Brock Osweiler might one day be a very good quarterback. But for most intents and purposes, Osweiler is a rookie. And a rookie quarterback has never won a Super Bowl.
Against the likes of legends like Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, Osweiler is extremely extremely extremely unlikely to lead the Denver Broncos to a championship, and that’s OK. Nobody expects a 25-year-old former second-round pick with four career starts under his belt to do that.
And as good as the Broncos are defensively, teams simply don’t win titles anymore strictly due to dominance on that side of the ball. You need an elite quarterback. Even when the Buccaneers won in 2002, the Ravens won in 2012 and the Seahawks won in 2013, Brad Johnson, Joe Flacco and Russell Wilson were studs down the stretch.
That’s why if Peyton Manning becomes healthy enough to start, that’s exactly what he should do. Manning might not be much better than Osweiler at this point, but experience, reliability and that mental edge become even more critical in January.
Osweiler is averaging just 6.7 yards per attempt — a mark slightly lower than even an injured Manning had. He’s completed just three passes beyond 20 yards in four starts, and he takes sacks twice as frequently as Manning. Opposing defenses are beginning to figure him out, and as a result the Denver offense has just one touchdown and 22 points the last two weeks.
That’s not sustainable, no matter how good your defense is.
Manning is becoming healthier. He’s no longer week-to-week and is instead day-to-day, and he’s practicing. You’d have to think that at this pace, he’ll be healthy enough to play when the postseason gets underway. You’re paying him $17.5 million to get you a championship, so at least let him see this through. If it doesn’t work, so be it. But the reality is it’s extremely unlikely things would have ended any better with Osweiler under center.
