Offensively inept Denver Broncos fire coach Nathaniel Hackett, Week 17 NFL odds vs. Chiefs unchanged

A few offshore sportsbooks offered a prop on which NFL coach was the next to be fired, and Denver's Nathaniel Hackett was the clear favorite entering Week 16. The books were right as he was fired by the hugely disappointing 4-11 Broncos with two games remaining. It's not clear as of this writing who will be the interim coach Sunday in Kansas City with the Chiefs as 13.5-point favorites at Caesars Sportsbook. That number hasn't changed with this news.

The 43-year-old Hackett was hired by the Broncos last January after he was the Packers' offensive coordinator for three seasons from 2019-21 and obviously had great success with Aaron Rodgers – Denver was hoping to trade for Rodgers this offseason but when that wasn't going to happen, the team pivoted to trading for Russell Wilson. The nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback is having easily his worst season with just 12 TDs and nine picks.

Denver is averaging just 15.5 points, fewest in the league. Hackett began the season as the offensive play-caller but eventually gave it up to quarterbacks coach Klint Kubiak.

Rock bottom apparently was a 51-14 embarrassment at a bad and injury-ravaged Los Angeles Rams team on Christmas. Wilson was picked off three times and sacked six. Backup quarterback Brett Rypien and guard Dalton Risner exchanged words on the sideline after a sequence in third quarter when Wilson was sacked on back-to-back plays. It was Denver's biggest margin of defeat since a 59-14 loss to the Raiders in 2010.

It was the Broncos' 10th loss in their past 12 games, and they haven't won a road game in the USA yet. Their lone road win was over Jacksonville in London.

"I think that they're upset for all the losing," Hackett said after the Rams game. "We all are. Every one of us. It's unacceptable. That's not what we're about. That's not what we were going to do. We went in with the mindset that we were going to be able to win this game, but in the end, we weren't ready. It always starts with me, without a doubt, that's embarrassing, I'm embarrassed. That's not what we're about, that's not what we've done all year."

Hackett was hired before the Broncos were sold this summer to the Walton-Penner Group, led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, his daughter Carrie Walton Penner and son-in-law Greg Penner. The Denver fan base seemed to sour on Hackett in Week 1 when he chose to have Brandon McManus attempt a 64-yard field goal instead of having Wilson attempt to convert a fourth-and-5 in the closing minute of a 17-16 loss to Seattle.

"Following extensive conversations with (general manager) George (Paton) and our ownership group, we determined a new direction would ultimately be in the best interest of the Broncos," Greg Penner said in a statement. "This change was made now out of respect for everyone involved and allows us to immediately begin the search for a new head coach. … "Moving forward, we will carefully evaluate every aspect of our football operations and make whatever changes are necessary to restore this franchise's winning tradition."

Penner said that Paton will assist in the head coaching search. Then-Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell and Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn were also finalists for the job before Hackett landed it. O'Connell isn't available any longer as he's now the head coach of the Vikings and a Coach of the Year candidate. Quinn is available.

Wade Phillips previously had the shortest tenure as the team's non-interim head coach in the post-AFL-NFL merger era: Two seasons (1993-1994) before he was canned and replaced by Mike Shanahan. 

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