter: 10/10, 116 YDS, 1 TD
Since then: 5/18, 72 YDS, 3 sack pic.twitter.com/TqxSTUkEoU— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 18, 2022
It’s not the defense, that’s for sure:
The Broncos have had Russell Wilson play every single offensive snap, their defense has allowed SIX TOUCHDOWNS ALL YEAR… and they’re 2-4!
Just the worst imaginable scenario for them and their fans.
— nick wright (@getnickwright) October 18, 2022
Russell Wilson after every bad performance and loss this year. pic.twitter.com/KBryev0ywr
— MyBookie – Bet With The Best (@MyBookie) October 18, 2022
Remember when people were talking about the Denver Broncos as AFC West contenders after they traded for Russell Wilson? That seems like a lifetime ago after the way this season started. Whether or not you care about the Surrender Index as an actual metric, it’s still laughable they would punt in that situation while playing for a tie with 11 minutes left.