The Broncos could’ve had the Seahawks exactly where they wanted them on Monday night. As a heavy favorite (-6.5) coming in, even despite a glut of unfortunate red zone miscues, Denver had a chance to salt away the victory on their final possession of the evening.
Unfortunately, after wasting 30 seconds with all three timeouts, new Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett decided to unfathomably settle for a potential game-winning 64-yard field goal in arguably the worst coaching decision of Week 1. The Seahawks won, 17-16 (Note: There have been just 25 field goals over 60 yards since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970). And after he doubled down in the postgame, everyone wondered how Hackett could possibly rationalize his confounding decision.
On Tuesday, after the sting of the Broncos’ stunning defeat started to set in, Hackett finally admitted his mistake in a press conference with reporters:
Addressing his decision to attempt a game-winning 64-yard FG last night, Broncos’ HC Nathaniel Hackett just told reporters, “Looking back at it, we definitely should've gone for it.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 13, 2022
Hindsight is very much 20/20, and kudos to Hackett for owning up to his faulty logic. That said, this was the kind of situation where the head coach probably should’ve seen he was wrong right away because it cost Denver dearly.
Even just a day later, NFL fans didn't appreciate Hackett's hindsight admission
Bro you ain't need hindsight, you had 40 whole seconds before that timeout to realize you should go for it https://t.co/lIkNNsnlln
— Brandon Cosby (@BrandonCosby_2) September 13, 2022
Everyone’s roasting Hackett for this but I’ve said this about every pair of wide-legged, high-rise pants I didn’t buy https://t.co/mmSDcpMn3E
— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) September 13, 2022
He literally has two assistants hired for just game management situations and they're all just now coming to this conclusion? https://t.co/J1bJwV7paa
— Charles Goldman (@goldmctNFL) September 13, 2022
The sky is blue. https://t.co/lqwzS8wHOl
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 13, 2022
*cue Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song* https://t.co/4tfMbmsdyv
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) September 13, 2022
Go for it or don’t, but the biggest issue there was the indecision & then burning the timeout. https://t.co/3p73c0APBi
— Brandon Kiley (@BKSportsTalk) September 13, 2022
he needed to sleep on it https://t.co/fTWnofpO34
— Steven Ruiz (@theStevenRuiz) September 13, 2022
Justtttttt a bit late https://t.co/QbKXQXZbbH
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) September 13, 2022
nathaniel hackett is michael scott https://t.co/UgYyA4iKZl
— charles (#1 mahomes truther) mcdonald (@FourVerts) September 13, 2022
