The moment Peyton Manning returned to the field, Denver reacted as if their favorite Star Wars character had just made his/her first appearance in The Force Awakens (trying to stay spoiler free, here); the cheers could be heard across the Rocky Mountains, a warmth enveloped our bodies, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a good deal of Broncos Country got a little misty eyed.
It wasn’t scripted, but it sure did feel like a Hollywood movie.
I don’t think any of us expected it — I sure didn’t. Even if you did believe Manning was the best option, Gary Kubiak had all but hitched his wagon to Brock Osweiler; at least, that’s what every reporter with “inside knowledge” would have led you to believe. But there he was, striding back out onto the field, like The Sheriff he’s always been.
I’m not sure it was the right move. I’m not sure Brock deserved to be pulled from the game. But I am positive that Peyton Manning deserved to be put back out onto the field.
We’ll see how it plays out, but I am happy that No. 18 we’ll get one last chance to ride off into the sunset. And with the way this season has played out, I would not be surprised if that’s exactly what happens.
Sometimes, a story is just so good it has to be true.
Let’s take a look at how the rest of the organization felt about Manning’s return:
Gary Kubiak on why he made the switch:
“Sometimes you just—the feel is that the team is looking around for that guy or that tremendous leadership type of stuff. That’s what I felt. I know Peyton—the last couple weeks have been real good weeks. I knew he was ready to go. I don’t think Brock did anything wrong. I mean, yeah, we had some turnovers, but a couple of them definitely he had nothing to do with. We could have helped him a lot. Just my gut told me to turn it over to him and let him lead the football team. Just very proud of him. He’s worked really hard to stay there for us and it couldn’t have been a bigger day to be there for us. Just a gut feeling.”
I think it’s safe to say that all those reports about Gary Kubiak and the Broncos organization riding with Osweiler for the long haul were, uh, incorrect.
Like Kubiak had always said, there was no decision; they were evaluating the quarterback position on a day-to-day, minute-to-minute basis — apparently, a feeling-to-feeling basis, too.
There was no reason to pull Osweiler from the game; at least four of the five turnovers were bad luck, and he had absolutely nothing to do with Emmanuel Sanders‘ or C.J. Anderson‘s fumbles. The decision was simply made because Kubiak felt that Manning was the man for the job, that the Broncos needed Manning.
It felt that way on Sunday, but only time will tell if Kubiak was ultimately right.
Demaryius Thomas on Manning providing a spark:
“He told us to go out and put some points on the board and that’s what we did. He told everyone to calm down. He came in and was the leader that he is. Everybody did their job, we didn’t turn the ball over, we didn’t get many penalties and the main thing was going down, calming down, going down and putting some points on the board. I think our first three drives we put 13 points on the board.”
There is something to be said about having a Hall of Fame quarterback, one of the best to ever do it, inside your huddle. At 39 years old, Manning may not have Osweiler’s arm, and he definitely doesn’t have his mobility, but he has the experience, poise and knowledge to lead this team better than anyone else.
Still, though, Manning can’t do it alone, just as Osweiler couldn’t. Manning needs his offensive line to keep him upright. He needs his running backs to find daylight. And he needs his receivers to make the tough catches. If they can all do that, the Broncos offense may have a chance to take a leap heading into the playoffs.
From what I saw on Sunday, I believe it’s possible. This is an emotional team, and Manning gave the Broncos offense an emotional spark.
Manning on the momentum following his appearance:
“I don’t know. I don’t know if I can—sometimes those things are so easy to say after the fact because [RB] Ronnie [Hillman] made a good run and [RB] C.J. [Anderson] made a couple of good runs. I’m not sure that had much to do with me being in there. I think just that the execution was better in the second half. Up front, they gave some bigger holes to run the ball. I can’t say—I can’t take credit for having a really good handoff. Like I’m helping those guys hold onto the ball. I refuse to do that.”
Emotions are running high, the Broncos won the AFC West and the playoffs go through Denver, but we still have to find a way to look at this Broncos team objectively. And aside from “sparking” the offense, Manning didn’t really do anything.
Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson are the ones who did something, and they did a lot.
As we’ve restated again and again, it doesn’t really matter who the quarterback is when the line isn’t blocking and the receivers aren’t catching. Manning, Osweiler, Siemian, nobody is going to succeed when they don’t get any help; just look at how Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Phillip Rivers have dropped off as their weapons have fallen to injury.
If the Broncos are going to succeed, it’s going to be because Hillman and Anderson start looking like the running backs we saw at the end of last season, and maybe because the Broncos get Michael Schofield off the field for good.
The one thing that Manning can do better than Osweiler, or anyone else, is read the defense and call the play that leads to a 17-yard (almost) touchdown run from Anderson.
Manning on the crowd’s response:
“I don’t know. I mean it seems like that’s how it always works. I mean these fans were great. They were cheering loud, but I’m pretty sure everybody was in their same seats when they were booing my butt off against Kansas City back about six weeks ago. I understand how this works. Yeah, the defense was playing well and we had some bad breaks and were kind of letting them hang around a little bit. That was the biggest difference is just we held onto the ball better, eliminated the penalties and mistakes and that allowed us to get some points.”
They’re also the same fans that were booing the No. 1 seed in the AFC as they were winning in the first half.
I’m sure Peyton Manning and the Broncos appreciate their fans as much as anybody, but Manning clearly isn’t forgetting how he got booed by the home crowed just a couple months ago; not many Hall of Fame quarterbacks can say that.
And sure, fans can boo when, how and as often as they want; that’s what you get when you pay hundreds of dollars just to get into Sports Authority Field. Still, the fans have been especially quick to boo this season, despite the fact that the Broncos have been one of the league’s best teams all season; 8-0, division champs and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs is a pretty solid resume.
As the Broncos have proven all season, just because it isn’t pretty doesn’t mean it’s not successful.
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[adrotate banner=”16″]Osweiler on the emotions of being benched:
“The emotions were high and low, and as a player you always try to keep them right in the middle. Unfortunately, we weren’t putting up points on the board early in the first half. We were moving the ball, we just weren’t getting it in the end zone so it was tough on the emotions. To come out in the second half and as a team get a huge home win and win the AFC West, that’s what it is all about. When we show up for training camp, when we show up for spring ball that’s our number one goal: win the division, get to the playoffs. For us to do that today, I couldn’t be any happier. [I’m] so happy to be a part of this team and it was a huge team win.”
I feel bad for Brock. I really do. He didn’t deserve to be taken out of that game; the turnovers were not his fault. Nonetheless, it happened, and as always, he handled it perfectly.
I can’t imagine any scenario in which he starts for the Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs; Gary Kubiak made his choice. And if the Broncos win under Manning, that’s even more of a reason to leave Osweiler on the bench.
Unless Manning completely falls apart, that C.J. Anderson fumble will likely be Osweiler’s last meaningful snap of the season.
And that’s okay.
Osweiler is still the future. Barring a surprising turn of events, he’ll be the Broncos’ starter come Week 1 of the 2016 season, and Denver should feel very good about that. He’s shown us enough over these last two months that there’s reason to believe he can be more than a backup quarterback. He’s still growing, but there’s a lot of potential in Brock Osweiler.
We’ll see it all come to fruition next season. For now, this is still Manning’s team.