Armour: Broncos in good hands for now with Brock Osweiler
CHICAGO — Peyton Manning is, without question, one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game.
But he’s not the best quarterback for the Denver Broncos. Not now, anyway.
Maybe not ever again.
Brock Osweiler’s solid play in Denver’s 17-15 victory over the Chicago Bears not only proved he can carry a team, it showed just how limited the Denver Broncos’ offense has been with the aging and ailing Manning. With a season-high 170 yards rushing, including a 15-yard run by Ronnie Hillman that set up Osweiler’s 48-yard TD pass to Demaryius Thomas on the opening drive, the Broncos were able to open up their playbook in a way they’ve rarely done this season.
When a team is running the ball well, defenses can’t load up in the secondary for fear of leaving gaps at the line of scrimmage. Piling up big chunks of yardage, especially on first or second down, takes the cliff notes version of a playbook and turns it into a novel.
“Any time you’re getting 4, 5, 6, 7 yards on first down, you’re putting your whole team in a great position,” Osweiler said. “If you’re getting those chunks and you’re getting first down, second down, first down, or even first down, second down and third-and-1 or 2, now you have a choice. We can run the football here, we can do a keeper or we can throw it.
“You’re really keeping the pressure on the defense.”
It’s easy to say the Broncos could just run those same plays for Manning, who missed Sunday’s game with a torn plantar fascia in his left foot and sore ribs. Except it’s not that simple.
Never the most mobile of quarterbacks, injuries and age have the 39-year-old Manning operating almost at a standstill. Playing under center isn’t an option because it requires mobility Manning no longer has. Denver’s playbook has largely been whittled down to handoffs or throws between the numbers because Manning isn’t going to run a bootleg, scramble for a first down or even make a throw down the sidelines.
And defensive coordinators know all of this.
Stopping the run becomes the first order of business against Manning’s Broncos because it forces him to carry the entire offense, and he can’t do that anymore. He’s thrown an NFL-high 17 interceptions already this season, and his QB rating when he was benched in the third quarter last week was 0.0.
Yes, you read that right. Zero. Zip. Zilch.
Osweiler, meanwhile, finished Sunday with a 127.1 rating and no turnovers. In fact, he took one of his five sacks because he didn’t want to take a chance of losing the ball.
“We came into the game knowing we had a pretty good quarterback who was going to make some throws and not turn the ball over,” Von Miller said. “That’s what he did.”
Osweiler, who turned 25 on Sunday, isn’t Peyton Manning. He couldn’t take advantage of some great field position, coming up empty when he got the ball on the Denver 48 and the Chicago 25. He also robbed the Broncos of a touchdown when he inadvertently tripped Hillman on fourth-and-1 at the Chicago 2.
“I have to get my big feet out of the way,” Osweiler cracked.
But the Broncos don’t need a Hall of Famer at quarterback when their defense is stingier than Scrooge. All they need is a running game and a quarterback who can make a play or two, and that’s exactly what they got with Osweiler on Sunday.
“The message this week was let’s protect the football and play,” Kubiak said. “It got down to playing good defense and protecting the football. That’s a good combination in this league.”
Though Kubiak knew the questions were coming, he wasn’t ready to say who will start against New England next week if Manning is ready to go (UPDATE: On Monday, Kubiak named Osweiler the starter against the Patriots). While the 4-6 Bears are one thing, it’s a stretch to think Osweiler can topple the unbeaten Patriots and Tom Brady.
But it’s a stretch to think Manning could, either. Not with the way he’s playing these days.
Follow Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.
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