Afforded 18 hours of reflection, Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said he erred in sending out kicker Brandon McManus for a 64-yard field goal attempt instead of leaning on the Russell Wilson-led offense to convert a fourth-and-5 in the waning moments of Monday’s 17-16 loss at Seattle.
“Looking back at it, we definitely should have gone for it,” Hackett said Tuesday afternoon. “Just 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.”
Hackett’s plan, in consultation with special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes, was reaching the Seattle 46. McManus’ attempt appeared long enough but was wide left with 15 seconds remaining.
The Broncos started at their 22-yard line with 4:02 remaining and they reached the 40 by the two-minute warning. Running back Javonte Williams caught a nine-yard pass and the play was over at the 1:51 mark. The next play wasn’t snapped until 1:23.
Still outside field goal range, why not call a timeout or snap quicker?
“We wanted to make sure we left no time for (Seattle),” Hackett said.
A day later, Hackett continued to lament the first-down play to Williams, a screen pass that lost four yards. Linebacker Darrell Taylor got around right tackle Cam Fleming, forcing Wilson to flip the pass to Williams before right guard Graham Glasgow could get out to block linebacker Cody Barton.
Wilson threw incomplete on second down when he tried to double-pump the football, leaving a third-and-14 from the Broncos’ 45.
Williams gained nine yards on a pass from Wilson, right to the 46-yard line marker that McManus felt was his distance.
“Javonte makes a move, goes a lot farther than I think we had anticipated,” Hackett said. “We were expecting to go for it on fourth down and then you hit the mark — the mark we had all set before we started. We got there so we had to make a decision.”
After the third-down play, the Broncos let the clock run down with the offense on the field, but Hackett said he told Wilson “right away,” that he was calling for the field goal.
“Russell knew I was going to take a timeout and so he was going to see if he could get them jumped offside, which got me a little nervous because the crowd was so loud, I didn’t want us to jump,” Hackett said.
McManus is now 1 of 8 on field goals of at least 60 yards in his career.
“We wanted to give it to Brandon and we did,” Hackett said. “It didn’t work. It (stinks), but, hey, that’s part of it.”
Two other parts of the loss: Red zone and pre-snap operation.
The Broncos ran 15 red-zone plays and totaled 36 yards, two field goals and two turnovers.
In the first quarter, Fleming’s false start moved the offense from the 18 to the 23.
In the third quarter, a delay-of-game penalty pushed them back from the 6 to the 11 and running back Melvin Gordon was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the 1 and fumbled.
“I got stuffed,” Gordon said. “It was fourth down so I was trying to reach the ball and that’s the only time it really is acceptable to reach.”
Later in the third quarter, passes of seven and six yards moved the Broncos to the 1-yard line, but Williams barely received the handoff before being hit behind the line of scrimmage and fumbling into the end zone.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, a false start penalty on receiver Courtland Sutton moved the Broncos back to the eight-yard line and Wilson twice threw incomplete.
“We definitely beat ourselves,” Gordon said. “We know we’re the better team, but clearly, we made more mistakes than they did.”
Said Hackett: “It should have never gotten to (requiring a 64-yard field goal). The thing that frustrates me is that red zone. We had so many opportunities. We were inches away.”
The tempo in which the Broncos operated offensively was sub-par. In the first half, Wilson started only six plays with less than five seconds on the play clock. In the second half, he started 15 plays with less than five seconds.
The Broncos had the two delay-of-game penalties against Seattle (matching last year’s total for all 17 games) and ran 13 plays with a second remaining on the play clock.
“For me, I can always get (the play) in even faster,” Hackett said. “I know it was loud. That crowd was absolutely electric. Every single person in that building came in there with a purpose to be as disturbing as they possibly could and they didn’t even die down during the huddle. That’s no excuse. We have to make sure we communicate the play and the guys get it. I think we can be better out of the huddle — as soon as they get the play, get up (to the line) and get set.”
The Broncos return to practice Wednesday and host Houston (0-0-1) on Sunday.
“We can be explosive,” Gordon said. “We could run the ball and we could pass the ball. I’m walking out of (the locker room) with my head held high because I know we have the players to do it.”
