Things are so bad in Denver right now that fans helped the Broncos during Sunday’s game
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Quarterback Russell Wilson got his first fourth-quarter comeback with the Broncos on Sunday, but it came after the team heard boos and a countdown from fans at Empower Field at Mile High.
The Broncos, who were a popular pick to either win the AFC West or be a wild-card team, rallied and defeated the Texans 16-9 on Sunday to improve to 1-1. Things looked dicey as Houston led 9-6 through three quarters.
“I would be booing myself; I was getting very frustrated,” coach Nathaniel Hackett told the team’s website. “We get down to the red zone two times. Don’t get another touchdown, which is unbelievably frustrating. I don’t think we have scored in there yet. That’s something that all of our guys have to step it up. Whether we run the ball more, whatever we’re doing, we just have to execute at a higher level.”
This third-quarter sequence was baffling as the Broncos were facing third-and-inches in Texans territory. After fullback/tight end Andrew Beck lost a yard on a run to the outside, Denver set up for a 54-yard field goal but a delay of game call moved the ball back. So the Broncos punted.
Please watch this entire sequence. Nate Hackett has officially lost it. Denver went from 3rd and inches, a TE rush attempt, a long FG attempt, and then a punt. Lord pic.twitter.com/3Eugrn7sHG
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) September 18, 2022
Former Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe tweeted about the Broncos’ choice at the end of last Monday’s game and the decision to punt on Sunday.
Hackett wouldn’t let the kicker kick a 59 yd fg in Denver, but a 64 yarder in Seattle. That’s the play?
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) September 18, 2022
Later in the game, Broncos fans decided to help Wilson and the offense by counting down the play clock.
On 3rd and 10, Broncos fans counted the play clock all the way down to the final second, all for Russell Wilson to do this.
Really painful stuff happening in Denver. pic.twitter.com/BH5Mql9xeD— Joshua Brisco (@jbbrisco) September 18, 2022
Broncos fans are helpfully/mockingly shouting out the play clock on every play as Denver struggles to manage the clock. pic.twitter.com/53p339HGME
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) September 18, 2022
Wilson put a positive spin on the crowd’s countdown.
“I guess that was helpful at the end,” Wilson told reporters. “I guess they do that in basketball, some. I’ve been around basketball players and stuff like that. This crowd is amazing. Once again, how they were, especially when the defense was out there with the game on the line. Imagine how hard that is for a quarterback to hear with all that noise and all that tenacity and all that. So that was great that our fans were really in to it. It’s a great football crowd.”
