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Kiz: Raiders 22, Broncos 16. Stings, doesn’t it? In the aftermath of Denver’s worst loss of this bad NFL season, I can’t get one play out of my head. Clinging to a 16-13 lead and coming out of the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter, the Broncos inexplicably threw an incomplete pass on 3rd and 10 from their own 35-yard line, despite the fact Las Vegas had no timeouts. What we have here is a failure to communicate between coach Nathaniel Hackett and quarterback Russell Wilson.
Gabriel: Hackett said after the game that he told the offense both that they wanted to take a shot down the field and that they had to keep the clock running. A $245 million quarterback should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, but one could argue that comes off as mixed signals from the head man. In Seattle during the season opener, Hackett took the ball out of Wilson’s hands and attempted an ill-advised 64-yard field goal. Nine games later, he left it in Wilson’s hands and the quarterback made an ill-advised decision.
Kiz: Wilson had only two choices. Hit an open receiver with a pass. Or tuck the football and hit the ground. How could he do neither? It was either stupidity or insubordination on the part of Wilson. Know what’s worse? During the two-minute warning, the situation needed to be clearly communicated to Wilson by Hackett, whose primary job as a head coach is to make big-picture decisions with the game on the line. If Hackett can’t get a crucial strategic point across to his QB, or Wilson simply won’t listen to his coach, it’s damning evidence these two guys can’t work together.
Gabriel: Right. This is where the freshly restructured offensive staff is interesting, too. Wilson said after the game he thought Klint Kubiak called a good game from the box and he appreciated the insight he got from offensive coordinator Justin Outten, who moved from the box to the sideline. But it has to be Hackett making the situation clear to the quarterback in that moment, right? Multiple times Hackett and Wilson talked on the sideline during the game even though it wasn’t the head coach calling plays. But that’s a major breakdown somewhere in the process.
Kiz: I’ve been a huge booster of Wilson and wanted Denver to draft him out of Wisconsin, as everybody in Broncos Country, especially John Elway, certainly knows. What has shocked and disappointed me most about Wilson since he joined the Broncos is his lack of on-field awareness of situational football. Too often, he chucks the ball without thinking. If I see this flaw in RW3, Hackett obviously does, as well. And if Hackett can’t fix it, then he’s the wrong guy to coach up a stubborn, veteran QB set in his ways.
Gabriel: Early in the game, I thought Wilson was as crisp as he’s been all season. Sure, he’s made some big plays over the first nine games, but early against the Raiders he was hitting his back foot and letting the ball go in rhythm. They got easy completions to the sideline, he found his checkdowns. He knew where the free runner was coming from and hit Courtland Sutton on a slant. He deftly moved away from a rusher that Melvin Gordon picked up on the 32-yarder to Kendall Hinton that set up the opening drive touchdown. It was easy to wonder if that was the Kubiak Effect. In the second half, though, Wilson did more and more running around and improvising before that late, killer incompletion.
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