Tag: Bets

Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett finally admits what everyone knew: He blew it in Seattle

Hackett owning up to his mistake makes up for the loss, right? Right?

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:

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.

Seahawks’ Geno Smith had a perfect quote summing up his career after beating Russell Wilson, Broncos

What a poetic line from Smith.

Now the Seahawks starting quarterback, Geno Smith took a long and winding road to become the leader of a team again. After being picked by the Jets in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft, Smith has bounced around the league for much of his career, never getting much more traction than as a backup.

Little did anyone know that Smith would outplay the Broncos’ Russell Wilson in his return to Seattle. I mean, after one half, he was 17-of-18 for 164 yards and two touchdowns! Even better, few predicted Smith would lead the Seahawks (+6.5) to a stunning 17-16 upset of Denver in his first game as an unquestioned starter in years.

Smith knew that people in the NFL world had forgotten about what he brought to the table as a quarterback. He said as much with a fantastic quote in his post-game interview:

Now that’s some poetry right there. Smith did cool off in the second half, but a 195-yard performance, with two scores, where he threw just five incomplete passes in a win is some gutsy work.

If these are the results the Seahawks will get from the veteran, it’s a good thing Smith didn’t write back to any of his detractors.

Richard Sherman couldn’t wait to talk about Russell Wilson being outplayed by Geno Smith on MNF

Sherman’s readying hot takes about Wilson’s return to Seattle.

In his emotional return to Seattle on Monday Night Football, new Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson had certainly seen better days as a player. Even with deep touchdowns to new teammates and fresh suits in the tunnel walk, it was obvious a chorus of boos from Seahawks fans had thrown Wilson a bit off kilter in a stadium he called home for a decade.

At a certain point during the game, with current Seahawks (+6.5) starter Geno Smith noticeably outplaying Wilson, segments of the greater football world started to take note. That included Wilson’s former teammate and long-time Seattle star cornerback, Richard Sherman.

In a somewhat cryptic tweet, Sherman alluded to confusion and that he’d soon talk about Wilson’s worse performance in comparison to Smith:

Note: Sherman also tweeted this while actually in attendance at the game.

Oh yeah. That’s a man who is trying his hardest to bite his tongue and not say something outlandish in public. I can only imagine what Sherman has to say about Wilson vs. Smith, especially if the latter manages to pull off the upset.

Russell Wilson’s first TD pass in return to Seattle was a Jerry Jeudy 67-yard bomb

A deep touchdown pass fits Wilson’s return so, so well.

For a little while on Monday night, Broncos’ QB Russell Wilson might have been rattled by a mixed response from the hometown crowd in his return to Seattle. Such a feeling from Wilson would be understandable, of course. He spent a decade with the Seahawks (+6.5), launching many deep touchdowns that thrilled many of the same people.

When the Seahawks got off to a fast start, and Wilson lived on check-downs, not targeting a receiver for much of the first half, it seemed like the new Denver signal-caller couldn’t get himself out of a rut.

Enter a bomb to Jerry Jeudy downfield late in the second quarter, as the receiver made an impressive play to get himself free:

Whoa! Not bad for a first target to a receiver!

To be honest, Wilson underthrew the ball. Even then, what a play by Jeudy for his quarterback to do the rest of the heavy lifting. With this first touchdown in Seattle, no less, you can officially end the Russell Wilson era in Seattle and start the Russell Wilson era in Denver.

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Broncos’ QB Russell Wilson donned a slick cool mint suit and bowtie in return to Seattle

Wilson looked GOOD in his Seattle return.

There will likely be a lot of emotions for Russell Wilson as he plays against the Seahawks (+6.5) for the first time on Monday Night Football tonight.

Any time you play somewhere for a decade, any sorts of intrinsic feelings and attachments don’t just go away. Even if the Seahawks themselves might have let Wilson down, it doesn’t mean he’s completely sour on his time there.

Though, judging by how Wilson dressed for his tunnel walk in the pregame, he seems pretty prepared to dice up his former team — regardless of any lingering emotions he might hold.

Oh yeah, he broke out the cool mint suit and bowtie. Make no mistake. Wilson definitely pulled the look off:

Phew. That looks like a man dressed for the job he wants, which is getting revenge on the Seahawks’ current regime while reveling in Seattle fans’ (likely) pageantry and warm welcome. After all, you don’t break out the fashionable baby blue for any ordinary occasion.

Monday’s Broncos-Seahawks game is a reminder that Russell Wilson deserved better from Seattle

The Seahawks didn’t seem to appreciate the talent they had.

Russell Wilson is the greatest quarterback in Seahawks’ history by almost every measure. Not only is Wilson No. 1 in most of the franchise’s relevant passing statistics (yards, touchdowns, passer rating, completion percentage, etc.), he’s the only Seattle quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl. If someone told me the nine-time Pro Bowler was the face of a truly golden era in Seahawks football over the last decade, I’d find it hard to argue with.

Yet, despite all the accolades, records, and memorable moments, it never felt like the Seahawks entirely appreciated the talent they had in Wilson. Their apparent divide looms large as Wilson makes his return to Seattle (+6.5) on Monday Night Football in a Broncos uniform tonight.

A recent ESPN report detailing why Wilson and the Seahawks split this offseason was enlightening. Aside from the Seahawks’ pot shots at essentially saying Wilson wouldn’t be the same or as “mobile” anymore, there was frustration oozing from the star quarterback all over.

One of the more well-documented complaints was the contention over “Let Russ Cook,” an offensive mandate built around Wilson. After a spate of unfortunate turnovers during the 2020 season, Pete Carroll would pull the reins back, much to the chagrin of their quarterback — who just wanted to carve out his place in history while still winning games.

“What are we doing here?” one source in the Seahawks’ front office remembers thinking at the time. “Are we trying to win games or are we trying to win MVP?”

What about when the Seahawks and GM John Schneider started openly scouting young quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft process? Schneider would write off his efforts as doing his due diligence, but Wilson and his representatives were reportedly not happy in the least:

“They were f—ing pissed,” a Seahawks’ front-office source said.

The most egregious oversight was the effort, or lack thereof, to build a competent offensive front for Wilson. You know, to keep him upright, so he can throw touchdowns and play well?

In 2015, in the first significant symbolic shift away from focusing on the “Legion of Boom” defense, Seattle made their talisman the NFL’s highest-paid player at the time. Rather than start to invest in some premium linemen for Wilson moving forward, letting him play from the pocket rather than run around more, the Seahawks never made a massive investment. In fact, aside from a relatively big trade for Duane Brown in mid-2017, Seattle never completely sanded over its porous offensive line hole. It showed with Wilson being the NFL’s most-pressured quarterback in the NFL during his decade in the Pacific Northwest.

When they have a star quarterback, most NFL teams typically want to improve the offensive line. Meanwhile, the Seahawks were seemingly content with Wilson doing absolutely everything in the passing game as often as possible. A depressing thought to consider when thinking about how much Wilson likely still has left in the tank and how much better the Seahawks could have been once it was definitively his team.

I mean, the Broncos certainly don’t give Wilson one of the richest extensions in NFL history if they thought he couldn’t still be excellent well into his 30s.

Watching the entire Russell Wilson Seahawks era from afar was the definition of banging your head against the wall. Talents like him deserve better. You wanted to see Wilson throwing dimes as an MVP candidate while consistently staying upright. You wanted Carroll, Schneider, and Co. to do more for the franchise’s arguable best-ever player in their four-plus decades of existence.

You just wanted better for Wilson. Evidently, that’s not something the Seahawks were willing to do for whatever reason.

The pick: Broncos 38, Seahawks 10

This matchup has the perfect “Revenge Game” written all over it. The Seahawks are one of the NFL’s worst teams on paper, while the Broncos have the talent of a bona fide contender. Wilson gets his flowers from Seahawks fans and dices up the squad that he feels gave up on him. Vengeance will be achieved.

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Jaguars’ rookie No. 1 pick Travon Walker began his NFL career with an athletic interception on Carson Wentz

What a play by the rookie!

The Jaguars began the Doug Pederson era with a road date against the Commanders (-3). Over the long run, thanks to the steady hand of Pederson, and bright young players like the last two No. 1 overall picks in Trevor Lawrence (2021) and Travon Walker (2022), Jacksonville could have a bright future ahead.

In his NFL debut, Walker showed off his tantalizing potential as a pass rusher (one QB hit, one sack) and in coverage. You read that right.

On an early fourth-quarter play, with the Jaguars holding on to a tenuous 15-14 lead, Commanders’ quarterback Carson Wentz tried to dump off a pass to his running back. Unfortunately, Walker was lying in wait to make a very athletic interception:

Oh my goodness. Now that’s a really cool play for anyone to make, let alone a top draft pick. Mind you, Walker also weighs a listed 276 pounds and made that pick like a linebacker. So, yeah, it’s pretty impressive.

Unfortunately for Walker and the Jaguars, they would end up losing 28-22 to Washington. But if Walker’s making plays like this in his debut, it should only be a matter of time before he starts potentially elevating the play of his teammates in wins.

Packers’ rookie Christian Watson dropped an easy 75-yard TD, and NFL fans had jokes about Aaron Rodgers

Rodgers probably wasn’t very happy about this play.

A lot of the talk around the Packers this offseason surrounded their receiving corps with the departure of Davante Adams. At 38 years old, Aaron Rodgers would again have to lift a young, unproven group without a bona fide superstar. Though, even with that group, some thought the Packers would still be OK.

On Sunday against the division rival Vikings (-2) in Minnesota, this group saw some early, if brutal, growing pains in Green Bay’s grand plan. Early in the first quarter, rookie second-round pick Christian Watson streaked past the Minnesota secondary to see himself wide open for a potential touchdown.

The good news is Watson got open. The bad news is he dropped a perfect pass from Rodgers:

Whoa! That’s not a great look. Touchdowns don’t come any easier than that in the NFL. Rookie or not, Watson has to make that play if the Packers’ offense and Rodgers are going to survive this season.

The rain at Soldier Field for Bears-49ers was so bad, Fox had to digitally add field markings

A game of Madden or a rainy day at the stadium?

It was a wild and wet afternoon on Sunday in Chicago for Bears-49ers.

Earlier in the day, rain in Chicagoland made for a terrible playing surface at Soldier Field. As the game wore on, and Justin Fields did Justin Fields things for the Bears (+6.5), Chicago ground out an upset 19-10 win.

But not before the rain picked back up in a downpour late in the fourth quarter. Conditions got so poor on the field the wetness actually washed away all the field markings. As a result, Fox had to add digital field markings through the end of the contest so that viewers could discern what was happening on their TVs.

Yes, this was wild:

I have to admit: I wasn’t sure what I was quite looking at first glance. Was this a throwback to the eight-bit video game era or an NFL football game in 2022? Despite the inclement weather, kudos to the Fox crew for trying to finish the broadcast well.

Bears’ Justin Fields made an incredible effort to keep play alive on ridiculous 51-yard touchdown against 49ers

How on earth did Fields get free?!

The first half of Justin Fields’ second season arguably couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start at a wet and mucky Soldier Field.

As the 49ers’ (-6.5) defensive front flexed its muscles on the Bears, the young quarterback completed just three-of-nine passes for 19 yards while being sacked twice. On the one real quality possession Fields managed to create, it was knocked out by an obscure penalty on special teams.

On Chicago’s first possession of the second half, Fields showed how he can still create incredible plays out of thin air, no matter the adverse circumstances. With the Bears facing a third-and-long, Fields was flushed out of the pocket. And when he (somehow?) escaped, the signal-caller found Dante Pettis, who took it to the house for a 51-yard touchdown that brought the Bears within three:

I mean, how? Not even in having the deftness to create space for yourself, but throwing across your body to the one open receiver. The Bears might not be great this year, but it seems they’ll at least have flashes like this from Fields for the future.