So here came the first big test in the grand Nathaniel Hackett experiment, with 12:48 to play in the fourth quarter Sunday night against San Francisco.
The Niners led 10-5. Denver QB Russell Wilson, needing seven yards for a first down, scrambled for what appeared to be about six-and-a-half to about a foot shy of the first down at the Bronco 35-.
But Wilson had reached his arm out, with the ball, very near the 35 as he went down. Hackett has had three years of clock/judgment/timeout problems in his three weeks as an NFL head coach, which is why he made the unorthodox move last Tuesday of hiring a retired special-teams coach, Jerry Rosburg, as senior assistant/in-game decision-making.
Now Rosburg had either one or two decisions to advise his boss on. Decision one: Should Denver challenge the call on the field that Wilson was short of the first down? “It’s a value challenge,” came Rosburg’s voice via headset to Hackett.