First-year Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett might want a mulligan after his debut was marred by a highly dubious decision that might have cost his team the game against the Seahawks on Monday Night Football.
Hackett's offense, led by new Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, had been gaining big chunks of yards all night, especially in the second half.
But with his team trailing by one point and facing a fourth down and five yards to go from just past midfield on the final drive of the game, Hackett curiously decided to let 30 seconds run off the clock before settling for a potential go-ahead 64-yard field goal attempt.
The bizarre decision and clock management was called out right away, including by Peyton and Eli Manning, who were calling the game for ESPN's Manningcast.
The Broncos finally called timeout without about 20 seconds left in the game, setting up the extremely long field-goal attempt for kicker Brandon McManus. The 64-yard try appeared to have the distance but hooked to the left.
McManus, for his part, tried to let Hackett off the hook after the game, saying he should have made the kick.
Despite McManus' attempt to absolve his coach, the 64-yard try was not a reasonable ask -- it would have been the second-longest field goal in league history, and McManus was 0-for-6 on attempts of 62 yards or more for his career.
The alternative to trying the long field goal would have been to go for it on fourth down and try to get closer for McManus. With Wilson having the hot hand -- he finished 29-of-42 for 340 yards and a touchdown -- few if anyone would have questioned putting the ball in the hands of the franchise quarterback.
Instead, they opted for the long field-goal attempt, and the rest was history.
For the Broncos, it sealed a disappointing season-opener in which they outgained the Seahawks by a wide margin (433 vs. 253) but were held back by two goal-line fumbles, overall poor play in the red zone, and a whopping 12 penalties for 106 yards.
While the fumbles were hardly Hackett's fault, his team played sloppy, undisciplined football. And the botched final drive was the cherry on top.
Hackett, who was hired as head coach in the offseason after three years as Packers offensive coordinator, got crushed by fans and journalists on social media:
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