Their margin of error in this new football season already gone, the Broncos are one bad loss away from tanking for the best available quarterback in the 2024 NFL draft.

Should Denver be left with little choice but to move on from Russell Wilson before the worst contract in team history even kicks in, we’ve already seen the play that could get him fired.

“We’ve got to treat every game as a championship game,” Wilson said Wednesday.

While it might be one of those football cliches Wilson tosses more frequently than touchdown passes, in this case, his words are laced with a harsh reality.

Only two games deep into his tenure as Denver’s coach, Sean Payton might have to decide if he’s really willing to ride or die with DangeRuss.

After a season-opening loss to the Raiders that quickly crushed whatever cautious enthusiasm there might have been in Broncos Country, the insult of losing to Washington and going 0-2 at home against two NFL bottom-feeders would not only dash playoff dreams but could mark the beginning of the end for the relationship between Wilson and Payton.

If Wilson can’t beat Washington and inexperienced quarterback Sam Howell, maybe the best course of action for a franchise doomed to miss the playoffs for an eighth consecutive season would be to sink to the bottom of the standings. Then the Broncos could draft USC quarterback Caleb Williams or ask Shedeur Sanders to hop in his Maybach and take the short drive to Denver.

OK, I’m not suggesting all is lost. And because they don’t call me Mr. Sunshine for nothing, I still hold out hope that Wilson and Payton can find happiness together. But it would be naive to believe anything less than everything is on the line against the Commanders.

By dinking and dunking, Wilson posted numbers against Las Vegas that only a football accountant wearing a pocket protector could love. Yes, there were encouraging signs of healthy restraint in the 27 completions for 177 yards and two touchdowns Wilson produced against the Raiders.

In a league that constantly reminds us that single-score games separate the contenders from the chumps, however, Wilson came up short in what he refers to as GAP moments.

“Game-altering plays,” Wilson explained.

What turns my gut into an acidic sea of regret long after the final snap of a 17-16 loss to Las Vegas is the most crucial GAP moment of a dreary Sunday afternoon. That’s when Wilson failed to execute a brilliant play call by Payton in the red zone, causing distraught Denver coaches to blow gaskets on the sideline when their franchise quarterback came up small in the clutch.

With nine minutes and three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the Broncos held a three-point lead against Las Vegas, and Payton held a hammer poised to nail down a victory.

The situation: After a coolly efficient and painstakingly patient 14-play drive advanced the Broncos from their own 20-yard line to within five yards of the end zone, Denver had pushed the Raiders to the brink of elimination on third down.

All the Broncos needed was one beautiful idea from Payton to score a touchdown that would increase Denver’s lead to 20-10 and give Las Vegas a stickier riddle than Raiders coach Josh McDaniels would know how to solve.

Despite all the grief I’ve given Payton for the misguided, ego-driven choice to open the game with an onside kick, the new coach dialed up a play on third-and-goal that reminded us why he has the reputation as one of football’s more brilliant offensive minds.

The Broncos galloped to the line in a hurry with the tempo Payton had preached throughout training camp. The personnel on the field and quirk in the formation given to Wilson were sufficient to give Las Vegas an instant migraine.

Courtland Sutton was the receiver deployed to the left side of the formation, while there was a triplet of pass-catchers stacked outside of right tackle Mike McGlinchey.

But the subtle genius of Payton’s call was to be found in the backfield immediately to the right of where Wilson awaited the snap. Rookie receiver Marvin Mims, the team’s quickest playmaker, was lined up at running back.

With the trips setting what amounted to a three-pronged pick against the Vegas secondary, Mims could roll all by himself into the right flat, where a short pass from Wilson would allow him to waltz into the end zone for the victory-clinching touchdown.

The problem? After the snap, there was a hiccup of hesitation by Wilson, perhaps surprised by how wide Raiders defensive demon Maxx Crosby took his stance to rush the passer. Or maybe Wilson was too short to see Mims wide open through the log-jam of big bodies.

Whatever the reason, Wilson rolled to his right into the path of Crosby and was forced to throw the pass away, harmlessly incomplete. The Broncos settled for a field goal. On the next possession by Las Vegas, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo found Jakobi Meyers for a touchdown that doomed Denver to defeat.

At the moment Wilson failed to make Payton look like a genius in the red zone, the coach punched the air in frustration and angrily stomped away.

If Wilson gets run out of Denver, mark the failure in the red zone that left Payton red in the face as the beginning of the end.

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