According to some people there is a quarterback situation brewing in Denver, but to me the Denver Broncos quarterback “issue” has a simple solution. Peyton Manning has been banged up this season, and Sunday he was out with foot (torn plantar fascia) and rib injuries. As a result, Brock Osweiler was tabbed to start. Osweiler played well, and he appears (so far) to be a more than capable quarterback. But there is an easy answer here as it pertains to who should be the signal caller for the Broncos. If Manning is healthy, he starts, and if not then Osweiler is under center until the former Tennessee Volunteer is healthy enough to play.
There is no doubt that Manning has struggled mightily this season, especially by his standards. The Denver Broncos quarterback has thrown for 2,180 yards and nine touchdowns with 17 interceptions in 2015. Those are not normal Peyton Manning numbers. This season Osweiler has thrown three touchdowns and one interception, including a two touchdown, zero interception performance on Sunday as the Broncos defeated the Chicago Bears on the road. This means that Osweiler should be the starter for the Broncos the rest of the season right?
Wrong. The Broncos were 7-2 (including a 7-0 start) with Manning under center this season. It’s clear that he has struggled in 2015, but Denver still has a three-game lead over the Kansas City Chiefs and a four-game lead over the Oakland Raiders in the AFC West. If the New England Patriots continue to play as they have all season they will end up being the number one seed come playoff time, but the Broncos are now tied with the Cincinnati Bengals at 8-2 in the race for second place in the AFC. And those two teams square off in Week 16 in a game that could have postseason seeding implications.
The Broncos play the Patriots next Sunday night at home in what will be a tough game. But they have two very winnable games after that, playing the San Diego Chargers on the road and the Raiders at home. Of course Manning wants to play against the Patriots and to try to get the overall number seed, but that will be a tall task. If Manning takes four weeks to try to get healthy (no real timetable for his return have been given), and the Broncos go 3-1 with Osweiler under center (a very real possibility) that would have them sitting at 10-3 when Manning returns.
A 10-3 record heading into Week 15 (with their game against the Bengals yet to be played) would put Denver in a great position to secure the number two seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs. As long as Osweiler continues to play well, rushing Peyton back makes almost no sense, but once he is healthy keeping him off the field wouldn’t be the right move either. Manning hasn’t played well this season, but he is still the guy right now in Denver. Osweiler may be the future, but the sample size is far too small to know with any degree of certainty at this point.
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