Denver Broncos: Brock Osweiler embarrassed in return game

Oct 24, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler (17) reacts following a holding penalty in the second quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler (17) reacts following a holding penalty in the second quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Denver Broncos made the decision not to overpay Brock Osweiler this offseason, and he signed in Houston. His return to Denver was embarrassing…

Brock Osweiler may have completed an epic fourth quarter comeback against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football last weekend, but against the Denver Broncos?

He was flat out embarrassing.

The signature play of the game came in the fourth quarter when Osweiler was trying to push the offense down the field and mount another late comeback. I honestly don’t even understand how this type of play can happen, but it did.

It sure did.

Somehow, Osweiler — untouched — managed to fumble the ball in his ‘backswing’ so to speak, and pushed the ball forward without control. Chris Harris Jr. immediately picked this ball up and the officials actually ruled this play a fumble on the field.

It was that bad — that bad — they could actually see it with the naked eye.

To all or most of us watching on television, it looked like Osweiler threw a really weird, horrible pass. This turnover paved the way for the Broncos to cash in on good field position, and proved to be a great summation of the night for Osweiler.

He was downright terrible.

Inaccuracy was a problem against the Broncos’ defense, but it wasn’t because he was constantly getting hit or anything. That was not the problem, in fact.

Osweiler made sure he didn’t get hit by consistently going to his first read on quick drops seemingly every pass play. It was somewhat pathetic to watch, because you could tell he was not trying to actually make plays and was instead trying to avoid getting sacked by the Broncos’ defense.

Von Miller’s reaction at one point was pretty priceless:

Osweiler finished this game completing 22 of 41 passes with 131 yards and no touchdowns. In fact, the Texans didn’t score a touchdown all night. Osweiler finished the game fumbling three times, two that he recovered.

He also struggled on the night with batted passes, which was one of the most frustrating aspects to his game when he was in Denver. How does a 6-8 quarterback have so many passes batted down at the line of scrimmage?

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Denver Broncos fans are a proud bunch. When a young player spurns them for a different/worse situation and says it wasn’t based on money, you’d better be ready to hear some boos when you come back to the place that initially drafted you into the league, the fan base that originally embraced you, and then watched you slip out the back door at the start of free agency.

Of course Osweiler has his side of the story, that the Broncos had plenty of time to make him an offer. That’s probably true, but that’s also ignoring the situation of everyone else on the team that was, frankly, more important to be focusing on at that time than was Osweiler.

The Broncos are no worse for wear, now sitting at 5-2 with an opportunity for some revenge at home against the San Diego Chargers this week. The Texans have managed four victories thus far and are just 4-3, playing in one of the worst divisions in football.

His performance against the Broncos was truly a sight to behold, and not in a good way. Without any interceptions and really without any sacks (the Broncos were credited for a sack when Osweiler had to fall on a botched snap), this game couldn’t really have gone any better from the perspective of the Broncos and their fans.

So long, Brent. We hardly knew ya.