The Denver Broncos best quarterback was Brock Osweiler:
When we think back on Sunday’s game in a few years, all we’ll remember is Peyton Manning’s triumphant return. Nobody will remember that Brock Osweiler completed 64 percent of his passes for 232 yards and a touchdown, or that Manning only totaled 69 yards through the air on six drives.
Apparently, though, PFF noticed, as they gave Osweiler (1.6) a significantly higher grade than Manning (.3).
Where Osweiler really shined was when facing no pressure, which was on just over 50 percent of his drop backs; he completed 75 percent of his passes for 153 yards and a touchdown, while producing a QB Rating of 109.7. Conversely, Manning only completed 50 percent of his passes for 38 yards and no touchdowns, with a QB Rating of 70.1.
And while the Broncos only produced seven points under Osweiler, anybody who watched the game can tell you that Osweiler was the least of the Broncos’ problems. Two of the Broncos five turnovers were fumbles that Osweiler had nothing to do with, and on both of his interceptions, the ball was affected before it reached the receiver. The only turnover that can partially be blamed on Osweiler was the blind-side sack-fumble, and that’s just because you’d hope he would have seen it coming pre snap.
Otherwise, Osweiler drove the Broncos up and down the field all day.
To be fair, though, once Manning came in, the Broncos became a run-first offense and were successful in doing so; while, as Manning said Sunday night, you can’t exactly give him too much credit for handing the ball off, you can’t blame him, either.
