The Denver Broncos, and Brock Osweiler, were given a gift.
The Broncos trailed by a touchdown but the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ Ben Roethlisberger threw an inexplicably bad interception with 2:01 left. Broncos ball on the Steelers’ 41-yard line. Osweiler had a chance to at least tie the game and redeem himself after a bad second half.
Let’s take a step back for a moment and think about the bigger picture. Many Broncos fans were raised on John Elway making last-minute miracles out of situations a lot worse than this. And, of course, Elway is the Broncos’ general manager these days. His coach is Gary Kubiak, his longtime backup quarterback and good friend.
And Elway and Kubiak watched Osweiler throw four straight incompletions after the Roethlisberger interception. Game over. The Steelers won, 34-27. Kicking and screaming? The Broncos didn’t even make it interesting on their final possession. The Broncos have lost two straight and a 10-2 start has turned into 10-4.
Of course, Peyton Manning looms over it all.
Manning returned to practice this past week from a foot injury but he didn’t practice on Friday, so his status for Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals is a mystery. For one half, Osweiler looked up to the challenge of locking up the starting nod whether Manning was healthy or not. In the first half Osweiler was 14-of-18 for 214 yards, three passing touchdowns and he also had one rushing touchdown. The Broncos led 27-13. Osweiler looked great.
And then it fell apart. Maybe Osweiler’s left shoulder injury affected him, but playing through injuries is part of life in the NFL. In the second half he was an astonishing 7-of-26 for 82 yards against a bad passing defense and the Broncos didn’t score. Osweiler didn’t get a ton of help — the offensive line was bad, Demaryius Thomas dropped a tough pass in the fourth quarter and Vernon Davis had an awful drop for the second straight week — but Osweiler didn’t do himself any favors either.
It’s not like the Broncos’ season is done because of two straight losses. They still have a great defense, as long as Antonio Brown isn’t running through it. The Broncos play the Cincinnati Bengals at home next week. If they win, they’ll tie the Bengals at 11-4 and own the tiebreaker for a first-round bye. But, lose to the Bengals and there’s a chance that the Kansas City Chiefs steal the AFC West from Denver. Next Monday night is a huge game for the Broncos.
Maybe there is no quarterback decision to be made this week because there’s no guarantee Manning will be ready. But Kubiak has two options when Manning is healthy, and neither is ideal:
1. Turn back to Manning who, while he has had perhaps the best career of any quarterback in NFL history, was one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL this season before he got hurt. Manning’s passer rating was dead last among all regular NFL starting quarterbacks when he hurt his foot. Manning hasn’t played in five-and-a-half games and still leads the NFL in interceptions. And he still has a healthy two-interception lead on Matt Ryan.
Manning had nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions when he got hurt, and nobody is winning a Super Bowl with quarterback play that bad. It’s unclear when Manning first was injured or how it affected his play. All we know is that, at 39 years old, Manning did not play well for nine games. Making him the starter again requires a big leap of faith.
2. Stick with Osweiler, who has not been that bad on the whole. He was fine in a win at the Chicago Bears, played great late in a win against the New England Patriots and was really good in the first half against the Steelers. He has also been wildly inconsistent, and that rarely fixes itself in the playoffs. Osweiler’s worst has been really bad. If the Broncos stick with Osweiler, they’ll have to live with him missing some passes and probably will have to rely more heavily than desired on defense and the running game. They’d also have to live with the “what if?” of having a five-time MVP on the sideline if the Broncos lose before the Super Bowl.
Kubiak is in a no-win spot if he falls short of a Super Bowl appearance. If he goes with Manning and loses, he’ll be criticized for going back to Manning when it was clear he wasn’t the same player he once was. If he goes with Osweiler and loses, he’ll be criticized for riding with an inconsistent player who had never started an NFL game before late last month. With a championship-caliber defense and championship expectations, it won’t matter that Kubiak’s options were limited. It’ll just be considered a failed season.
The controversy has been an issue even with Manning not able to play — according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post and Mike Klis of 9News, after the game Manning angrily refuted an NFL Network report that he didn’t want to be Osweiler’s backup. Imagine how much hotter it will get when Manning can play again.
Osweiler had a chance to make things easy on Kubiak by playing in the second half Sunday like he did in the first half. But he cratered as the Broncos blew a lead and lost. Instead of feeling good coming off a big win, the Broncos left Pittsburgh wondering what is the best way to save a season that looked so promising just two weeks ago.
Here are the other winners and losers from Week 15 of the NFL season:
WINNERS
Bill O’Brien and the Houston Texans: The Dallas Cowboys were dealt a tough blow earlier this season, losing their starting quarterback, and having to turn to Brandon Weeden. Dallas was without a Pro Bowl skill-position player, Dez Bryant, for much of the season as well. The Cowboys have gone 1-9 without Tony Romo. It’s not easy. But if you want to make the playoffs, you find a way to overcome it.
The Texans are overcoming it. Down their starting quarterback, Brian Hoyer, the Texans also lost T.J. Yates to a torn ACL in their game Sunday at the Indianapolis Colts. The Texans had never won at Indianapolis in the franchise’s history. In came Weeden, cut weeks ago by the Cowboys. He couldn’t even hand off to Arian Foster. Foster’s season ended due to injury long ago. Houston found a way. Give their coach, Bill O’Brien, a ton of credit.
The Texans took control of the AFC South with a rugged 16-10 win. Weeden was 11-of-18 for 105 yards and a touchdown. The Texans clinch the South title with two more wins, one win and a Colts loss, or one win and clinching strength of victory tiebreaker, which Houston currently has the edge in. In other words, start preparing to see the Texans on wild-card weekend.
It’s an amazing tale. The Texans looked dead early in the season after they were blown out against Atlanta and Miami. Injuries took a toll. They were down to their fourth option at quarterback on Sunday (remember, Ryan Mallett got himself cut long ago). And they battled through all of that to become the heavy favorite to win their division and make the playoffs. Forget what the records are in the AFC South for a moment. It’s a great example of resiliency.
Kirk Cousins: Cousins is playing much better than I ever thought he was capable of.
I’m still not entirely sold on him long term, and I’m not sure it’s wise to dump $20 million per year on him or whatever it will cost for Washington to retain Cousins, who can become a free agent. But Cousins keeps playing well. In a big win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday to remain in first place of the NFC East, Cousins had 319 passing yards, four passing touchdowns and also ran for a score. His free-agent price is going up with every game like that.
That’s a topic for another day. For now the Redskins are in a great spot to win the NFC East. And Cousins is probably the biggest reason. Cousins can make a big statement by playing well in a division-clinching win at Philadelphia on Saturday.
Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin: These two are becoming regulars in this spot.
On Sunday, Wilson became the first quarterback in NFL history to have at least three touchdowns with no interceptions in five straight games. Two of those scores went to Baldwin. Baldwin and Jerry Rice are the only players in NFL history to have at least 10 touchdown receptions in a four-game stretch. Rice did that in 1987. Good company for Baldwin.
The Seahawks kept winning, taking out the Cleveland Browns 30-13. The Wilson-Baldwin connection might keep the Seahawks winning in the postseason, too.
Cam Newton: I wrote plenty about Newton locking up the MVP award after the Carolina Panthers’ thrilling 38-35 win at the New York Giants. That drive at the end of the game is what the award is all about. It is also, to some extent, about numbers and people have argued Newton’s numbers aren’t good enough to win an MVP.
Well, how about these numbers: Newton is the first player in NFL history to throw for 300 yards, rush for 100 yards and have five touchdown passes in the same game. He’s just the second player to have 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in a game, joining Russell Wilson in 2014.
Newton and the Panthers are having an unbelievable, historic season. It’s probably time to quit arguing about what they can’t do and appreciate all the great things they are doing.
LOSERS
Dan Campbell: At a few points in last week’s “Monday Night Football” broadcast, ESPN’s Jon Gruden exclaimed that Campbell should get consideration for the Miami Dolphins head-coaching job on a full-time basis. That never seemed realistic, but it seems dead now.
Campbell started with two wins, but has lost six of eight since then. Against the Chargers, who are playing for very little these days, the Dolphins were behind 23-0 at halftime. It has been a disappointing season for the Dolphins, who presumably thought they were one piece away when they gave a massive contract to Ndamukong Suh in free agency. We’ll see if a new coach changes things next season. This season has been a nightmare for Miami.
Indianapolis Colts: You have to imagine a lot of changes are coming in Indianapolis.
The Colts lost a de facto AFC South championship game at home against the Houston Texans. You can make the excuse that Andrew Luck was out, but at least Matt Hasselbeck is their second choice. The Texans were down to their fourth quarterback this season. And the Colts still lost.
The Colts are the most disappointing team in the NFL and they win that award by a mile. They need a miracle to make the playoffs. Coach Chuck Pagano has seemingly been on the hot seat for a few months. General manager Ryan Grigson might have a tough time surviving because he put together this ill-fitting roster. Losing to a beat-up Texans team at home with the division on the line is not going to make team owner Jim Irsay happy.
Anyone who wanted playoff intrigue the last two weeks: There was surprisingly little playoff intrigue heading into Week 15. There’s even less after it.
The three AFC teams fighting for two wild-card spots, the Jets, Chiefs and Steelers, all won. So no dark horse AFC team will be making an unexpected run there. NFC wild-card front runners Seahawks and Vikings both won, so the NFC playoff spots outside of the NFC East are all but locked up, although the Atlanta Falcons technically stayed alive with a win. Still, they’re two games back with two to go. Barring something crazy, the NFC playoff teams will be the Panthers, Cardinals, Packers, Vikings, Seahawks and the Redskins-Eagles winner next week. The AFC South was practically decided too by the Texans’ win.
There are still some things to be sorted out — the Bengals-Broncos game next week should decide who joins New England with byes in the AFC, the Chiefs are still alive for a division title, and the Packers-Vikings Week 17 game could still end up deciding the NFC North, for a few examples. But can you remember a season that had so few spots up for grabs with two weeks left? Only 18 teams are even alive for 12 spots at this point, and some like the Giants, Jaguars and Falcons would need a miracle. That will lead to a lot of games the last two weeks that don’t mean a whole lot.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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