Part 5: The Best of Times

ABC had done the right thing in lobbying for this game to be on Monday Night. They were so confident of their viewership totals that they eschewed their normal opening night doubleheader in favor of building up this game into must-watch TV. Plus, they had two shiny new toys to show off,

and what better venue than one of the few games guaranteed to garner as much interest as any late-season rivalry game? They were so vested in this game being a “big deal” that they even made them go up during pre-season and call one of those August afternoon tilts as practice.

After all, they had traded the rights to a Big Ten game for the privilege of paying Joe & Troy millions of dollars to make the games more exciting, hoping that rebranding the dreck that had become “Monday Night Football” would finally pay a return on Disney’s investment. Opening Night would be their chance to see whether the money had indeed been well spent.

All eyes were on Russell Wilson. But how could they not be? He was returning to the place that had made him a king. A town where he was fondly remembered for 104 victories,

He had made Seahawks football relevant again, decades after Steve Largent and the “ground Chuck” era. He had not been there for “The Beastquake”, but he had been one of the key components for everything built up from that point. He hadn’t been one to demand glory – his adopted mantra of “neutral thinking” wouldn’t allow for that – but he wasn’t one to shy away from the recognition that, rightly or wrongly, he believed he was due.

He wasn’t sure what his reception would be. After all, he hadn’t publicly dragged things out like a Packer, nor did he vacillate like Brady. His intentions were known, and he just focused on what happened on the field. He just hoped the fans would remember the good times.

Fuck you, NFL Media! Let’s see if this one works…

FUCK YOU GOODELL!

The Seahawks were nervous going into the game. Training camp had been miserable in the results column but satisfying on the clipboard. Geno Smith had emerged as the clear #1, and every press conference Pete Carroll gave ended with the same sentiment – “I expect him to run the offense just like he has been doing it all along.”

But there was still lingering doubt. I mean, how could there not be when one of the pull quotes all camp was that the QB competition was “always on”,

and that the consensus was that Geno ‘won’ the job because Drew Lock threw his way out of the running with four interceptions in two games.

It didn’t help that the night’s added pressure was coming from fans and their one-game evaluation of whether the trade had been worth it. For all his faults, Russell Wilson had been beloved in Seattle. If the Seahawks came out and shit the bed against him, the value they’d received in exchange wouldn’t matter compared to the national embarrassment of being shown out by their former star. Worse, it could lead to panic and the panic-selling of players, or the team could quickly pivot into full rebuilding mode, sacrificing the values of a number of star players heading into option years and free agency.

Nathaniel Hackett couldn’t believe his good luck. He had turned working with EJ Manuel and Blake Bortles a few years ago into a job with the Packers and Aaron Rodgers. Two MVP awards for Rodgers somehow turned into Hackett now coaching the Denver Broncos. And now he had Russell Wilson as his starting quarterback – a guy who had won a Super Bowl more recently than Rodgers.

He had had this game all mapped out since training camp ended, and he was going to stick with it. He’d seen other rookie coaches – even his former boss Matt Lafleur – run away from their game plan the second momentum shifted or an error scuttled a drive. Yessir, Russell was going to drive them downfield during the last two minutes, and he would drag out the fans’ pain by kicking a field goal from wherever, just to hammer home the point that Russell was his QB now, not Seattle’s.

It might not have needed to be that close, but a case of the Game-1 yips allowed Seattle to stay in the game. Coach Hackett could send in the right plays, but he couldn’t get help the players hold on to the ball.

They had 10 total snaps inside the 10 without scoring a touchdown: Melvin Gordon lost a fumble, and Javonte Williams lost a fumble. Twice, inside the one, the Broncos fumbled away touchdowns that would have put the game out of reach. Anyone else would have seen this as a curse. But both Nate Hackett & Russell Wilson saw this as adversity to be overcome, something that would make the season stronger once triumph came their way.

And as the game wound down, everything was falling into place. Sure, they had the ball at midfield with a little over a minute to go. But they needed five yards, and the odds didn’t seem in their favor.

59..58..57..56..55..

They had three time outs, but Coach Hackett didn’t want to play the game of burning them off if they didn’t make the first down. The analytics said to let the clock run down so the Seahawks couldn’t get the ball back. His brain was what got him this job, so he was going to trust his brain, and his gut, in this situation.

45…44…43…42…41…

Brandon McManus was the most accurate kicker in the league, and everyone knew it. The guy was money, whether from 61 yards or 16. He was one of the few good things he had inherited from the Fangio regime, and – to quote the old master – you never leave a club in the bag. If you brought it, use it. And he was going to use the best club he had to close out this game.

35….34….33….32….31….

He was going to give Russ his moment, and having him soak in the vitriol while waiting on the timeout was going to be catharsis – for both him and the team. As the moment got closer, time seemed to slow.

24…..23…..22…..21…..20.

Signal; whistle; “Time out, Broncos!”

Off came Russell. He gave his coach a sideways glance, as if to say ‘there was more we could have done’. But Coach Hackett knew Russ was a team player, and besides – wins wash away sins. He gave McManus a shout as he ran onto the field, and the wink back told him everything he needed to know.

Oh man, he could just taste it.

From the Seahawks side, there was nothing that could be said. They had vanquished their foe, and put a stake in the heart of the questions that were about the move to get rid of #3. This was Geno’s team now, and Pete Carroll was ‘ride or die’ at this point.

In the other locker room, Nathaniel Hackett knew what awaited him at the microphone, but that didn’t make what he was going to say any more palatable,

“We weren’t moving the ball that efficiently at that time, we were just getting little chunks and wanted to be sure that we got to guarantee ourselves a chance to be able to win the game,” Hackett said. “I thought [McManus] had enough leg…”

The game tape would show that, from their position on the field, the rookie head coach made the right tactical decision, even if the analytics possibly showed otherwise.

From our win probability calculator, @BryKno ran this:

Pass: 36.1% WP
Field Goal: 7.4% WP

Complete insanity.

— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@ASchatzNFL) September 13, 2022

Meanwhile, at his post game press conference,

Russell Wilson was forced to defend the actions of his head coach. And while lying is a sin, King James put nothing in the Good Book about bullshit:

“I believe in coach Hackett, I believe in what we’re doing, I believe in everything,” Wilson continued. “Anytime you can try to find a play on 4th-and-5, that’s great too. But I don’t think it was the wrong decision… If we’re in the situation again, I wouldn’t doubt whatever he decided.”

But leave it to perennial afterthought & now starter Geno Smith to have the last word. He’d earned these flowers after all those years of adversity & turmoil, so he was going to savor this moment he’d been long denied by fate, fists, and franchise.