SEATTLE — Russell Wilson has been taking a verbal pounding this season. He's been an easy target for critics, especially on social media.
Monday night's one-touchdown effort in a losing cause against the Los Angeles Chargers was the latest in his laughable line of nationally televised performances.
In the second half alone against the Chargers, Russ completed just three of 11 passes for 15 yards, which only fueled the flow of memes on Twitter. It's gotten to the point where collectively, they read like a comic strip.
But Broncos fans and management aren't laughing.
Their quarterback has become known more for his clichés than his big plays.
Ever since he uttered the words, "Broncos country, let's ride," he's been the butt of a lot of jokes. He practically invited people to make fun of him. And they did. In fact, they piled on. I'm surprised he hasn't drawn a flag at the rate the NFL is calling roughing-the-passer penalties this season.
Russ has had some forgettable performances so far, especially in the last two games. After those games, the Broncos organization attempted to offer injury excuses for his poor play.
The team said last week, Russ played with a strained lat. This week, he played with a bad hamstring. But those injuries have nothing to do with his decision-making. He's not seeing wide-open receivers, which is part of the reason he's 30th in completion percentage.
Closer to home, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith leads the NFL in completion percentage. According to Pro Football Focus, Geno is second only to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen in overall quarterback rating.
Which brings us back to the Seahawks organization, which took a lot of heat after trading its star quarterback. Russ wanted a massive extension from the Seahawks. Pete Carroll and John Schneider said no. They already made Russ the highest-paid quarterback once at $35 million a season. He was 30 years old at the time. Why would they pay him $50 million a year in his mid 30's? It made no sense, and they knew it.
Russ was looking for more love from the only organization he's ever played for, but his relationship with the Seahawks had run its course.
Now the Broncos are on the hook for the $165 million they guaranteed him. They're stuck with Russ through the 2025 season.
Few things get better with age.
But Geno is doing his best to buck that trend. He's running Shane Waldron's offense the way it was intended to be run - with a quarterback who sticks to the script and limits his ad-libs.
That kind of performance has helped lead the team to a share of first place in the NFC West through six weeks.
Before the start of training camp, I sat down with Geno and asked him what the most important thing was he needed to bring to camp. He said my water bottle and my playbook.
That simple. He's all business.
No corny clichés.
No equally corny social media posts.
No programmed responses.
He's not "Mr. Unlimited" with a celebrity wife.
That entire act belongs to someone else.
And while the curtain seems to be dropping on that show, it's only beginning to reveal what's now playing in Seattle.