Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has assured fans that they won’t have to worry about one key issue Nathaniel Hackett seemed to struggle with during his brief time on the sidelines.
After being introduced as the Broncos new coach, Sean Payton told reporters that he’s a “really good” game manager. Hackett had so much trouble with clock management that fans at Mile High began to chant the time left on the play clock when Denver had the ball during its Week 2 game with the Houston Texans.
“I don’t anticipate the crowd having to count down the 30 second play clock,” Payton said at his introductory press conference.
It only took one game into his head-coaching career for Hackett to mismanage the clock and cost the Broncos a victory. Trailing the Seattle Seahawks 17-16, Denver had a fourth-and-five with just over a minute remaining. Instead of using one of the Broncos' three timeouts, Hackett let the play clock run all the way down before sending Brandon McManus out to attempt a 64-yard field goal with 20 seconds left.
McManus missed the kick and the Broncos fell to 0-1. Denver had more clock management issues against Houston and eked out an unimpressive 16-9 win.
Payton credited his experience and assistant coaches with helping him know how to use timeouts effectively late in games.
Broncos fans are expecting a massive upgrade at head coach, following Payton’s hiring. Viewed as one of the NFL’s best head coaches over the last 15 years, Payton won seven NFC South titles and a Super Bowl championship with the New Orleans Saints from 2006-2021.
Hackett was fired just 15 games into his tenure as the Broncos coach.
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