Nathaniel Hackett

It was a thrilling matchup where the former Seahawks quarterback was met with hostility from his former fans. Despite the Seahawks and Denver Broncos seemingly ...

The bottom line is that Nathaniel Hackett has a great deal of work to do. Denver has already made their commitment to Wilson as the long-term quarterback and it is up to Nathaniel Hackett to trust him and utilize him best. Nathaniel Hackett elected to allow the clock to run until there were just twenty seconds left in the game. The Broncos first received the ball with 4:02 left in the fourth quarter and trailing by just one point. The Denver Broncos have their intentions of contending this season and if Hackett cannot learn quickly and make adjustments he will begin feeling the heat. His decision to allow the clock to drain and attempt the 64-yard field goal was questionable and will be one he must face criticism for. Wilson was outdueled by Geno Smith in the matchup which was a surprise to everyone. Hackett was thrown into the fire on Monday night and forced to make decisions with the game on the line. In the first Monday night matchup of the NFL season, all eyes were on Russell Wilson in his return to Seattle. How he responds to this will play a major role in his coaching future, but his lack of experience was put on display in week one. [ast-second 64-yard field goal attempt](https://clutchpoints.com/broncos-news-peyton-manning-reacts-to-denvers-64-yard-fga/) from Brandon McManus with a game on the line. The lengthy field goal was unable to make it through the uprights and the Broncos suffered an infuriating loss.

Unfortunately for Nathaniel Hackett and the Denver Broncos, neither the head coach nor the players were mentally or physically prepared to play against ...

They would have been valuable if the Broncos decided to go for it — which they should have — and converted. First and foremost, the Broncos weren’t prepared to play. According to the 4th down decision bot, they should have gone for it there, too. Even Peyton Manning was calling for a timeout, just like all of Broncos Country, as the clock ran and ran, from 59 seconds down to only 20 seconds. His second was thinking he had the entire playbook to use instead of dumbing it down for his new players. The lack of in-game preparation was clear as day; Wilson’s timing was off, the fumbles were game-changers and the defense let Seattle do whatever they wanted to in the first half. Broncos Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe wasn’t happy with the decision, either. There were also some dropped passes, and then the notable back-to-back goal line fumbles by Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams were killers. They were supposed to have an elite quarterback who could pull wins out of the jaws of defeat. Instead, he let the clock drain to 20 seconds and then called a timeout, only to kick a 64-yard field goal and lose. Denver’s $245 million man played more like “Rusty” Wilson than “DangeRuss.” In fact, the entire offense was sloppy throughout the contest. These Broncos would be different than the ones we’ve seen struggle for six years.

Nathaniel Hackett's first game as an NFL head coach did not come without controversy. Hackett's late-game clock management was called to question before ...

While most everyone is focusing on how the game ended, Hackett pointed to his offense's lack of red zone success as the main reason why the Broncos left Seattle with a loss. It appeared, however, that Wilson and the offense were trying to run a play on fourth down before calling a timeout to avoid a delay of game. "We had a false start on a walk-in touchdown, which is unacceptable. Despite being armed with three timeouts, Hackett passed on giving Wilson a chance to convert a fourth-and-five situation and instead asked his kicker to try to make what would have been tied for the second-longest field goal in [NFL](/nfl) history. "I thought Javonte did an incredible job to put us into field goal range and at the mark we were looking for." [Broncos](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/DEN/denver-broncos/) faced a third-and-14 on the on their own 45 with 1:11 left.

Well, Nathaniel Hackett is surely going to want to forget his first game as a head coach. Hackett somehow managed to steal the spotlight from Russell Wilson ...

Next up is a home game against the Houston Texans as Hackett and Co. And then it was Javonte Williams' turn, as he fumbled on 3rd-and-goal from the 1-yard line on Denver's next possession. Just when it seemed as if Wilson was going to lead a game-winning drive, the Denver Broncos coach turned in an abysmal display of clock management, and his team lost a 17-16 stunner to the Seattle Seahawks.

Nathaniel Hackett thought the Broncos would have to go for it on fourth down before Javonte Williams picked up nine yards on third down.

“I thought he had plenty of distance on that one and just thought that we were going to be able to make that,” the coach said. It put us in that weird spot there because we were in the field goal range but we were on that fourth down situation. “ I thought Javonte made an incredible play and put us in the field goal range, the mark we were looking for.” “They had the faith in me. We just made the decision we wanted to take or shot there on that one.” I think he’s capable of that, but obviously I wish we would’ve got a lot closer.

The Denver Broncos Ring-of-Famer couldn't believe what he was seeing on Monday night.

Back to the drawing board, I guess. Eli: "They don't have that much time. Instead, down by one point at the Seahawks' 46-yard line, Hackett drained the clock down on a 4th-&-5 to 20 seconds left, wasting more than 30 seconds. Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Adding to the mix was Broncos Hall-of-Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, who punctuates this clip perfectly. Peyton Manning, on his ESPN show Manningcast, alongside his brother Eli Manning, was perplexed at Hackett's decision.

Broncos' coach Nathaniel Hackett made a head-scratching decision to sit Russell Wilson in favor of a 64-yard field goal attampt.

To recap: Hackett took the ball out of Wilson’s hands and burnt over 40 seconds of time off the clock to attempt to win the game on what would have been the NFL’s second-longest field goal in history. — burning down the clock for a chance at a game-winning 64-yard field goal with 20 seconds left. That has to be one of the worst coaching calls in NFL history.