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Jets win one 'for Hackett' over Sean Payton, Broncos: 'F*** him and f*** them'

Jason Owens
Staff writer
·5 min read
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The New York Jets had a message for Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos before kickoff Sunday.

"F*** him and f*** them," was how C.J. Uzomah put it.

They delivered on that bravado with a 31-21 win in honor of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

The game started under an aura of dramatics, with Jets tight end C.J. Uzomah calling Payton out while dedicating the game to Hackett, who was fired by the Broncos last season. It ended with the Jets sealing the victory with a defensive touchdown by cornerback Bryce Hall on a scoop-and-score of a Russell Wilson fumble.

C.J. Uzomah fires Jets up for Nathaniel Hackett

Before the game, Uzomah led the Jets onto the field in Denver with a fiery pregame speech.

"Their coach made this s*** personal," Uzomah said. "Well, f*** him and f*** them. This ain't about them. This is about us getting back on the right track. Let's win this b**** for Hackett."

Why so mad?

The pregame passions were a response to Payton's offseason comments regarding Hackett, who had a notoriously poor stint as Denver's head coach in 2022. The Broncos fired Hackett with two games remaining in his first and only season on the job, as Denver struggled with game management and a historically bad offense in its first season with Russell Wilson at quarterback.

Denver replaced Hackett in the offseason with Payton in a high-profile trade to acquire the Super Bowl-winning coach from the New Orleans Saints. Upon his arrival, Payton delivered candid criticism of his predecessor.

"It might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL," Payton said of Hackett in July.

Fast-forward to Sunday, and Payton isn't having much more success with a Broncos team that entered Sunday's game with a 1-3 record, having beaten only the 1-4 Chicago Bears. A Jets team still reeling from the Week 1 loss of quarterback Aaron Rodgers also entered the game 1-3 and in desperate need of a win. They effectively used Payton's comments as fuel while snapping a three-game losing streak.

Jets rally after slow offensive start

For a half on Sunday, New York's offense sputtered under Hackett and quarterback Zach Wilson, as the Broncos kept the Jets out of the end zone while building a 13-8 lead. But the Jets jumped out of the gates in the second half with a 72-yard touchdown run from Breece Hall on their first possession of the third quarter to put the Jets ahead.

New York's defense, meanwhile, stifled the Denver offense, as the Jets followed the score with three unanswered field goals to extend the lead to 24-13 midway through the fourth quarter. But the Broncos weren't done. Russell Wilson led a seven-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass to tight end Adam Trautman that cut Denver's deficit to 24-21.

Then a Zach Wilson interception to Pat Surtain deep in Broncos territory gave Denver life when the Jets could've iced the game with a touchdown.

But New York's defense answered in kind, with Bryce Hall's defensive touchdown to put the game out of reach and send the reeling Broncos to 1-4 in Payton's first year as head coach.

Nathaniel Hackett gets game ball

After the game, head coach Robert Saleh gave Hackett the game ball.

"How about offense — 234 yards rushing — 177 from Breece [Hall]," Saleh said in his postgame speech in the locker room. "There's a lot of good things we can talk about in regards to these stats. But I've got one game ball. Hack!"

Hackett beamed as he received the ball, then acknowledged the defense for getting after Russell Wilson, whom he coached in his single season in Denver.

"Just want you to know that it's an honor to be with you guys," Hackett said. "Watching that defense go out there, sack him, get turnovers. It's absolutely beautiful."

Jets respond postgame

The Jets responded to the win on social media by trolling Payton, who accused the Jets this summer of "trying to win the offseason."

Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner added his own postgame commentary with a shot at Russell Wilson.

Jets offensive lineman Billy Turner implied that Payton was "ignorant" in his postgame comments to reporters.

“When people want to be ignorant and come out and say things that I’m not even going to repeat, you always got a little extra in the tank for situations and games like that,” Turner said.