The question seemed a bit surprising. The response from coach Gary Kubiak was even more telling.
Someone asked Kubiak on Monday whether he would consider rotating quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler. And Kubiak didn’t provide the Bill-Belichick-eye-roll-and-we’re-on-to-Cincinnati reaction from the day after last year’s Week Four blowout in Kansas City.
“No. Peyton’s doing just fine,” Kubiak said.
Hardly a ringing endorsement for one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. And if Manning were firmly or completely entrenched, with no risk of being subbed out from time to time for Osweiler, Kubiak’s response would have reflected the same anger that Peyton surely experienced upon hearing about the question.
Surely, Peyton was angry that anyone would suggest he shouldn’t be on the field for every snap. Surely, Peyton is angry that Kubiak didn’t bristle in response to the question, dressing down the reporter with sarcasm at best, venom at worst.
Or maybe Peyton Manning, as he approaches his 40th birthday, is capable of objective self-assessment. Maybe he realizes that he’s not even in the same solar system as the guy who two years ago threw for 55 touchdowns and nearly 5,500 yards.
It has to be hard for Peyton to accept that, because it’s hard for everyone else to accept it. But the numbers are indisputable; he’s on pace to have fewer than 20 touchdown passes for the full season (something he’s never done), and more than 20 interceptions (something he hasn’t done since 2001).
Still, even when we see that Manning’s passer rating, at 77.3, is worse the Jameis Winston’s, we don’t want to believe it’s true. And even when we see Manning wisely protecting his aging body by aggressively diving to the ground (as he did in the fourth quarter on Sunday) instead of taking a violent hit from a much younger, stronger, and faster man, we believe (as the CBS announcers did on Sunday) that he had been hit or that he had tripped when it’s clear based on the All-22 film that he simply decided to hit the deck in order to avoid being hit.
If we excuse the move because we believe it’s wise for Peyton to protect himself given his age and injury history, maybe it’s equally wise for him to not be at any risk of that kind of physical punishment.
Then there’s the question of whether the Broncos have a potential successor in Osweiler. Drafted a round before Russell Wilson in 2012, Osweiler may be as good if not better. The Broncos don’t know, and they won’t know until he plays.
The problem for the Broncos is that Osweiler becomes a free agent in March, meaning that they may have to make a decision on whether to sign him to a new contract without knowing what he can do in games that count.
With the Broncos undefeated, it’s difficult to justify making a change, or even using a platoon system. But it’s entirely possible that Osweiler is in position to perform as well if not better than Manning, especially since Osweiler’s youth makes him much better suited to run the offense Kubiak prefers, but that he has scrapped in favor of letting Peyton start nearly every play in shotgun formation -- and especially since that stifling defense can go a long way toward making up for deficiencies in the passing game.
Because it already is.
