3 teams that can’t afford to lose in NFL Week 2

1. Denver Broncos

Just like the aforementioned Baker Mayfield, Russell Wilson made his debut with his new franchise by playing against his previous team. Unlike Mayfield, he did so in his former home stadium as the Denver Broncos played in Seattle against the Seahawks.

Wilson played well against Seattle, throwing for 340 yards with a touchdown but they still lost 17-16. Worse than the loss was the way things went on their final drive.

Rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett sat on his timeouts during that drive, not using any until there were 20 seconds left to play. He also elected to attempt a 64-yard field goal at the end of the game rather than giving Wilson a chance to deliver on fourth-and-five.

It was confusing since they gave up a whole lot of draft capital, as well as a couple of players for Wilson only to sideline him when they needed him. Instead of using Wilson, they decided to go for what would have been the second-longest field goal in NFL history.

What’s worse is that Hackett says the 64-yard kick was within the range they were comfortable with. That shouldn’t have been the case as Brandon McManus was 0-5 in his career on kicks of 62-yards or more, and he’s now 0-6.

Denver will be at home in Week 2 against the Houston Texans, who are 0-0-1 after tying with the Indianapolis Colts in the first game of the season. This is clearly a game the Broncos should win, but they were also expected to beat Seattle.

Should they suffer a defeat, they would be 0-2 after what was supposed to be an easy start. And since they play in the stacked AFC West, they can’t afford that to happen.