Hackett laments his offense completely letting Denver’s defense down
Oct 7, 2022, 12:12 PM
(Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
(Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
One side of the Broncos football team is doing its job right now.
The other side is not.
The Denver defense has been stellar in four of their five games. The offense has been pitiful in four of the five.
At his press conference on Friday, about 14 hours after his team’s stunningly bad 12-9 OT loss to the Colts, head coach Nathaniel Hackett acknowledged as much. And considering Hackett was previously an offensive coordinator and is currently calling plays, this is on him. One group that’s he’s not very much involved in is doing its part. The other group stinks.
“Right now, the defense is playing at an unbelievably high level. And I think from a guy that played defense, I absolutely love watching those guys go out there and play. Being on the offensive side of the ball, it kills me not to be more efficient and better for those guys and this team,” Hackett said.
The Broncos have scored 16 points, 16 points, 11 points, 23 points and nine points in their first five games. Russell Wilson threw two terrible interceptions on Thursday night and missed a read at the goal-line to win the game. Overall, it’s just not working for Denver. They wasted two sacks, four forced fumbles and six sacks by their defense in the loss. The offense is broken.
“The three-and-outs, we need to take those out. It starts with not having those self-inflicted wounds. Getting behind the chains. That’s what’s so important and that’s what we have to focus on. Whether it be a penalty or a loss-yard, we have to do more high-efficiency plays to get us in those manageable situations so we can keep the defense (off the field). Because they’re playing too much. When they are out there, they’re doing great, but we don’t want them to be on the field that much. We have to do a much better job to be able to protect them,” Hackett said.
He’s preaching to the choir at this point. Nothing he says in front of a microphone is going to change what Broncos Country had to watch on Thursday night.
It better get sorted out, or Hackett might be looking for another offensive coordinator job.
***
