Denver Broncos: Where does Teddy Bridgewater’s debut rank among QBs since Peyton Manning?

No. 5: Joe Flacco vs. Oakland Raiders- September 9, 2019

During the 2019 offseason, the Broncos decided to trade for Joe Flacco, sending a fourth-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens for the quarterback that won them a Super Bowl in 2012. When introducing Flacco, John Elway told everyone that Flacco was in the prime of his career.

But he was well past it.

In the season opener that year, the Broncos took on the hated Raiders. Though Flacco wasn’t exactly terrible, he was just kind of out there, almost going through the motions.

Flacco completed 21 of 31 pass attempts and threw for 268 yards with a touchdown pass. Statistically, he looked pretty good. But his team looked lackluster and lacked energy, setting the tone for the entire Flacco era, which lasted just eight games with his as the starting quarterback.

Almost immediately, it just didn’t seem like a good fit. Flacco didn’t seem to have much chemistry with his teammates and though he completed 21 passes in that game, many of them were short routes and check-down plays.

In addition, the Broncos also lost this game to the Raiders by a score of 24-16, an inauspicious debut for Flacco to say the least.