Broncos coaches, players react to final missed 64-yard field goal

Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett took the ball out of Russell Wilson’s hands at the end of the game. Here’s how everybody reacted.

SEATTLE, Wash. — On Sunday, we put up a list of the most questionable coaching decisions in Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season.

Leave it to new Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett to outdo everybody else in Week 1 when it came to specious play calls.

In their 17-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field, the Broncos, who were supposed to be a quarterback away from Super Bowl contention, failed and fumbled in the red zone more often than anybody could have expected. Russell Wilson, the quarterback Denver decided was the missing piece, completed 29 of 42 passes for 340 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.

But it was the play Wilson wasn’t allowed to make that made all the difference. With 1:11 left in the game, Wilson hit running back Javonte Williams for a nine-yard gain that took the ball to the Seattle 46-yard line. The Broncos and Seahawks then traded timeouts, and Denver let the clock run to 20 seconds with two timeouts left in their pockets.

Then, rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett made the call to send kicker Brandon McManus out to attempt a 64-yard field goal that had the distance, but missed left. And with that, the quarterback the Broncos traded three players and a huge haul of draft picks to acquire, was not entrusted with the game at the most crucial turn.

The math really didn’t add up with this decision. Most likely, Hackett was reacting to his team’s ability to get anything done in the red zone.

Seahawks defensive lineman Shelby Harris, one of the three players traded from Denver to Seattle, had a definitive set of answers regarding Seattle’s determination in the most important points. Denver fumbled more than once at the opposing one-yard line — two straight drives in the third quarter ended this way, — and the offense just seemed off all over the place.

What did the Broncos have to say about the final disaster from Hackett and Wilson on down? We have the answers.