The Denver Broncos have lost seven of their past eight games, with each defeat looking more dismal than the next.
Sunday's 23-10 road loss to the Sam Darnold-led Carolina Panthers was about a dispirited performance as a professional football team can concoct. Russell Wilson guides the offense with the dexterity of a thumb-less mover. The defense, which has held up for the most part this season, is starting to show cracks due to the pressure of carrying the load.
And with each passing week, Broncos fans, who thought this was finally their year to return to the postseason, frustratingly rip out their hair. It's nearly an all-bald Broncos Country.
"Nobody's as frustrated as I am," head coach Nathaniel Hackett said Monday. "This is not where we wanted to be at this time in the season. None of us thought it was going to be like that and that responsibility is fully on me. I want to be the one that can do everything to help this football team. Because we as a group have to come together and try to find a way to win a football game.
"We can't play the way that we played yesterday and expect to win a football game. It starts with me from the preparation."
No one in Denver will argue that Hackett's been a woeful disappointment. An offensive coach whose offense can't score is about as helpful as a pen with no ink. The Broncos have generated two games of 17-plus points. Two. In 11 games. In 2022.
Wilson has played terribly, unable to create, no longer using his legs, panicking under pressure, and has so little faith that at this point balls are short-hopping or sailing over the head of nearly every receiver.
Sunday's fourth-quarter goal-line situation, in which it took Denver lining up nine times to score one measly touchdown in a blowout loss, underscored the issues. Nothing is easy for the Broncos. That falls on the coach and the quarterback
"I'm the most frustrated," Hackett added. "I think our fans are great. They want to win. Just like we all do. I don't blame them for being frustrated. For me, all I know is the work. Put my head down with our staff. I believe in this staff, believe in these players. And we've got to get better plays, better execution across the board."
Since Week 1, Hackett has been under the microscope. It gets no better with a trip to Baltimore in Week 13 and a home game against Kansas City on deck.
