NFL Exec Suggests Firing of Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett
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Love him or hate him, the increasingly disastrous 2022 Broncos season falls directly at the feet of head coach Nathaniel Hackett. No different than his (fired) predecessors, Hackett bears chief responsibility for Denver's disappointing record and an offense that can't be described as anything other than broken.
While general manager George Paton has given zero indication Hackett's job is insecure — Paton handpicked him only nine months ago, after all — there exists a sentiment among NFL circles that perhaps the former Packers assistant already warrants the figurative axe.
“I’d give him one more week, maybe two. Otherwise, this season’s over before it even started," an NFC executive told The Score's Jordan Schultz.
Bogged by questionable game management and situational play-calling amid his maiden campaign, Hackett again finds himself under the microscope following the Broncos' 12-9 loss to the Colts on Thursday night — an injury-filled field goal-fest that insulted the football intelligence of each primetime viewer.
Never mind the game mercilessly needing overtime. Never mind the Broncos failing to find the end zone across five quarters. The focus is on Hackett's final decision of the night: a 4th-and-1 pass from the Colts' five-yard line with 2:38 remaining in the extra frame.
An incompletion to Courtland Sutton, punctuating a dreadful performance by Hackett's $242 million quarterback, Russell Wilson.
“We wanted to win the game," Hackett explained in his postgame press conference. "We hadn’t moved the ball very well the whole night, and I thought we had a spectacular drive to get all the way down there. It ended up being fourth-and-one, and we got the go to go for it. Thought it was a good decision, wanted to put the ball in Russell’s hand and call a play that we know, and he really likes, and it didn’t work out."
Much like the rest of the team, Wilson has been inconsistent under Hackett's tutelage. He completed just 53.8% of his passes, tossed a pair of mind-numbing interceptions (including one in the end zone), and logged a season-low 54.9 QB rating, entering with a shoulder ailment and exiting with a suspected head injury as the Broncos suffered their second consecutive defeat.
“I think I’m going to have to evaluate it and look at it and see where he is," Hackett said. "[You] want to always try and get him into a rhythm, [and] didn’t feel like we were able to get him in that and need to do a better job. And it starts with me, to get him in that rhythm with all of the wide receivers and tight ends. Again, there were a couple of opportunities. I think we had a couple of drops again, a couple of penalties. We keep continually hurting ourselves, and I think that’s the thing that’s frustrating. We need to address that as an offense, and we need to fix that because the performance by the defense was spectacular, and we’re wasting those great opportunities to be able to win a football game.”
The Broncos' futility indeed starts with Hackett, and until the club converts hypothetical victories into actuality, whispers surrounding his future at the helm will persist.
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