Coming into Saturday night’s preseason game between the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers, all eyes were on the quarterbacks, as you would expect when your are the defending Super Bowl champions and still don’t know who your starting quarterback is. The Niners were are also looking for someone to separate themselves as the starter, but that will have to wait for another week as Colin Kaepernick did not participate in the throwing drills while in Denver and did not play in the game Saturday night.
I’ve tried to keep an even and open mind when it came to the Denver quarterback battle, but the past week at Broncos camp changed that. Both Mark Sanchez and Trevor Siemian have played nice when talking to us in the media, basically saying the same thing. You know, the old clichés — “best man will win” and “whatever coach decides” — but this week Sanchez was asked if he hoped to play more this week than he did last week.
His response … “It doesn’t really matter to me.”
It doesn’t really matter to you??? Are you kidding me?! That was all I needed to hear. I am sure he didn’t mean much out of the answer, but it was just the wrong choice of words.
Whoever wins this job needs to be someone that is not only up to task of being the signal caller on the team with the biggest bullseye on its back, but they need to have the fire in them to prove their the man for the job. I get that it’s just a preseason game, but if it doesn’t really matter to you, Mark, then why should Broncos Country trust this team in your arm?
All could have been redeemed in Saturday’s game if he played well. Sanchez would have to wait his turn, though, as Trevor Siemian got his chance to start.
Trevor was 10 of 14 with one interception (a pick-six). He was in command early on and looked great, outside of the interception,which was not a great decision but will happen from time to time.
Mark finished his evening going 10 for 17 with 120 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions, but did fumble the ball twice in 49ers territory. One of the strip sacks was completely on Kyle Roberts, who watched Marcus Rush run right by him for a clear shot at the quarterback. Sanchez had the Broncos offense inside of San Francisco territory three times on Saturday night and was only able to come away with three points.
One of my favorite Jay-Z lines is “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t,” but when it comes to football, the eye-test can be more important than the numbers.
For me, Sanchez just doesn’t pass the eye test. He looks the part but always finds a way to screw it up. When the defense plays great, he could be your typical game manager, but the question becomes is this defense going to be able to stay healthy enough and play great week in and week out?
Siemian has been humble and has played the game with his comments in the media as well, but for me, the unknown with Siemian could actually help the Broncos.
Does Trevor Siemian pass the eye test? Well that is still to be determined, and right now he still has the luxury of the unknown. I know what Sanchez brings, and he can be serviceable with a great defense, but ask yourself this Broncos fans: Will you be ok with winning the field game battle and letting Brandon McManus lead the team in scoring?
Paxton Lynch who was 15 of 26 with 113 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on the night is going to get a lot of love when he plays well this preseason and will certainly get some hype behind him if he plays well in the final preseason game of the year. But we always have to keep in mind that he is playing against guys that will be looking for jobs at the end of the month. I am hopeful that Lynch is the next long-term quarterback of the Broncos, but it will take time and forcing him in early will hurt more than it will help at this point.
A win is a win and another trip to the playoffs with a chance to defend the title is all we can ask for, but that sounds like a pretty boring brand of football to me! Consider me #TeamTrevor from here on out.
Well, until it is time to see if Paxton Lynch has what it takes, that is.
