Sean Payton addresses Russell Wilson criticism 

New Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton said that the team's poor performances this season aren't all on quarterback Russell Wilson.

After swapping Seattle for Denver, Wilson was expected to take the Broncos to at least the playoffs. Well, they didn't even make that benchmark. With a new coach in Nathaniel Hackett, Wilson and the Broncos failed to establish themselves as what they hoped to be.

Who will win the Super Bowl?

When asked about the Broncos' failures this season on "Up and Adams," the former Saints coach said that the blame can't just be on Wilson.

“With Russell, we've got someone who's won a lot of games, who's been successful, and then it's really looking at, hey, what are the things that he does well?" Payton said. "And I think, look, anytime you have a season where it's 5-and-13 or 5-and-12, whatever their record was, my experience from afar is there's generally speaking a lot of people with dirt on their hands, not just Russ.

“You know, that falls on other players. That falls on the coaching staff. And so, I think those things we can clean up and correct. But I think more importantly, you know, go into the place where ownership is in place and is supportive and has a clear vision and the general manager's in place, those are the those are the key critical factors.”

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Can Payton help "fix" Wilson?

Denver Broncos introduce Sean Payton

The general hope is that an offensive-minded coach like Sean Payton will fix Russell Wilson. Getting a coach with the pedigree and power of Payton will certainly only benefit Wilson, or at least that is the thought of Denver's front office.

In truth, the bar isn't set that high to improve on last year's output, but considering the Broncos were thought to be a Super Bowl contender, missing out on the playoffs was disappointing.

With Payton, Denver is hoping to flip the script. And given what Payton was able to do with Drew Brees, there is an air of confidence with Wilson now.

Whether that translates to on-field production or not remains to be seen, but if there is one man who can get the best out of Russ, it's Payton.

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