#nathaniel hackett

With just two weeks left in the season and a day after their embarrassing 51-14 loss to the Rams, the Broncos fire head coach Nathaniel Hackett.

Here's their yada yada dabba dabba do statement on the firing:

Who do you think made the best hiring decision?

Broncos Country, let’s ride…….right off a fucking cliff. Hoooooooooly shit not even Nostradamus could have predicted the Russell Wilson led Broncos would be this bad. 6 weeks in they’re sitting at 2-4 and bombing harder than Russia. In our previous article ‘Are the Broncos (still) the Worst Team in the AFC West’, we highlighted several concerns we had with this team going into the season (you can check that one out here https://at.tumblr.com/pint4punt/are-the-broncos-still-the-worst-team-in-the-afc/z4whji5kve92 )

Needless to say, we are not above taking a victory lap when we actually get something right. Frankly, when most of what you write looks stupid within a week or sometimes even hours, you take every sad win you can get…..kind of like the 2022 Denver Broncos. What we didn’t see coming was how remarkably…..ass…Russell Wilson would be without Pete Carroll holding his hand. Sure, the Raiders technically have a worse record than them (trust me they’re hot on our radar for this series too), but they already won their first divisional matchup with Denver and currently have a -5 point differential. So this one belongs to Russ and his hapless steeds as we attempt to figure out just how fucked are the Denver Broncos?!!!

What happened: Denver came into the season being talked about as a potential Super Bowl contender. They had a shiny new Super Bowl Champion Quarterback and a young Offensive-Minded Head Coach who oversaw back-to-back MVP Campaigns for Aaron Rodgers. Then they took the field. Ah NFL Scheduling, what a fickle bitch you are at times.

As fate would have it, Russ’s glorious debut would be met with a pouring Seattle rain of raucous boos and jeers in Lumen Field. Apparently the 12s turn on you pretty quickly! To make matters worse, Russ got outdueled by his replacement while Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett made headlines for his wild decision to kick a 64 yard field goal instead of trusting his $245 Million Quarterback to make a play. Since then, the Broncos have put up 20+ points one time and eeeeeeked out two ugly wins. Broncos Country, Let’s Ride!

Immediate Outlook: Did you see that game against the Colts? If you didn’t, treat that game like the tape from ‘The Ring’ and destroy any copy of it you come across, because there’s a not so small chance you’ll kill yourself within 7 days of watching it.

The Broncos are currently sitting in 3rd place in the AFC West with only a half game lead on the Raiders, who hold a tie-breaker over Denver, following Vegas’ Week 4 divisional win. While the Defense has been a brightspot for this team, the Offense is currently ranked 22nd in the league and Russ is rocking a 58.6 completion percentage with a 5:3 Touchdown to Interception ratio. Here’s just a handful of noteworthy QBs with a higher completion percentage than Russell Wilson currently: Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Mitchell Fucking Trubisky, and Geno Smith (by a mile in fact). Broncos Country, let’s ride.

Quotes that Sum Up the Season:

‘Broncos Country, let’s ride.’-Russell Wilson every god damn chance he gets

"I have confidence in McManus. If we have to put him in that situation again, I think he'll be able to make it."-Nathaniel Hackett after Week 1

“Looking back at it, we definitely should have gone for it,”-also Nathaniel Hackett after Week 1

“That’s a good football team out there, but we’re just as good if not better, we feel like.”-Russell Wilson on the Chargers team that just beat them

“Yeah, Kinda, Sorta.” -Melvin Gordon on whether or not he received an explanation for his benching in Week 6

“It didn’t go our way, but everyone is fighting their butts off every day.”-JUST SAY ASS RUSS! SAY IT ONE TIME!!!

Upcoming Schedule: Right now it seems like a high school team could give the Broncos’ Offense serious trouble. That being said, their next few games could be a hell of a lot worse. They will have to wrangle with a suddenly red-hot Jets team with a Defense that just haunted Aaron Rodgers for 60 minutes in his own house last weekend. After that, their next 5 games include tilts with three sub .500 teams in the Jaguars, Raiders, & Panthers, and two teams that can’t play Defense in Baltimore (25th) and Tennessee (28th). That game against the Jaguars is in London by the way so you know, try to represent America well Russ, the future of the sport is on the line. If this team can’t at the very least come out of that stretch at .500 they can say goodbye to their

Playoff Hopes: As usual, Kansas City is running the division (shocker) and the Chargers are keeping pace(shocker!). To further compound Denver’s woes, they’re not only 0-2 in the Division, but also 0-4 in the AFC. Winning the AFC West is already looking like a tall order, but if this team can get its shit together, they do still have both matchups with the division leading Chiefs and one a piece with the Chargers and Raiders.

Still, barring a heroic turnaround that would make Kurt Warner look privileged, this team probably won’t be hosting a playoff game this year. With that in mind, they have got to start racking up conference wins or they’re going to be staring at some inception-level scenarios to sneak into the postseason.

Three of their opponents over the next 6 weeks would be in the playoffs if the season ended today, along with two teams that have already beaten them in the Chargers and Colts. Denver’s grace period to pull its head out of its ass is over and they need to win THIS Sunday to have a glimmer of hope to get in the tournament and try to make a run (I know I laughed too typing that). Broncos Country, Let’s Ride…..

Ability to Turn Things Around: While it’s easy (and fun!) to shit on a bad team, there is reason for hope for the Broncos, it’s just not on Russ’s side of the ball. Denver’s Defense is full of back breakers…..they break their own backs carrying Russ every week. This defense is currently ranked 3rd in the league behind only the Bills and the 49ers. They’re giving up only 16.5 points a game and less than 300 yards per game despite several lengthy stints on the field and Wilson’s performance issues.

This team was hit with adversity from the get go this year, losing Javonte Williams and Tim Patrick both within the first month of the season. Losing key contributors certainly hasn’t helped, but what their season comes down to is Russell Wilson and whether he still has it (or if it was Pete Carroll all along). If he isn’t completely washed up, he has got to start giving this defense more than 13 points to work with every week.

As it stands, Wilson is now dealing with a ‘fairly significant’ hamstring injury that has him day-to-day. Despite all the frustration, Russ isn’t losing his job. He costs $245 million. That being said, if Brett Rypien has to fill in for a week or two and this offense comes to life, Russ is going to have a better answer than ‘Let’s Ride’ at the podium. Broncos Country, Let’s Ride?

Long-Term Outlook: The Broncos guaranteed Russell Wilson $165 Million before he played a snap for them and gave up five picks and three players to get him. He’s under contract through 2028. This marriage has to work no matter how bad Wilson is this year. If he truly doesn’t have it anymore, the Broncos don’t have a prayer for the foreseeable future. Broncos Country, Let’s Ride???!!!!

Verdict:

If Wilson improves throughout the year: Fucked out of home field advantage, but there’s hope for brighter days ahead.

#Colts OT win lifts Matt Ryan’s offense into 1st place! Good, Bad, Ugly of weird game! #iufb hosts Michigan tomorrow!