Nathaniel Hackett
Denver Broncos’ loss 17-16 in primetime, to Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 can be deemed as simply heart-breaking. Being held back the one-year-line on consecutive plays, Colin Cowherd could not help himself but blame the team and coach Nathaniel Hackett for their poor choices.
If you think about the 1-point differential loss for Denver Broncos, in their three trips to the red zone in the second half – Hackett’s team came away with just a total of 3 points. Moreover, the miscommunication between Russell Wilson and the rest of their offense was evident and imminent. On several drives, Wilson ran the play clock down to 3-or-less seconds, which eventually led to hurried plays and penalties for different offenses.
Referring to the same, Colin Cowherd quoted on The Herd, “For 10 years Russell Wilson was magic at the end of games. Last night – CHAOS! It is hard for me to not blame the coach. Say it out loud, Russell Wilson with those weapons, can he get 5 yards? They (Denver Broncos) averaged 6.8 yards a play or have a kicker who has never kicked to ball more than 61 yards at sea level last night hit a 64 yarder.
The offensive woes of the Denver Broncos were as open as they could be in the inaugural week showdown against the Seahawks. On top of it, Nathaniel Hackett’s decision to not put the ball in Denver Broncos’ largest offseason addition’s hands was just going to add more misery. On a fourth-and-five, Nathaniel opted to try for the second-longest field goal in the league’s history instead of the experienced Wilson trying to make a play.
Cowherd added, “Here’s the thing that really bothered me and it wasn’t just the end of the drive, which was epically bad. There was no urgency. I mean if you’re on a plan and the engine fails, I hope the pilot radios the tower and says, ‘We are down to 1 engine.’ You gotta know urgency.
“I’m talking about urgency and not panic, we (to Denver Broncos) got three and a half, 3:40 left and this place is loud – we gotta make some plays here, let’s not run it too much. Let’s get Russell (Wilson) moving, cooking and moving. Throwing the ball here, in the middle of the park, in the beginning of the drive. So, there is no urgency. And at the end of the drive, to waste all that time – you can’t get the ball back. So, if you miss the field goal, it’s all over. Wouldn’t you give yourself the option?”
Given that it is just the first week of the 2022-23 NFL Season, Broncos will need to rework upon their strategies if they are planning to challenge the more enhanced and well-equipped teams during the later stages.
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