Matt Rhule already became the first NFL coach to be fired this season when the Panthers parted ways with him just five games into the season. Could the Broncos’ Nathaniel Hackett be next?
There has reportedly been “chatter” around the league that the first-year head coach’s job could be on the line when Denver plays the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Sunday, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
Though Graziano said he doesn’t fully buy that, he did note that things are “fragile” and “sticky” in Denver for Hackett, with the Broncos having bumbled their way to a 2-5 start with one of the worst offenses in the league despite the acquisition of quarterback Russell Wilson, who quickly got a $245 million contract extension. Denver’s offense ranks dead last in the league with a paltry 14.3 points per game and is the worst in the NFL in the red zone, scoring a touchdown just 23.5 percent of the time.
The Broncos have scored more than 16 points in a game just once this season — they had 23 in a losing effort against the Raiders — and were so bad at clock management in a Week 1 loss to Seattle, they hired an assistant to help with that aspect of the game.
The results still haven’t materialized.
Wilson has played his part, throwing only five touchdown passes, with three interceptions and a QBR of just 35.2, fourth-worst in the league behind only Carson Wentz, Joe Flacco and Baker Mayfield. He was also sidelined with a hamstring injury in Denver’s loss to the Jets last week, though is expected to start against the Jaguars on Sunday.
The loss was the Broncos’ fourth in a row, despite having one of the league’s better defenses, which ranks fourth in sacks and fourth in passing yards allowed.
Hackett, a longtime assistant whom many viewed as an offensive guru, is in his first year as a head coach at any level after coming over from Green Bay in the offseason. But his stay in Denver already has the makings of a short one.
“Unless something changes quickly, I don’t think he gets through the year. It looks too big for him. It looks too fast for him,” a longtime personnel executive told the Washington Post recently. “The red-zone play-calling has been awful. I don’t see enough adjustments being made.”
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