Sean Payton’s disparaging remarks about Jets’ offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett didn’t sit right with New York’s players. He broke the honor code of the coaching fraternity, as he took a not so thinly-veiled shot at the coaching job that Hackett did in Denver.
Hackett didn’t even last a season with the Broncos, as he became the fifth coach since the 1970 merger to not finish the end of their first season as a head coach. Hackett was fired after a 4-11 start through 15 games, in which the Broncos averaged 15.5 points per game under his watch.
It’s easy to blame Hackett for Denver’s struggles last season, but the team’s 1-4 start under Sean Payton should point to bigger issues. Anyway, Denver was always going to have its hands full with the Jets in Week 5, but for some reason, Payton decided to make this game personal for Gang Green.
His comments seemed to fuel a fire under the Jets, who outscored Denver 23-8 in the second half, en route to a 31-21 victory. It was Quicny Williams’ strip sack of Russell Wilson and Bryce Hall’s scoop and score touchdown that sealed the win for New York. But it was also the play of Breece Hall, who made his return to the scene where he tore his ACL a season before.
On 22 carries, Hall rushed for a career-high 177 yards (8.0 yards per carry) with a 72-yard rushing touchdown. It was New York’s only offensive touchdown, but the only one it would need. After the game, Hall sent a clear and brutal message to Denver’s head coach.
"The better team, better coach won today."
– @nyjets Breece Hall to @AJRoss_TV when asked about playing for Nathaniel Hackett pic.twitter.com/nR17imd9tM
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 9, 2023
“It was good today,” Hall said, via Pro Football Talk. “It was good mostly for coach Hackett. I wasn’t really worried about myself today, we wanted to come in and get a win for him and we did that. The better team, better coach won today.”
Clearly, New York’s players had Hackett’s back and wanted to show that to Payton, who has already been the subject of plenty of scrutiny in Denver thus far.
[PFT]
