The Denver Broncos thought their quarterback issues for solved. Backup Brock Osweiler was playing well and keeping the team winning while Peyton Manning nursed a foot injury. That seemed fine until Manning got healthy and Osweiler fell apart. Manning took the field following a fifth turnover against the San Diego Chargers and seemingly sparked the comeback win to get the Broncos the No.1 seed in the playoffs. Now, head coach Gary Kubiak has some decisions to make.
With Manning getting credit for the win, the Broncos now must look at who is the best options for the playoffs. Manning is now somewhat healthy following a partially torn plantar fascia. Osweiler is struggling down the stretch. Kubiak admits he will do a lot of evaluating before making a call on the division-game starter.
"We'll sit down," Kubiak said, via ESPN.com. "We'll make a decision that's best for the football team and we'll be counting on everybody to continue to do their part."
It is hard to give all the credit to Manning for the win. He got more help than Osweiler did. Manning's numbers were quiet. He threw just nine passes, completing five, for 69 yards. It was CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman that put together the win instead of the quarterbacks. Hillman had 117 yards and one touchdown while Anderson had 95 yards and touchdown which happened to be the game-winning score. Manning is well aware he cannot take full credit for the victory as he admits his handoff is what did it.
"I don't know if I can - sometimes those things are so easy to say after the fact because Ronnie made a good run and C.J. made a couple of good runs," Manning said, via the Denver Post. "I'm not sure that had much to do with me being in there. I think just that the execution was better in the second half. Up front, they gave some bigger holes to run the ball. I can't take credit for having a really good handoff, like I'm helping those guys hold onto the ball. I refuse to do that."
It will be interesting to see who the Broncos opt to start in the playoffs. Osweiler has looked good, but has struggled in the past two games. Manning on the other had has reportedly been dealing with this injury all year which may or may not have contributed to his early-season struggles. However, he has the leadership and playoff experience to lead Denver which could make all the difference.
"Sometimes, the feel is that the team is just looking around that guy, for that tremendous leadership type of stuff,'' Kubiak said, via ESPN.com. "That's what I felt. I don't think Brock did anything wrong. We had, you know, some turnovers, but a couple of them he had nothing to do with. We could have helped him a lot, but just my gut told me to turn it over to [Manning] and let him lead the football team.''
