An Open Letter: Credit Broncos QB Osweiler For Stepping Up

The Denver Broncos rallied behind Peyton Manning to secure home field advantage. No matter how you shake it, Brock Osweiler deserves quite a bit of credit for getting them this far.

Well Broncos Country, our Broncos are the No. 1 overall seed for the third time in the past four seasons. What a regular season it was. There were quite a few ups and downs, but when the 16 games were finished, the Broncos found themselves top in the AFC.

With about 8:18 left to go in the third quarter, Gary Kubiak made a huge call and benched Brock Osweiler, the same man who led the Broncos to where they were before the start of the San Diego game, and put in one of the greatest of all time to save the day.

Peyton Manning was able to lead the team and outscored the Chargers 20-7 in the final 21 and a half minutes to secure a 27-20 victory.

Kubiak announced during the post game interview that the Broncos needed a spark on the offense, so that was the reasoning behind the benching of Osweiler. And now, in the best way I can, I will give some sound advice to Broncos fans.

But before I do, I will note that I know the majority of fans did not play part in this. But for those who did…

Do not blame Brock Osweiler. The majority of what happened in the first 38.5 minutes was not his fault at all.

In order to prove my point, I am going to evaluate this Week 17 matchup against the Chargers as well as Osweiler’s performance overall.

For the five turnovers that the Broncos committed when Osweiler was under center, the only turnover that I will say was his fault was the third one, which was the strip sack. The other four were caused by either another player or pressure.

However, let’s not forget the quarterback that led the Broncos up to this stage of the season. When Manning went down with a foot injury in Week 10 against the Chiefs, Osweiler has done enough for the team to help them win.

For the six games that Osweiler started and completed, we have seen the team take part in two different halves. While I can agree that Osweiler has not played an entire 60 minute game, it was his performance when it mattered most that was enough.

Against Chicago, Osweiler played a solid game. From there it would be a tale of two halves in each game. Games against the Chargers, Bengals, and Patriots was a subpar first half and a solid second half. Against Oakland and Pittsburgh, it was a solid first half but subpar second half.

We must also take into effect that this is Osweiler’s first real year. He has been sitting behind Manning for the majority of his career so far. The fact that he led the team to four out of six wins in Manning’s absence shows me that he has learned a lot from him and was ready for his chance to show the football fans and his coaches what he can do.

When it came down to Week 17 against the Chargers, Brock Osweiler nailed it right on the head with what he said after the game.

“As a competitor, you want to play and give your team a chance to be successful. But on the same token, I completely understand what Kubiak was trying to do. He was trying to provide a spark so that we could get that No. 1 seed and the AFC West. So I completely understand his thinking and there are no hard feelings.”

To me, that was a coming of age moment for Osweiler. He showed no ill feelings for being benched and understood why he was taken out. Kubiak’s gut feeling might have ended the day earlier for Osweiler than he anticipated, but he understood why that was the case.

Shows to me that Osweiler is a true class act like his mentor Peyton Manning. Both of these men are class acts and care more about winning no matter what it takes.

Next: Broncos quarterback controversy? Not so fast

So, don’t put any heat on the guy who has put the Broncos within reach of accomplishing this much. He is virtually a rookie. The fact he was able to provide so much in Manning’s absence proves to me that he is ready.

If he can correct some of the bits and pieces that are off from his game, I have no doubt that Osweiler will truly succeed. But Broncos fans that have doubted Osweiler, the team would not be here if it was not for him.