Don’t worry, be Hackett.
The first time Nathaniel Hackett leads the Broncos on their home field for a regular-season contest as the team’s head coach, it’s a must-win game.
Is that fair? Maybe not.
But the honeymoon is over, after only one loss on Hackett’s resume.
Failure is not an option against Houston. Should Hackett lose to the lightly regarded Texans, who arrive in Denver as 10-point underdogs, the nightmare for a rookie head coach would begin in earnest.
He made Broncos Country the laughingstock of the NFL in his debut on the Denver sideline, when Hackett failed the math and his team by taking the football out of quarterback Russell Wilson’s hands to attempt an ill-fated, 64-yard field goal in a 17-16 loss to Seattle.