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Kiz: Could the Broncos play the rest of this season’s games in jolly, old London? Please. Three touchdowns? Quarterback Russell Wilson riding to the rescue in the fourth quarter? A stake through the stinking heart of a losing streak? Nicely done, lads. Can I get an “Amen!” and five minutes of high knees from Broncos Country? At 3-5, can this team get to the NFL playoffs from here? Or at least do enough to save Nathaniel Hackett from being one-and-done as the head coach?
Gabriel: What was the term CEO Greg Penner used on Friday in the basement of that restaurant? “Week-to-week business?” Certainly another long skid would put Nathaniel Hackett’s job status in peril. And so would falling back to the first-seven-games touchdown rate. But if a team with a league-leading number of players on injured reserve, without a couple of aging warhorses at running back and a makeshift offensive line, can put together a run in the coming weeks, then yeah, they can keep Hackett around. Predicting a Wild Card run feels somewhere between premature and misguided, but stranger things have happened.
Kiz: Take one glimpse at the November schedule and it’s not unreasonable to believe these guys could get on a roll. It won’t be easy to win in Tennessee, but the Raiders and Panthers are wretched. One month from today, the Broncos could easily enter the home stretch with a 5-6 record and find themselves on the fringes of playoff contention in this parity-crazy league. Do you think it’s playoffs or bust for Hackett to keep his job? Or will general manager George Paton and new ownership set the bar lower?
Gabriel: It depends on a couple of factors: Does Paton jettison outside linebacker Bradley Chubb and/or others in the coming days? If he does, how can you look Hackett in the eyes and say, “sorry about that, but you still have to make the playoffs?” Perhaps the biggest piece to the puzzle, though, is Wilson. If by the end of the season he really looks like he’s getting in a groove and figuring out this system and the relationship with Hackett remains good, that will help the coach’s chances tremendously, regardless of whether they make the playoffs or finish, let’s say, just on the outside looking in. We’ve seen growing pains and they ain’t pretty. The prospect of a fruitful Year 2 might be enough for the brass to decide against a second straight Year 1.
Kiz: While I don’t believe Hackett is the right coach for this team, if the offense comes alive and the Broncos start playing exciting football, I can see a pathway for salvation for him, if Denver remains in the wild card hunt until the end and finishes 8-9. Of course, if Paton trades away Chubb, maybe that’s an indication the front office has already moved on to next year and the next coach. And I know one thing that can’t happen: Should the Broncos continue to give fans reason to walk out of home games in the fourth quarter, Hackett is doomed.
Gabriel: The 2-5 start really put this team, and Hackett, behind the 8-ball. But so did the the manner in which they arrived at that record. The entire lack of offense, the early season game-management miscues and the penalties – so many penalties. Some of that’s been smoothed out but it’s got to continue to improve. In the first quarter Sunday when the Jags had the ball, up 7-0 and on the doorstep of scoring on a drive that featured four defensive penalties, I had a moment where I wondered if it was about to go fully off the rails. Justin Simmons stemmed the tide with an interception and here we are, talking about whether they can get back into playoff contention. But the other conversation is going to be lurking, too, it seems, unless this team rips off a real, prolonged heater.
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