The Broncos got their first win of the season today, but it wasn’t pretty.
In a game full of questionable decisions by first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett and scattered passing by new franchise quarterback Russell Wilson, the Broncos managed to survive and beat the Texans 16-9.
But it’s hard to see how the Broncos, a team that entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations, can be happy with this game. Just as he had in the Broncos’ Week One loss in Seattle, Hackett made a series of bad decisions with play calling, clock management and fourth down management. The Broncos did such a bad job of managing the game that by the end, the Denver crowd had resorted to loudly counting down the play clock to try to keep the offense from getting delay of game penalties.
Wilson completed just 14 of 31 passes for 219 yards, with one touchdown, one interception and three sacks. The Broncos need him to be much better than that.
The 0-1-1 Texans are not a good team, but they’ve played hard for new coach Lovie Smith two weeks in a row. The Broncos are a much more talented team than the Texans, but they’re not playing well for Hackett.