In the first Monday night matchup of the NFL season, all eyes were on Russell Wilson in his return to Seattle. It was a thrilling matchup where the former Seahawks quarterback was met with hostility from his former fans. Despite the Seahawks and Denver Broncos seemingly trending in different directions this season, Seattle secured a win by a score of 17-16. Obviously, this has resulted in a lot of people already becoming concerned with Nathaniel Hackett.

It came down to a last-second 64-yard field goal attempt from Brandon McManus with a game on the line. The lengthy field goal was unable to make it through the uprights and the Broncos suffered an infuriating loss. While the field goal was a tough kick to ask of McManus, the potential victory should not have needed to be dependent on that. The man catching the brunt of the blame is new head coach Nathaniel Hackett. While he is still extremely early in his coaching career, Hackett gave reason to believe it could be time to panic in Denver.

Nathaniel Hackett A Broncos Bust?

3. Lack of Experience is a Concern

Nathaniel Hackett has been around the NFL for quite some time. He has served as a quality coach, quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator, and assistant head coach spread out during his time with the Buccaneers, Bills, and Packers. However, this is his first chance at his own head coaching job. This is an experience that is difficult to replicate and a transition some are not ready for. Whether or not this is the case with Hackett is still to be determined, but his lack of experience was put on display on Monday night.

The Broncos seemingly made an all-in move by trading for Russell Wilson this off-season. However, a team with championship aspirations and a rookie head coach do not fully align. Hackett was thrown into the fire on Monday night and forced to make decisions with the game on the line. His decision to allow the clock to drain and attempt the 64-yard field goal was questionable and will be one he must face criticism for. How he responds to this will play a major role in his coaching future, but his lack of experience was put on display in week one.

2. Lack of Faith in Russell Wilson is Frustrating

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of electing to try the long field goal was taking the ball out of Russell Wilson's hands. The Broncos traded a haul of picks and players in order to land the franchise quarterback this offseason. They also recently agreed to give him a long-term contract worth a total of $242 million. Denver has already made their commitment to Wilson as the long-term quarterback and it is up to Nathaniel Hackett to trust him and utilize him best.

In fairness, it was not the perfect start to his Broncos career for the Wisconsin product. Wilson was outdueled by Geno Smith in the matchup which was a surprise to everyone. The new Broncos QB ended his debut by completing 29 of his 42 passes for 340 yards and just one touchdown. However, in his career, Wilson has led his team to 24 fourth-quarter comebacks and 32 game-winning drives. These are the fourth most game-winning drives among active quarterbacks. To not allow Wilson to attempt to work his magic late in the game was extremely disappointing. 

1. Clock Management

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Jackson Stone ·

Courtland Sutton on one side, Sean Payton on the other side with a speech bubble that says "Uh oh"

Owen Crisafulli ·

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Shane Shoemaker ·

It was beyond just the decision to kick the field goal which was frustrating from Nathaniel Hackett, but rather the execution of the entire final drive. The Broncos first received the ball with 4:02 left in the fourth quarter and trailing by just one point. Denver ran a total of 10 plays in the drive and moved the ball just 32 yards. The possession took up 3:47 off of the game clock.

With the game truly on the line as the Broncos approached midfield is where the largest missteps were. The Broncos faced fourth and five at midfield with over a minute left to play. Nathaniel Hackett elected to allow the clock to run until there were just twenty seconds left in the game. Despite having all three timeouts remaining and a quarterback whom the organization has put their trust in, Hackett's lack of urgency forced his trust onto the shoulders of the kicker. It also should not be emphasized that this was not a situation where they had comfortably driven down into field goal range. The 64-yard attempt would have tied Matt Prater for the second-longest field goal in NFL history if it had gone through the uprights.

The bottom line is that Nathaniel Hackett has a great deal of work to do. The last-second loss is a tough way to begin his head coaching tenure and one that he will have to face the music on. While he deserves the benefit of the doubt that he will learn from the experience it was not an ideal start to his decision-making. The Denver Broncos have their intentions of contending this season and if Hackett cannot learn quickly and make adjustments he will begin feeling the heat.