Nathaniel Hackett Backtracks: 'We Should Have Gone for It'
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Denver Broncos fans could be forgiven for believing they've been trapped in an endless episode of The Twilight Zone. Monday night's end-of-game travesty might never haunt the Broncos in quite the same bizarre way again, but boy, did it sting.
While the pain does pass, the stark reality remains that a capital L resides where a big fat W should be next to Denver's name in the standings. The massively damaging loss to the Seattle Seahawks may be a heavy anchor for the Broncos to drag for 16 more games.
As for the here and now, head coach Nathaniel Hackett is fighting his first major fire on the job, and perhaps far too early. Certainly, there is no reason to panic, especially coming straight out of the gate as a first-year head coach.
Receiving a hall pass gives Hackett cold comfort, though, because there will be many more occasions when he'll have to find a way to overcome his inexperience. Consequently, and as somewhat of a rite of passage, he has to extinguish this initial flash fire rather quickly.
The blame lies squarely at the door of Hackett for his head-scratching decision to attempt a late-game 64-yard field goal instead of giving quarterback Russell Wilson an opportunity to convert a 4th-&-5 and get kicker Brandon McManus a heck of a lot closer. Option A1, undoubtedly and unequivocally, was to place all his trust in his Wilson, the 245-million-dollar man.
On Tuesday, Hackett metaphorically pulled out his coaching sword and committed Hari-Kari on the podium. Cathartic or not for him on a personal level, make no bones about it, he needed to do so.
"Looking back at it, we definitely should have gone for it," Hackett admitted. "Just one of those things you look back at it and say, 'Of course, we should go for it—we missed the field goal.’ But in that situation, we had a plan."
All of the trust Hackett had earned in hushed meeting rooms and on sun-baked practice fields this offseason can't be thrown away on a momentary lapses of coaching reason. This is indeed the big boy’s league, so being on point means listening intently to one’s gut feeling and coaching instincts. Furthermore, trusting unquestionably that your star player is money in the bank could be all that matters in the long haul.
Sadly for Hackett, he did neither late on Monday night in Seattle when the game was on the line. On the flip side, there really is no shame in being faced down by a grizzled old veteran like Pete Carroll and getting a bloodied nose.
Luckily, it shouldn't be a fatal blow for Hackett — far from it, merely a massive lesson for the 42-year-old to learn. Sure, the Broncos will find it hard to swallow the bitter pill but the Houston Texans are rolling into town on Sunday. On a short week.
All told, the Broncos really have no option. Welcome to the big league, coach.
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