Brock Osweiler finishes first half for Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos struggled badly in the first half against the New York Giants. Here’s three first half observations from SNF…

The Denver Broncos are struggling badly against the 0-5 Giants at home, following their bye week. As you would expect. Trevor Siemian left before the end of the first half with an injury, and was replaced by Brock Osweiler.

This was about as bad of a first half as you could have possibly expected from the Broncos, with a huge breakdown from their vaunted run defense, a couple of interceptions, and a missed field goal.

Let’s look at what we saw in the first half. Avert your eyes if you have a weak stomach…

1. Brandon McManus misses another kick

Unbelievably, Brandon McManus has missed another kick. His stretch of missed kicks — in Denver, no less — is getting to be one of the most pathetic stories of the early NFL season, especially considering the amount of money the Broncos just paid him.

This was McManus’ fourth missed field goal of the season, an inexcusable amount for any kicker in this league especially under 50 yards. McManus has a problem dating back to the preseason, and has yet to fix it.

You have to wonder if the Broncos will try and sign a kicker for cheap and ‘bench’ McManus, or if they will just continue to let him struggle and cost them points.

2. Trevor Siemian interception, part one

This was a bad overthrow by Siemian, on a drive where the Broncos had a chance to score some points. Demaryius Thomas’ effort is lacking a little bit here, as well, but the throw by Siemian isn’t good.

And it cost the Broncos, again.

Landon Collins is simply playing center field, and takes advantage of Siemian’s misfire.

3. Trevor Siemian interception, part two

In the closing minute of the first half,  Trevor Siemian made an egregious couple of errors on the same play.

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First, he makes a throw he never should have made, falling backwards. Janoris Jenkins takes care of that, as any Pro Bowl cornerback would, picking the pass off with a clear path to the end zone for six.

Second, Siemian makes the grave error of trying to tackle Jenkins, which wouldn’t have happened anyway, injuring the same arm/shoulder he injured last season and had surgery in the offseason for.

Siemian was treated on the sideline, and taken to the locker room.

The Broncos’ ensuing possession was led by none other than Brock Osweiler, who hasn’t taken a snap in Denver since 2015/16. Osweiler was meant to be the heir apparent to Peyton Manning as a second round draft choice of the team back in 2012, but left for the Houston Texans in March of 2016 on a big free agent contract.

A crazy series of events led Osweiler back to Denver this year, and now he’s getting a golden opportunity to prove he can still be a starter in this league.