DENVER — You live and learn and make the same mistakes all over again.
Many men, middle-aged or older, can only shrug at this truism. Sean Payton, knew better and he did it, anyway, early in training camp. Payton -- 59 and going through a year like no other -- in a newspaper interview disparaged the Broncos' former coach, who happened to be Nathaniel Hackett, who happened to be offensive coordinator of a New York Jets' team that beat Payton's Broncos, 31-21, here Sunday before a gathering of 72,450 (3,937 no shows) on an otherwise spectacular early October afternoon at Empower Field at Mile High.
“We wanted it for coach Hackett. I wasn’t worried about me,'' said Jets' running back Breece Hall, the game's hero with 177 yards rushing that included a go-ahead 72-yard touchdown run early in the second half. "He stayed quiet, he stayed humble, respectful. So he wanted to come in here and get a big win for him. We did that. Better coach with the better team won.”
The Jets gave Hackett a game ball for winning despite all his trouble.
Let's hold on for a second. The Broncos are still paying Hackett millions and millions of dollars to no longer coach for them after he was fired the day after last Christmas with a 4-11 record. Then he returned the next season and dialed up enough good plays (most of them runs) to beat his old team -- and the coach that dissed him.
Perhaps, he shouldn't get too much of the martyr treatment.
So who hasn't eaten crow from time to time?
Afterwards, Hackett shook hands with several Denver reporters who stopped by to get his thoughts.
"Not saying anything about that,'' Hackett said with a beaming smile as he was about to roll his travel bag out the visiting locker room. "All I'll say is glad we won the game."
It's now sinking in that despite replacing Hackett with the proven winner in Sean Payton this year, another Broncos season appears doomed. They are 1-4 -- 0-3 at home for only the second time before their beloved fans in team history (1994 was the other and the 2020 COVID didn't have fans in attendance) -- and meet the 4-1 Kansas City Chiefs this Thursday already at Arrowhead Stadium. The Jets are 2-3.
"It might be tough (playing again in 4 days) but no one really cares, honestly,'' said Broncos safety Justin Simmons, "Now we've got to go down there and find a way to win.''
Speaking of tough. The Broncos have lost 15 straight games against the Chiefs, a skid that has lasted more than 8 calendar years.
The game against the Jets was also battle of two former Broncos head coaches in Hackett and Vance Joseph.
Hackett, the Broncos' head coach last year and Jets' offensive coordinator this year, used an old-fashioned ground-and-pound attack to accumulate 234 yards rushing on 7.3 yards per carry, against the Broncos, whose defensive coordinator, Joseph, was Denver's head coach from 2017-18.
Together, Hackett and Joseph were 15-32 in three seasons for the Broncos. Hackett was 1-0 Sunday and Joseph was 0-1.
This was a game where Payton had to eat his words. In a training camp interview with USA TODAY, Payton said last year's Broncos were victimized by "one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.'' The coach was Hackett.
Two days later Payton admitted he erred in speaking so harshly. Said he regretted it. But too late. The Jets took offense on behalf of their coach and they carried a grudge into the game.
Jets tight end C.J. Uzomah gave an impassioned pre-game speech to his offense, saying "Their coach made this personal. Well, (bleep) him and (bleep) them. Let's go win this (bleep) for Hackett."
Said Jets and former Broncos center Connor McGovern: "C.J.'s a very inspirational guy and he let it hang out there."
Funny thing is, Hackett went up on the Payton Broncos by doing something he struggled to get going as Broncos head coach last year: A running game.
Through three quarters, the Jets had 216 yards rushing. Hall had 168 yards on 18 carries.
Wearing all orange uniforms and white helmets -- a strong resemblance to the Syracuse University football team -- that reflected off the 72-degree, bright sun, the Broncos ran into some of their same old problems -- a defense that couldn't stop the run and an offense that sputtered for too much of the second half.
A 72-yard run by Hall -- who ran through a hole big enough for an 18-wheel semi to drive through -- on New York's first play on the second half turned the Broncos' 13-8 halftime lead into a 15-13 deficit.
Three more Greg Zuerlein field goals -- he had five 3 pointers on the day -- lifted the Jets to a 24-13 lead halfway through the fourth quarter.
At that point, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson had thrown for just 68 yards and his three top receivers -- Jerry Jeudy. Marvin Mims Jr. and Courtland Sutton -- had just 11 yards receiving.
"The biggest thing is they do a good job up front,'' said Wilson, who finished 20 of 31 for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns thanks to a late-game passing flurry, but was also sacked four times and lost a fumble that was returned for a game-cinching touchdown. "We were definitely looking for our guys but a lot of times the stuff underneath to our backs and tight ends was there.
"We want those (receivers) to be involved more. We're always looking for them.''
Down 11 points late, the Broncos got back in it thanks to a third-and-long completion for 23 yards from Wilson to Jeudy with a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty tacked on.
A dump pass from Wilson to Samaje Perine picked up 29 yards -- Perine broke a tackle early in his run -- and set up first and goal. Wilson finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Adam Trautman.
A 2-point conversion run by fullback Michael Burton made it 24-21 with 4:44 remaining.
Jets' quarterback Zach Wilson answered by leading his offense to the Broncos' 27. But a pass inside the 5 to star receiver Garrett Wilson went through his hands and into the arms of Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II at the 3 yard line.
Russell Wilson started there with 2:14 remaining. He completed passes to Brandon Johnson, Sutton and Jeudy to move the ball out to his own 41, but the Jets' Quincy Williams stripped him of the ball from behind and defensive back Bryce Hall picked up the bouncing fumble near his own sideline and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown.
Ball game.
The Broncos' offense sputtered in the third quarter as it often has this season. Even after the Jets gifted the Broncos a muffed punt and ball at the New York 39, a trick play call by Payton backfired.
A double reverse resulted in Perine lateraling his pitch a bit too close and high to other-way runner Mims. The ball bounced off Mims' hands and the Jets recovered.
Ugh.
"It was just a bad pitch,'' Perine said. "I have to do a better job of getting him the ball. At worst, it would have been second and 10 and we could have made something happen. But the pitch was too high and that was totally my fault."
Hall had a 62-yard touchdown run against the Broncos here last year before suffering a season-ending ACL injury. His knee injury occurred three weeks after Broncos' running back Javonte Williams suffered his, yet Hall seems much closer to 100% recovered.
Javonte Williams suffered a quad injury last week in Chicago but seemed healthy enough to play Sunday and did his best to convince his coaches and trainers he could play.
But out of an abundance of caution and with Jaleel McLaughlin available, Payton and the medical team decided it was best to give Williams’ quad pull a few more days to heal.
Payton then unleashed Jaleel.
The undrafted rookie made three spectacular plays to help the Broncos lead the Jets, 13-8 at halftime. The Broncos for a half received a strong performance from Joseph’s defense and the legs of McLaughlin and quarterback Russell Wilson.
McLaughlin had runs of 38 and 21 yards and a 22-yard screen reception and run for a touchdown in the first half. The scrambling Wilson had 45 yards rushing.
If the Jets thought they were getting the Denver D that surrendered 70 in Miami, they were partially mistaken. For starters, the Broncos got several key defensive players back that didn’t play in that game, namely Simmons and Josey Jewell, who left with a groin injury early in the second quarter against the Dolphins.
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Then there was Nik Bonitto, who didn’t start at Miami but replaced the now traded Randy Gregory last week at Chicago. Bonitto had two sacks in the first quarter, giving him 4.5 in his last two games and 5.5 for the season.
Finally, the Jets’ offense ain’t the Dolphins. The Denver D was terrific early, even if it was charged with 5 points that came from other units.
A muffed punt by Mims, who should have called for a fair catch with a Jets gunner on top of him, gave New York the ball at the Denver 20. The Denver D did well to hold the Jets to a short Zuerlein field goal and a 3-0 lead.
The Broncos came back on their first possession thanks to the young legs of McLaughlin and still spry legs of 12-year quarterback Wilson. On third-and-8, Wilson converted by scrambling forward for a 16-yard run.
Then McLaughlin took a pitch right and sprinted down the right sideline for a 38-yard gain. Later, McLaughlin took a quick screen from Wilson, cut inside and blazed into the end zone for a 22-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
The Broncos were up 7-3.
On the next series, the Denver D did its job again, forcing a punt, but Thomas Morstead boomed the ball 54 yards out of bounds at the Denver 6. On the first play, Wilson held on to the ball a second or two too long and as he was getting sacked threw the ball away in desperation.
Intentional grounding from the end zone meant a 2-point safety for the Jets.
“Bad play, unfortunate play by me,'' Russell Wilson said.
It was 7-5.
The Broncos again used a screen, this time to Perine, for 25 yards and Wilson again took off for 21 to the Jets’ 5. A goal-to-go opportunity wasn’t converted, though, and the Broncos settled for a short Wil Lutz field goal and a 10-5 lead early in the second quarter.
Perine had a game-high 73 yards receiving on four catches and another 22 yards rushing off six carries.
With Jets quarterback Zach Wilson struggling early, Hackett -- a son of a long-time college head coach and NFL offensive coordinator Paul Hackett -- went Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes, running the ball 9 straight times with Breece Hall doing most of the damage in moving the ball from the Jets’ own 25 to first and goal.
On third and goal, Hackett asked Zach Wilson to make one throw and he couldn’t do it. Incomplete, chip-shot field goal, narrowing the score to 10-8 with 6:41 left in the half.
The Broncos came back and used an unnecessary roughness penalty on Quincy Williams, who went high to hit a sliding Russell Wilson, and a 21-yard scamper by McLaughlin were part of a drive that again reached first and goal.
Again, the Broncos had to settle for a short field goal, which Lutz converted for a 13-8 lead with 1:47 left in the half.
The Jets hurried up to drive down to the Broncos’ 8-yard line before the half but they didn’t hurry enough as the first-half clock expired before they could spike it and send their field goal unit out for 3 more points.
The second half, however, was almost all Jets, who controlled the game upfront on both sides of the ball.
“Obviously, a disappointing loss,'' Payton said. "Three turnovers and a safety I think lead to 15 points—tough to win a game like that. I have to do a better job. It starts with me. We have a short week, and we have a quick turnaround.”
Bronco Bits
Zach Allen and Elijah Garcia also had sacks for the Broncos. ...
Kareem Jackson and Alex Singleton each had 10 tackles to lead the Broncos. ...
The Broncos' final two draft picks this year, safety JL Skinner and center Alex Forsyth, were inactive for a fifth consecutive game. …
The Broncos have won the opening coin toss, and elected to defer, all five games this season. ...
Defensive players who returned for the game against the Jets after missing last week’s game against the Bears: Simmons, Jewell, Frank Clark, P.J. Locke and Mike Purcell.
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