Broncos coach explains decision-making on final drive of Denver’s 17-16 loss to Seattle
As the seconds ticked away in the Broncos game, Peyton Manning was furiously trying to call for a timeout.
Alas, this wasn’t a throwback to Manning’s days as Denver’s quarterback. It was Monday night during ESPN’s “ManningCast” of the Broncos’ 17-16 loss to the Seahawks.
The Broncos’ clock management on their final drive has been widely scrutinized, as they took possession of the ball on their 22-yard line with 4 minutes, 2 seconds to play. Denver had all three of its timeouts and the two-minute warning, so it seemed quarterback Russell Wilson had plenty of time to get the Broncos into field-goal range.
Denver did try a field goal ... from 64 yards away, and Brandon McManus missed it.
On a third-and-14 play, Wilson completed a short throw to Javonte Williams, who gained 9 yards. With 1:03 remaining and all their timeouts, the Broncos seemed ready to continue to move the ball. Instead, they stopped there, to Manning’s chagrin.
The Broncos faced a fourth-and-5 play, which wasn’t a desperate situation in the NFL a year ago.
The Broncos let the clock run down to 15 seconds, then called a timeout. On came McManus. Had he made the kick, it would have been the second-longest field goal in NFL history. But he missed.
Denver coach Nathaniel Hackett explained his thinking on the final drive.
“We were right on the line, and he (McManus) had plenty of distance. He just missed it,” Hackett told reporters. ”Hey, Brandon gave it his best shot. I mean, that’s a long field goal to hit. I think he’s completely capable of that. But obviously I wish we would have gotten a lot closer, but it put us in that weird spot there because we were in field-goal range.
“But we were on that fourth-down situation. Didn’t think we were gonna get that many yards so I thought it was a great job by Devonte, and we just made the decision we want to take our shot there on that one.”
McManus actually missed the kick twice. His first attempt didn’t count because Seattle had called a timeout. Hackett was asked if he considered sending the offense back on the field after seeing the miss.
“No, I was happy he got that one out of the way,” Hackett said. “I thought he had plenty of distance on that one and just thought that we were gonna be able to make that. I have confidence in him and if we have to put him in that situation again, I think he’ll be able to make it.”
Here’s thee thing: McManus’ history on kicks of 62 yards or longer is not good, as Warren Sharp pointed out.
This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 9:31 AM.
