Broncos Wire podcast: Is there still reason for optimism?

• I think that was probably Wilson’s worst game of the season. Right from the very first drive he was not connecting on deep passes. He could have had a TD to Marvin Mims if he didn’t underthrow it by a mile.

• After no interceptions during the five-game winning streak, Wilson tossed three interceptions on Sunday. Trailing by five, he drove Denver down to the 8-yard line and I thought he was going to complete yet another game-winning drive, but he was flushed out of the pocket and threw a game-sealing interception (terrible protection by Garett Bolles on that play).

• I think Sean Payton threw Wilson under the bus a little bit for his performance (understandably so). Denver was 0-of-11 on third down. After the game, Wilson said they needed to get into third and manageable. Here’s what Payton had to say about third down: “It’s not good enough. Obviously, it’s frustrating. It’s a combination of a handful of things — protection, guys open and us not making a play. I felt like the yardage and the distances were what we wanted.”

• Payton also seemingly blamed Wilson for not getting the offense set before the team’s third-down play that ended the game. Payton said they ended up playing “street ball” on that play because a pre-snap shift wasn’t communicated (by Wilson).

• Wilson also missed Jerry Jeudy wide open multiple times, including on what could have been a game-winning touchdown. Payton: “If you watch all of [the film], holy cow, there are about two or three of those plays.

• In the first half, a play was blown dead for a Texans false start on 4th-and-2. That would have created 4th-and-7, presumably a distance that would have made Houston kick a field goal instead of going for it.

• Singleton ran to C.J. Stroud after the whistle had blown, though, and pushed him. Stroud then headbutted Singleton and then Singleton shoved him again and was penalized, giving the Texans a first down. (I think it should have been offsetting penalties, but Singleton has to be smart enough to not retaliate in that situation.)

• Houston ended up scoring a touchdown and again, I’m guessing they would have kicked a field goal if it was 4th-and-7. That’s a four-point swing from Singleton’s dumb penalty. If not for that penalty, Denver could have been trailing by 1 point instead of by 5 points on their final drive of the game and a field goal would have been good enough to get a win at the end.

• Denver’s offense was bad for most of Sunday’s game and the Broncos lost in heartbreaking fashion in a game that could have greatly helped their playoff standings, but I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet.

• It’s not like this was an easy game — we both picked the Texans to win. Houston is a good team and Denver battled back and had a chance to win it at the end but a dumb blown play sealed the loss. If Wilson hits Jeudy on 2nd-and-goal and the Broncos win 24-22, we’d feel a lot different right now.

• It will be harder to make the playoffs now with a 3-5 conference record, but it’s still possible. Depending on how other teams do, Denver might need to win out, but I think 10 wins (one more loss) could still be enough. Either way, the Broncos need to focus on themselves and take it one game at a time.

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