The 12th Man
On Sunday, the Denver Broncos will march out a new starting quarterback for the first time since 2012, when Peyton Manning joined the team as a free agent. It marks the longest stretch of time since the turn of the century that the Broncos have had the same starting quarterback – 62 games, including playoffs.
With that in mind, would you believe that Brock Osweiler will be the 12th quarterback to start a game for Denver in the 21st century? Can you name them all? Don’t worry if you can’t; we’re about to run through all of them.
Of the remaining 11, only Brian Griese doesn’t make it onto this week’s “Power Rankings,” which looks at the first start in a Broncos uniform for 10 different quarterbacks. (Griese’s first start was in 1999.)
Will Brock go the way of Jay Cutler in his first start? Danny Kanell? Tim Tebow? Chris Simms? Manning? We’ll know soon. In the meantime, enjoy this look back at the best and worst first starts for these Broncos quarterbacks.
Editor’s Note: All scores, stats and drive info provided by pro-football-reference.com, a Mile High Sports syndication partner. Rankings are based on each quarterback’s individual performance, not the outcome of the game.
No. 10 – Chris Simms
Nov. 22, 2009 vs. San Diego Chargers
Loss, 3-32
Passing: 2-for-4, 10 Yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
After starting 6-0 under new head coach Josh McDaniels, the Broncos were reeling – losers of three straight with Kyle Orton as the starter. Simms took over in the second half of a Week 10 game against Washington after Orton left with a sprained ankle, eventually giving up the lead to the Redskins while going 3-for-13 for 13 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
Orton was believed to still be hurt the following week and Simms started against the San Diego Chargers. He was sacked twice in less than two quarters, including a strip sack on Denver’s first possession. Simms was replaced by Orton in the second quarter after going a disappointing 2-for-4 for only 10 yards.
Apparently, Orton was less hurt than anyone realized and McDaniels was a worse head coach than anyone yet realized.
In this game Simms threw the last regular-season NFL pass he would ever complete.
No. 9 – Jarious Jackson
Dec. 28, 2003 at Green Bay Packers
Loss, 3-31
Passing: 4-for-9, 41 Yds, 0 TD, 1 INT
Jackson was the fourth and final quarterback to earn a start for the Broncos in 2003 – three of those starts being that particular QB’s first ever start as a Bronco. (Steve Beuerlein burned his “orangeshirt” the previous year.) At 10-5, despite starting three different quarterbacks, Denver was locked into a Wild Card spot (mostly on the back of Jake Plummer) and so Mike Shanahan gave Jackson the start in the season finale to rest Plummer.
Of the “new” Broncos starters in ’03, Jackson had possibly the worst performance of the lot. Yes, he threw less interceptions than both Plummer (3) and Danny Kanell (2), but he also completed just four passes for 41 yards and was replaced mid-game by Kanell.
Jackson was intercepted with just three minutes gone in the second quarter and Mike Shanahan had seen enough. It didn’t matter that Green Bay’s Brett Favre threw a pick on the very next play; Danny Kanell took over and proceeded to prove just about as lackluster as Jackson. Kanell connected on just nine passes on the day, also throwing a pick in the blowout loss.
The following week, Denver met Indianapolis in the Wild Card round and handed Peyton Manning his first-ever playoff win, a 41-10 shellacking. Jackson never played another NFL game.
No. 8 – Danny Kanell
Oct. 26, 2003 at Baltimore Ravens
Loss, 6-26
Passing: 16-for-31, 114 Yds, 0 TD, 2 INTs
Speaking of 2003 starters… Jake Plummer threw for one more yard and one more interception than Danny Kanell in their respective first starts as Broncos. But, somehow, Denver managed to pull out a 20-point victory for Plummer in the ’03 season opener. Danny Kanell was not so fortunate in his first start in a Broncos uniform, which came in Week 8 that same year.
The Broncos led 3-0 after one quarter and trailed 6-9 midway through the third quarter before the wheels fell off. Kanell threw two fourth-quarter interceptions and gave up another possession on downs while the Ravens scored on all but one of their four possessions.
Kanell generated just one drive of more than nine plays and was responsible for five three-and-outs on the day.
He ranks last on this list among quarterbacks who weren’t yanked midway through their first start as a Bronco.
No. 7 – Jake Plummer
Sept. 7, 2003 at Cincinnati Bengals
Win, 30-10
Passing: 12-for-25, 115 Yds, 0 TD, 3 INTs
Yes, you read that correctly. Despite throwing for just 115 yards, with no touchdowns and three interceptions, Jake Plummer led Denver to a 20-point victory to open the 2003 season in the Bengals’ backyard for his Broncos debut. Denver never trailed in the game, and led 30-3 with under 4:00 to play in the game.
Plummer was aided by a 120-yard, 2 touchdown effort from Clinton Portis and an Ian Gold pick-six. Gold’s interception was one of four Cincinnati turnovers on the day.
Jon Kitna was picked off twice and fumbled once, while Kelly Herdon forced a fumble by Brandon Bennett on a kickoff.
Kitna and Plummer traded interceptions in the second quarter. Plummer was picked off on a home-run ball to Ashley Lelie in the third, then again in the fourth trying to hit Rod Smith. The defense bailed out Plummer, though, with a strip sack on Kitna on the very next play.
Broncos fans would be hard pressed to find another 20-point win in which their quarterback had a worse day. The Broncos escaped with a victory – despite Plummer’s poor play – but it’s why both Danny Kanell and Steve Beuerlein would earn starts later in this very tumultuous year at the quarterback position. The seed of doubt that ultimately led to Plummer’s ouster at the hands of Cutler three years later were planted right here for Mike Shanahan.
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[adrotate group=”1″]No. 6 – Gus Frerotte
Sept. 24, 2000 vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Loss, 22-23
Passing: 18-for-31, 208 Yds, 0 TDs, 1 INT
Brian Griese started in Weeks 1-3 and led the Broncos to a 2-1 record, but Gus Frerotte got the start in Week 4 for an injured Griese.
Joe Nedney kicked three field goals, Ray Crockett had a pick-six and Mike Anderson had a 16-yard touchdown run and Denver led 22-14 at the end of the third quarter.
But the Broncos fumbled twice on their first two possessions of the fourth quarter. First a Frerotte strip sack, then Rod Smith fumbled on Denver’s very next touch.
Trailing by one after an Elvis Grbac-to-Derrick Alexander connection put the Chiefs up by one, Frerotte was intercepted on the Broncos’ final possession. Kansas City needed just one first down to ice the clock and spoil Frerotte’s first start in orange and blue.
However, Frerotte would get his redemption, leading the Broncos to four wins (and a playoff berth) from Weeks 11 through 14 (he lost in week 15). He successfully relieved Griese mid-game in Week 16, leading Denver to a win against San Francisco, but couldn’t keep the magic going in the playoffs. Earning the start, Frerotte and Denver fell to the eventual Super Bowl champion Ravens in the Wild Card round.
No. 5 – Steve Beuerlein
Nov. 24, 2002 vs. Indianapolis Colts
Loss, 20-23 (OT)
Passing: 15-for-24, 185 Yds, 1 TD, 2 INTs
This one probably won’t go down the annals as one of great battles between quarterbacks who at some point played for the Denver Broncos. Neither Steve Beuerlein nor Peyton Manning was at his best in this one. Together, they combined to throw just one touchdown to go with three interceptions.
But despite winning the touchdowns battle, Beuerlein lost the war and the Broncos fell to the Colts in OT.
Manning led a 44-yard, 1:57 drive to give Mike Vanderjagt a shot at a game-tying 54-yard field goal in the closing moments. Denver couldn’t convert on the ensuing kickoff and Manning took the first possession of OT just far enough to get a game-winning field goal.
Would Manning’s career have looked different if today’s overtime rules were in place instead of the old “first one in field-goal range wins” rules? And what would Beuerlein’s career trajectory have been if he had bested the prodigy, Manning, in his first start as a Denver Bronco.
The world, and Steve Beuerlein, are left to wonder.
No. 4 – Kyle Orton
Sept. 13, 2009 at Cincinnati Bengals
Win, 12-7
Passing: 17-of-28, 243 Yds, 1 TD, 0 INT
After the two teams managed just six points between them (all belonging to Denver) through the first 59:22 of the game, Cincy’s Cedric Benson punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 7-6 Bengals with less than a minute on the clock.
The Broncos’ hopes seemed dashed in Orton’s (and new head coach Josh McDaniel’s) debut. Then, one of the more miraculous plays in Broncos history happened. All we need to say is… “Stokley, down the sideline!” And you know the rest…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMG0vDfIqSE
In this game, Orton was as Orton as Orton could be Orton. He put up more than 200 yards, but didn’t run a single play in the red zone and couldn’t put the ball in the end zone without the help of one of the most flukey plays in Broncos history.
Broncos fans were certainly happy to walk away with the win, but the resounding attitude in Denver was, “We traded Jay Cutler for this?”
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[adrotate group=”1″]No. 3 – Tim Tebow
Dec. 19, 2010 at Oakland Raiders
Loss, 23-39
Passing: 8-for-16, 138 Yds, 1 TD, 0 INT
Rushing: 8 Att, 78 Yds, 1 TD
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Indeed, it was a tale of two halves for the Broncos in Tim Tebow’s first start.
It started with a bang, as Tebow lumbered for a 40-yard TD run on the Broncos’ third drive of the game (video below).
That was followed by a 33-yard touchdown pass (video) to a sliding Brandon Lloyd after Denver recovered a fumble. They kicked a field goal on their next possession and led 17-14 before Sebastian Janikowski tied it just before the half.
In the second half, however, Tebow’s magic touch was all but gone. Denver went three-and-out on three drives and Lance Ball and Correll Buckhalter combined for -6 yards and a safety on two plays in their penultimate possession.
Denver kicked two second-half field goals, but it wasn’t enough to stop Jason Campbell from leading the Raiders to 20 offensive points, as well. Raiders won 39-23 thanks to a landslide 22-6 second half.
No. 2 – Jay Cutler
Dec. 3, 2006 vs. Seattle Seahawks
Loss, 20-23
Passing: 10-for-21, 143 Yds, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
The first two touchdowns of the game came from the right arm of Cutler. The problem was, one of those went to Seattle’s Darryl Tapp on a pick-six. Still, thanks to two Jason Elam field goals, Denver led 13-7 through three quarters. Then, the Broncos (and Cutler) buckled.
First, Shaun Alexander put the Seahawks up by a point with a one-yard touchdown run. Denver’s Brian Clark had the ball stripped on the ensuing kickoff and Seattle’s Josh Brown kicked a field goal to extend the lead. On the Broncos’ very next play from scrimmage, Cutler was intercepted for another near pick-six. Denver’s defense held fast, though, and kept the score 20-13. Things weren’t over.
On the Broncos next play from scrimmage, Cutler hit Brandon Marshall for a 71-yard catch-and-run touchdown. An Elam extra point would tie the game at 20. But, sadly, Denver’s defense surrendered a 54-yard drive that led to the go-ahead field goal with just a few seconds remaining.
Tim Tebow may get all the credit as the Broncos’ “cardiac quarterback,” but Cutler’s first start was nothing short of heart-stopping in both good and bad ways.
No. 1 – Peyton Manning
Sept. 9, 2012 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Win, 31-19
19-for-26, 253 Yds, 2 TDs, 0 INT
Peyton Manning cruised to the No. 1 spot in this week’s “Power Rankings” but he battled for to the win in his first start in a Denver Broncos uniform.
It was a back-and-forth affair with the Steelers into the fourth quarter when Manning and the Broncos finally put their foot on the gas, scoring 17 unanswered points including… a Tracy Porter pick six to seal it. Sound familiar, Peyton?
Manning led three 80-yard touchdown drives in the game, including what proved to be the game winner – a one-yard rub to Jacob Tamme in the fourth quarter. But what Broncos fans will most-likely remember is this 71-yard catch and run to Demaryius Thomas, Manning’s first passing touchdown (of many) in orange and blue.
Check out the full highlights from Manning’s first start in Denver in the video below…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGd4LlTTzXA