Since the retirement of Hall-of-Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, the Denver Broncos have had quite the quarterback carousel in motion while trying to find a long-term successor.
That answer has not yet emerged, but Teddy Bridgewater got off to a great start in changing that this past Sunday, leading the Broncos to a 1-0 start with a win over the New York Giants.
He became the 11th different quarterback to start a game for the team since Manning retired following the victory in Super Bowl 50. That ushered in a brand new era for the Broncos, one that has brought with it plenty of disappointment and uncertainty.
With Bridgewater, the team may have a new hope. Though it was just one game, the team seems to be in the best position it has been in since the victory to conclude the 2015 season.
But how good was that first game for Bridgewater? Here, we’re going to compare that debut to the first game of all of the starting quarterbacks since Manning left.
Though there have been 11 quarterbacks that started at least one game in that time span, some of them did just that, started one game. So this list will only include the quarterbacks the Broncos deemed as their main starter for that particular season and it will just be focused on that quarterback’s first game as the main starter.
How did those quarterbacks perform in that first game? Did the Broncos win or lose and what did the immediate future look like? Each of those things will be factors as this list counts down from the worst to the best.