After 9 games, this is the biggest knock on Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett

For fans of the Denver Broncos, the 2022 season has been one of the most difficult to sit through in team history. The main reason for that starts with the expectations that began to brew in the offseason.

Those expectations have not even come close to becoming reality for the team, which now sits at 3-6 following a loss to the Tennessee Titans.

The grumbling in Broncos Country will only get louder and most of the complaints will be directed at first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett. Regardless of how you slice it, his seat is likely getting extremely hot.

For as bad as the Broncos have been this season, there was one aspect of Sunday’s game that is just inexcusable for Hackett and the current regime.

The team was coming off of its bye week and played like that?

The Broncos managed just 10 points coming their bye week

One of the things that the good coaches in the league will do is rarely lose following their bye week. For proof, go check Andy Reid’s career record coming off of a bye.

Not only did Hackett lose the game, his team somehow looked even worse than it had before. And this was coming off the momentum of a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

The Broncos managed to become even more injured as a team during the bye week than before it, with both K.J. Hamler and Justin Simmons (who both played against Jacksonville) missing the game against the Titans.

How does that even happen?

But then you have Hackett, who apparently can’t put a game plan together that best suits his quarterback, who had his offense just trying to walk through quicksand all day.

It’s painful to watch.

And let’s stop with the excuses. Yes, there are injuries and yes, it will take time for everything to come together, but good coaches don’t need nine games with a bye week included to score more than 10 points in a game.

In fact, Jeff Saturday, who got run through the wringer by the media all week after being named interim head coach of the Indianapolis Colts despite having no coaching experience at any level, watched as his team posted 25 points in a win against the Raiders.

When was the last time the Broncos scored 25 points, you ask? December 12, 2021, nearly a full year.

Whether or not the Broncos decide to cut ties with Hackett during the season or not seems to be the only question remaining. At this point, it would be a shock to see him back in Denver next year barring a massive turnaround.