The Denver Broncos had to deal with the Nathaniel Hackett era for a little bit, and now, the New York Jets get to do the same thing. In a new story from The Athletic, the true dysfunction of the Jets in 2023 were made public, and folks, it was not pretty. The Jets won their Super Bowl earlier in the year when they took down the Denver Broncos.
I do think the Broncos were beyond angry that they couldn't beat the Jets, but oh well, I guess. Anyway, the Broncos looked to be way more dysfunctional than the Jets, but a five-game winning streak turned the season around. Denver got to 7-6 at one point late in the season. For the Jets, though, they were enduring the ineptitude of Hackett:
The #Jets season fell apart after losing Aaron Rodgers — which, sources say, helped expose a culture of excuse-making, a paranoid head coach, an overwhelmed OC and organizational tunnel vision.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) January 31, 2024
"It's such a f--king mess.“
Story, with @DMRussini: https://t.co/vk3YIjrrxa
Here are a few screenshots from the article:
Nathaniel Hackett needs to be fired immediately pic.twitter.com/iXzJdafuic
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) January 31, 2024
The article notes that Hackett and his staff barely watched practice tape during training camp. It goes on to say that Hackett apparently lacked attention to detail (ya think?) and that he would not get together with the rest of the offensive staff until the last minute. Even reading those few blurbs from the tweet above paints a very clear picture that was obvious with the Broncos last year:
Nathaniel Hackett is not an NFL-caliber coach and has clearly been propped up by Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers did win two MVP awards while Hackett was the offensive coordinator, but it's become clear that those MVP seasons were 99.99 percent Rodgers' doing and .01 percent Hackett's doing. The Jets seem to be stuck with Hackett, as they do have Aaron Rodgers as their QB.
And no one knows how Rodgers would react if Nathaniel Hackett was fired. It's clear that the four-time MVP is a bit of a loose cannon, and the Jets are now stuck with Aaron Rodgers, who has a python grip on the franchise. For the Broncos, though, they seem to be in a strong spot with their coaching staff.
Sean Payton got this Broncos team situated in 2023. While far from perfect, the Broncos were a much more disciplined team than they were in 2022. I think the team can improve on the progress they made. Payton and his staff, including the front office members, will continue to mold the roster in their vision.