Broncos Ruin Russell Wilson's Debut With an All-Time Horrible Coaching Decision

RedState’s Levon Satamian brought you full coverage of last night’s first Monday Night Football game of the season featuring the Denver Broncos battling the Seattle Seahawks in star quarterback Russell Wilson’s first game as a Bronco. Satamian describes how Wilson was booed at Seattle’s Lumen Field despite playing there from 2012 until his blockbuster trade to Denver this off-season, bringing a Super Bowl title to the rainy city among his many other accomplishments.

The Seahawks eked out a victory 17-16 as the Broncos missed a last-second field goal.

And it is that decision to attempt a 64-yard field goal that will go down in NFL lore; it was quite simply one of the worst coaching decisions in NFL history. Despite being a fairly low-stakes game—it was the first game for the season for the teams, hardly the Super Bowl—it was still a serious head-scratcher.

“Broncos Country, let’s ride”

The riding: pic.twitter.com/6pg0x7McED

— NvMe (@ArcStrider5) September 13, 2022

Let’s set the scene: you complete a blockbuster trade for one of the greatest clutch quarterbacks in the NFL record books, you sign him to a $245 million contract to turn around the fortunes of your team and provide miracles in exactly these types of situations, you navigate a tough game just to get him in the type of position he’s proven to be so adept at. It’s 4th and 5 on the Sewahawks’ 46-yard line with 20 seconds left in the ballgame. The announcers are saying things like, “this is exactly where Russell Wilson hoped he’d be,” and “this is the exact type of situation they got Russell Wilson for.”

What do you do?

You pull Wilson off the field and attempt an unlikely 64-yard field goal (it would have been the second-longest in league history), of course. Despite your kicker being only 1 for 7 in previous 60+ yard attempts in his career. Unsurprisingly, the kick sailed wide left. It was one of the worst head-coaching decisions you’ll ever see, and it will be interesting to see if first-year Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett can survive it.

I can’t tell if a Broncos fan or Seahawks fan made this but idc 😂💀 pic.twitter.com/A0IuWITfoD

— Snapback Sports (@snapback_sports) September 13, 2022

“It’s indefensible. It’s incomprehensible. It’s inexcusable,” wrote ProFootBallTalk’s Mike Florio.

Ironically enough, this isn’t the first time Wilson has been on the wrong side of a controversial play. Another legendary incident occurred when he was playing for Seattle in the closing seconds of Super Bowl IX, and the ‘Hawks were just a yard away from victory. All they had to do was hand the ball to Beast-Mode running back Marshawn Lynch, who in all likelihood would have barrelled over the Patriots’ front-line for the winning score. Inexplicably, head coach Pete Carroll opted for a pass, and the rest is history:

Six years ago, Malcolm Butler sealed Super Bowl XLIX with a goal-line interception 👀

(via @nflthrowback)pic.twitter.com/FLcCBUB1hl

— ESPN (@espn) February 1, 2021

Carroll’s strange call is widely considered one of the worst ever. Nathaniel Hackett’s decision will now presumably join Carroll’s on the list of the 30 worst coaching calls in NFL history.