“Looking back on it, I definitely should have,” Hackett said. “One of those things, you look back and say ‘of course we have to go for it, we missed the goal’. But in this situation we had a plan, we knew 46 was the mark.” McManus’ field goal attempt was left-handed, and Hackett’s decision overshadowed nearly everything else about his regular-season debut as a coach. Only two kickers in the NFL since 1960 have even attempted a field goal of at least 64 yards, and the longest field goal in Lumen Field history is 56 yards. McManus, who has one of the strongest legs of any player in the league, is still 1-for-5, including missing Monday night, on attempts of at least 60 yards in his career. Also, last season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, teams converted 48% of their plays on fourth-and-5. Hackett said he understood how few players have attempted at least 64 yards — only Matt Prater’s 64-yarder in 2013 and Justin Tucker’s record 66-yarder in 2021 — but that’s after talking to special teams coaches as well. as McManus pre-game, they had decided if the team reached the Seahawks’ 46-yard line at the end of the half or at the end of the game, McManus would attempt the kick. 2 Related Wilson was informed of the decision that a field goal attempt on fourth down would occur if the Broncos reached the Seahawks’ 46-yard line on third down before the Broncos faced the decision on their final drive. On a third-and-14, Wilson completed a 9-yard pass to running back Javonte Williams that moved the ball to the Seattle 46. Hackett said Tuesday if Williams had gained even one less yard, “we would have made it.” “We said 46 yards, the 46-yard line was where we wanted to be,” Hackett said. “… It didn’t work, it sucks, but that’s part of it.” Hackett added: “That’s part of being in this position, being in this profession. It’s going to happen at any time, it’s happened my whole career, even when my dad was a coach, you’re prepared for it , you understand You have to keep grinding.” Hackett also said “we shouldn’t have been in this situation” given that the Broncos lost two possessions on plays that started at the Seahawks’ 1-yard line on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter and had another drive was derailed by a false start penalty at the Seahawks 3-yard line. Wilson finished with a game-high 340 yards as the Broncos outgained the Seahawks 433-253. The Broncos defense held the Seahawks offense scoreless to just 34 total yards in the second half as well. “In the end, that’s on me, that was our plan, that was the line in the yard that we had to get to, we all knew that, that’s what we were talking about before we did it,” Hackett said. “It should never have come to this…Obviously the final decision is one where you’re going to say he should have done this, he should have done that, but I think the thing that frustrates me the most is the red zone. We had some opportunities, we were inches away.”
