ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Nathaniel Hackett opened Tuesday’s news conference by admitting he made a mistake attempting a 64-yard field goal instead of handing off the ball to quarterback Russell Wilson in the final seconds of the game. the 17-16 loss suffered by the Denver Broncos against Seattle.
Then the strategist began to ramble and ended up defending his questionable decision.
“Looking back, I should have gone for it,” Hackett said a day after he drew widespread criticism for his decision that turned his Denver debut into a flop and prevented Wilson from having the last word after he was booed in Seattle.
“It’s one of those situations where looking back you say ‘of course we should have done that. We missed the field goal,’” Hackett said. “But in the situation that we had planned, the mark was the 46-yard line.”
Brandon McManus’ 64-yard kick went wide.
Two things got Hackett his first NFL head-coaching job: Innovative playmaking and his love of analysis. Neither virtue was evident in Denver’s upset loss.
“I think numbers are an amazing thing in the world,” Hackett said in his January presentation, promising to use the data “to help us make big decisions.”
However Hackett decided against the stats when he faced fourth and five from the Seattle 46 with less than a minute to go.
Instead of trusting the quarterback who cost the Broncos three players, five draft picks and a guaranteed $165 million, Hackett asked Brandon McManus to come in and do what he had never done: kick a 64-yard field goal. yards, the second longest in NFL history.
“I was surprised that Russ was released,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.
Wilson was just a bystander at the crucial moment in his Denver debut.
After narrowly missing Monday night, McManus is 1-for-8 on kicks of more than 60 yards. His only success was 61 yards against the Chargers in the last game of the 2021 season.
IT WORKS
Bradley Chubb overcame a slow start to get a pair of sacks in the second half. They were his first quarterback sacks since Nov. 29, 2022 because he missed seven games last year following surgeries on both ankles.
MISSING
The offense looked a bit rusty as Hackett rested his starters in the preseason, committing three false starts and two delays that kept Wilson from a big night (340 receiving yards).
We wish to say thanks to the writer of this article for this remarkable content
Hackett fails in his debut in charge of the Broncos