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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Andy Nesbitt

Broncos’ Nathaniel Hackett will coach the most important game of his life in Week 2

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The NFL can be a very tough business in which one screw up can hang over you forever and lead you to be out of a job in a hurry.

Nobody might learn that as fast as Broncos first-year coach Nathaniel Hackett, who had one of the most embarrassing coaching debuts in the history of league last Monday night.

You remember what he did, right? In the final minute of a 1-point game in Seattle he somehow let 43 seconds tick by before finally calling a time out. Then after that time out he had his team attempt a 64-yard field goal to try to win the game instead of allowing Russell Wilson to try a play to get them a little bit closer.

The Broncos missed the kick, of course, and lost the game. That whole disaster would have been bad if it was buried in Sunday’s full schedule but this one was on national TV and had Peyton Manning yelling repeatedly on ESPN2 for the Broncos to call a gosh darn time out so many times that the clip of it went viral all week.

Oh, and Hackett became a meme after the game, which is something you never want to do after your debut.

That’s not a great way to start off your head coaching career in the NFL!

It was all so bad that even Hackett admitted the next day that he had made a mistake and they should have gone for it.

This week the Broncos host the Texans in a game that Denver should win. And while it’s just a Week 2 game, it sure feels like it will be the biggest of Hackett’s young career because what he did last week was so embarrassing you have to think some guys in the locker room are wondering if their new coach has any idea of what he’s doing, which isn’t great.

Jerry Glanville famously once said that NFL stands for “Not For Long” if you make mistakes and show everyone your behind. Well, Hackett did both of those things on Monday Night Football and now he needs to turn things around, and quickly.

Because it’s never good when the whole world is laughing at you after Week 1.

Quick hits: NFL Week 2 picks against the spread… Nestor Cortes’ funky strike out… Ja’Marr Chase throws double birds… And more.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

– NFL Week 2 starts tonight with a great Chiefs-Chargers matchup. Find out who we like in that game and all the other games this weekend with our picks against the spread.

– Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes had MLB fans in awe with his funky leg movement before striking out Rafael Devers.

– This picture of Ja’Marr Chase flipping the double birds at Minkah Fitzpatrick during last week’s Steelers-Bengals game is too good.

– A MLB fan had a priceless reaction to getting a high-five from Aaron Judge after his 57th home run.

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