Nathaniel Hackett Changes Course When Discussing Decision to Kick 64 Yard Field Goal on Monday Night

Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett had a debut we’ll remember for a long time during Monday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks.

Despite coming in as heavy favorite, Hackett’s squad found themselves down 17-16 late in the game, but driving down the field in the final two minutes with a chance to take the lead.

With a minute left, Hackett let the clock tick down to a little over 20 seconds instead of going for a 4th and 5 with newly-acquired star quarterback Russell Wilson. He wanted t give kicker Brandon McManus a chance to win the game with a 64 yarder. The kick from McManus appeared to have the distance, but sailed just wide left, giving the Seahawks the win.

“We said 46 yards, the 46-yard line was where we wanted to be,” Hackett said to ESPN. ” … Didn’t work, it sucks, but hey that’s part of it.”

Hackett added: “That’s part of being in this seat, being in this profession. This stuff is going to happen at all times, it’s been happening my whole career, even when my dad was coaching, you’re prepared for that, you understand that. You’ve got to keep grinding.”

But when speaking to reports today (and definitely hearing all the media buzz centered around his decision), Hackett reversed course.

Now, the Broncos coach is willing to admit that he ‘definitely’ should have gone for it.

“Looking back at it, definitely should have gone for it,” Hackett said. “One of those things, you look back at it and say ‘of course we should go for it, we missed the field goal.’ But in that situation we had a plan, we knew 46 was the mark.”

Regardless of how the final sequence played out, it’s clear that Hackett’s Broncos need to play much, much better than they did Monday night if they want to reach their Super Bowl aspirations.

“In the end, that lies on me, that was our plan, that was the yard line we had to get to, we all knew it, that’s what we said in the huddle before we did it,” Hackett said. “Should have never gotten to that. … Obviously the last decision is the one where you’re going to say should have done this, should have done that, but I think what frustrates me more is the red zone. We had some many opportunities, we were inches away.”