Broncos’ Nathaniel Hackett: ‘We definitely should have gone for it’

Denver signed Russell Wilson to a $245 million extension just two weeks ago. One game into his Broncos tenure, many of their fans can’t help but feel an early paycheck of the star quarterback’s was wasted in Monday night’s 17-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. 

Rather than entrust the Pro Bowl quarterback to convert a fourth-and-5 with a minute remaining and three timeouts left, head coach Nathaniel Hackett opted to run 40 seconds off the clock and attempt a 64-yard field goal that pushed slightly left of the uprights. It’s a decision that Denver’s first-year coach defended in the immediate aftermath of the game. 

Hackett offered a more regretful tone Tuesday, though it’s unclear if that was regarding his process or the result.

“Looking back it, we definitely should have gone for it,” he said. “It’s one of those things you look back and say ‘of course we should’ve gone for it. We missed the field goal.’ But in that situation, we had a plan. We knew the 46 [yard line] was the mark. … [Wilson] dumps it out to Javonte [Williams], Javonte makes a move, goes a lot farther than we had anticipated, we were expecting to go for it on fourth down, and then you hit the mark.”

Hackett had two chances to change the call, after using a timeout to reshuffle his personnel, and after Seattle used a timeout to ice the Broncos’ Brandon McManus, who missed on his practice attempt. Instead, Hackett had the veteran kicker line up again from a distance that he’d never converted.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, just two of 42 field-goal tries from 64-plus yards in the NFL have been successful since 1960. Conversely, fourth-and-5 tries were converted 49% of the time last year (22 of 45). 

Perhaps the blunder can be chalked up to Hackett serving as a head coach for the first time. But in “Speak” host Emmanuel Acho’s mind, the call was rooted in a lack of faith in the Broncos’ new franchise QB.

“Wilson was trying to convince the world that he’s the man, that he’s always been the man,” Acho said. “The only problem America: If you listen to the men around him, they don’t think so. Think about Russell Wilson’s former teammates, future first-ballot Hall of Famer Richard Sherman. Remember what Richard Sherman said about him? ‘People were like ’Let Russ cook.’ You did not win a Super Bowl letting Russ cook, and you haven’t been anywhere close to a Super Bowl letting Russ cook.’

“So his old teammates don’t believe he’s the man. His old coach Pete Carroll didn’t believe he was the man, that’s why he let him walk away. So cut to Nathaniel Hackett, his new head coach. New owner, new city, new stadium, new coach. Nathaniel Hackett: Do you believe that Russ is the man? It’s 4th-and-5, 46-yard line, 23 seconds left. Go for it, give it to your quarterback, your $245 million quarterback. Instead, you give it to your $24 million kicker. It’s evident that regardless of what I think, those around Russell Wilson don’t believe that he’s the man.”