The Denver Broncos are better with Brock Osweiler at quarterback compared to their time this season with Peyton Manning, yet the team is insisting their making their decision on a game-by-game basis, despite everyone knowing the change has been made, and it should be made for good.
Manning is out for at least two more weeks because of an actual injury, or at least listed as injured. But his performances through the second half of last season and all of this season make it a very easy choice to make: He has completed just 59.9% of his throws, throwing just 9 touchdown passes compared with 17 interceptions. He doesn’t fit in Gary Kubiak’s offensive system with his current physical limitations, and playing out of the Shotgun holds the same problems for him.
Not that Osweiler is perfect, but the main thing about him right now is that he isn’t making the offense worse. The Broncos can run play action with him, can try deep routes and can play with the running game as the first option without hurting his feelings or confidence, while not having to worry about his entire body being broken when he takes a hit. Osweiler has a passer rating of 88.4 through his two starts and a sub performance in the loss to the Chiefs.
But the Broncos are worried about him getting hit so much. Kubiak has said that it’s combination of protection issues and Osweiler not escaping or seeing the hits that are coming. While he is a big guy and can certainly get up a lot quicker than Manning without having to worry about him not being able to shake it off, there does come a point when it’s too much, and the Broncos don’t want to defer to another backup quarterback on hold, Trevor Siemian.