Broncos quarterback Case Keenum started the year as a turnover machine, with at least one per game for the first eight games and a total of 11. Over the past three games, Keenum has had none.
“I’m throwing it to our guys, not throwing it to the other team,” Keenum explained to reporters on Wednesday. “Who knew?”
So how is that happening?
“Just being smarter with the ball,” Keenum said. “It’s something I do. That’s why early on in the season I was frustrated. It’s tough. That’s something I pride myself on as a quarterback, giving our team a chance to win and not being the reason that we aren’t winning. Turnovers in this league is probably the biggest stat that really matters. You can look at wins and losses compared to turnover battle -- who won it. It’s very important for me and something I work on every day. That’s something I think about every day. Every decision I make, I know the ball is the most important thing on the field. I’ve got it in my hands every play, so I know every decision I make is that important. That’s why I grind, that’s why I work, and we’ve gotten better across the board, offensive line, running backs and receivers. We’re all on the same page, getting better, working each week and communicating. We feel better with the offense and it’s just a lot of different things, a lot of factors.”
The end result is a two-game winning streak -- one that easily could have been three -- with wins over Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger.
“I would be lying if I didn’t say I liked playing the underdog,” Keenum said, “that I didn’t mind not getting the respect. I really don’t think anybody else’s opinion matters but what’s going in our locker room. I have a lot of respect for what you guys do, but there’s a lot of things that go on outside this building that for us, we don’t pay attention to. We get after it and we work, and we trust each other. We trust each other’s opinion and we trust the coaches’ opinions. That’s what matters for us. But it feels good to prove people wrong every once in a while.”
Of course, the opinions regarding the Broncos were justified by a 3-6 start to the season, which included a slide that saw the Broncos lose six of seven games.They now have a chance to get to .500 -- and to contend for an unlikely playoff berth.
If that’s going to happen, Keenum needs to keep throwing it to his guys, not throwing it to the other team.
