What was Sean Payton's motivation for tearing down Nathaniel Hackett?

New Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton made waves this week when he took a blowtorch to his predecessor, Nathaniel Hackett, and called his coaching job with the Broncos one of the worst in the history of the league. 

It is not normally the type of thing you hear from a coach, and especially not early in training camp against a coach you have to go up against during the season (Payton and the Broncos play the Jets, who hired Hackett as offensive coordinator) in Week 4. 

There are two possible explanations for why Payton went that route. 

First, let's turn to former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi who argued on Friday that Payton's comments were calculated and intentional. 

Lombardi suggested that Payton was trying to remove the spotlight from quarterback Russell Wilson, hold everybody accountable, and put all of the pressure on himself. It is a tactic that coaches do use on occasion. The mindset is that if they say something completely outlandish or controversial, everybody will forget about the struggling player or team and focus on the nonsense the coach is spewing. 

It is a sound theory, and it would not be the first time something like that has happened. Past coaches like Mike Ditka, Bill Parcells, Jim Mora or John Tortorella (NHL coach) did not have those public meltdowns just because they feel like it. There was always a method to the madness.

But here's another theory,

What if Payton, after finally seeing the situation he is stepping into up close, has realized just how bad everything is with the Broncos and is laying the foundation for this season being a lost cause and attempting to wash his hands of any responsibility for it. Payton is not just a smart coach, but he is also a proud coach. And not only are people with his resume very good coaches, they also have large egos and like to be told how smart they are. They are not used to losing and do not like taking blame. 

Hackett may have done a terrible job as the Broncos head coach last season -- and he absolutely did -- but he was not the first coach to fail in Denver recently. 

This is a franchise that has missed the playoffs seven years in a row, has had six consecutive losing seasons, and has watched a revolving door of head coaches during that time all produce the same poor results. Especially offensively. 

The reality here is the Broncos have a 34-year-old quarterback that might be slowing down, are short on playmakers and depth offensively, and used several premium draft pick and trades assets over the past few years to make Wilson and Payton their faces of their franchise. 

Maybe Payton just wanted to raise the level of accountability. But maybe he also knows his team stinks and does not want to be blamed for it when it happens this season. Saying "look at what I inherited" is a good way to remove that blame.