The honeymoon period is officially over. Brock Osweiler and the Denver Broncos finally lost a game, and there’s no time to pretend like it’s not important.
With the Bengals losing earlier in the day and Andy Dalton suffering a possible season-ending injury, the Broncos had an opportunity to solidify themselves as a favorite for one of the AFC’s two first round byes, but they blew it. And you can say that Denver’s third loss of the season shouldn’t fall on Osweiler’s shoulders, but the fact of the matter is that the offense is not holding up their end of the bargain, and the quarterback has to take some of the blame.
So that raises the all-important question: Is it time to get Peyton Manning back in there?
According to Mike Klis of 9News, the answer is no.
“Even if Manning does start practicing this week on a limited basis, he is not expected to be ready to play next Sunday at Pittsburgh against the Steelers,” Klis reports.
And head coach Gary Kubiak echoed the sentiment that Manning is still a ways away from stepping back out onto the field.
“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but obviously the plan is that we’re moving forward,” Kubiak said, via 9News.com. “We had some good days last week working out, doing some drill work. I don’t want to get ahead of myself here and tell you, ‘yes.’ Let me see where we’re at Monday, Tuesday. Let me see what’s going on.”
Osweiler is 3-1, he’s coming off the first 300-yard performance of his career and he’s embroiled in the midst of a quarterback controversy, whether he (or the fans) like it or not.
This will continue to be a topic of conversation until either the Broncos bow out of the playoffs or the offense starts humming. Let’s all hope for the latter.