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.
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.
No.4: Trevor Siemian vs. Carolina Panthers- September 8, 2016
Following the Broncos’ win in Super Bowl 50 and the subsequent retirement of Manning, it was Trevor Siemian who got the next chance to be the team’s starting quarterback.
But that was far from the initial plan.
That offseason, the Broncos traded a future draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for veteran quarterback Mark Sanchez. They then used a first-round pick to select Paxton Lynch, one of the top prospects in the class.
Siemian was a former seventh-round pick who many saw as a “camp arm” who would be lucky to make the team. But as soon as camp opened that summer, it was clear that he was very much in the competition.
Lynch was not ready to play and Sanchez looked terrible in the preseason, so bad that he didn’t even make the roster that year. Siemian was named the starter.
Now, if this list covered the entire season, Siemian had the best overall season as the team’s new starter, but his first game featured some growing pains. It also came against the team the Broncos had beaten in the Super Bowl, a Panthers squad looking for revenge.
The Broncos actually ended up winning this game, but it wasn’t because of Siemian. He completed 18 of 26 passes for 178 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. His QB rating of 69.1 would be the worst of any of the quarterbacks on this list in their Broncos debut.
He also had top talents to throw to such as Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders but still completed just 13 passes to either a wide receiver or a tight end.
Siemian ended up being a serviceable quarterback for the Broncos and he finished the 2016 season with a winning record, but his debut didn’t exactly inspire Broncos fans that the team had a great successor for the legendary Manning.
No. 3: Drew Lock vs. Tennessee Titans- September 14, 2020
Last year’s season opener ended in a frustrating loss for the Broncos as the Titans beat them 16-14. Drew Lock didn’t play a bad game but he didn’t make the plays needed to win either.
He also didn’t have his No. 1 receiver, Courtland Sutton, on the field.
Lock completed 22 of 33 passes on the night and threw for 216 yards with a touchdown pass. But similar to the debut that Flacco had for the team, the Broncos didn’t lose because of Lock’s play, but he didn’t do anything to significantly enhance the team’s chances either, despite a 95.0 QB rating for the game.
Still, belief was high that the Broncos were in good hands even after this game because Lock had closed the 2019 season on such a high note in relief of Flacco.
There have been worse debuts in the team’s history, but fans had such high hopes for this one and Lock just didn’t reach them. That would be the way that many would describe his time as the team’s starting quarterback, which, at least for the time being, has already come to an end.
No. 2: Case Keenum vs. Seattle Seahawks- September 9, 2018
The Case Keenum era was one that was met with a lot of questions and intrigue. Some Broncos fans felt the team had gotten a steal as Keenum was excellent the season before for the Minnesota Vikings. Other fans felt the team reached for him in free agency.
Keenum made his first start at home against a good Seahawks team. The bad was that he threw three interceptions that nearly cost the Broncos the game. But the good was that he did not let those turnovers deter him and he rallied his team for the win.
Keenum threw for 329 yards on the day including a 29-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Lindsay and a 43-yard touchdown toss to Emmanuel Sanders. Then, with his team trailing by four points with less than four minutes to play in the game, he threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas that ended up being the game-winning score.
Keenum is the only quarterback on this list (so far) that started every regular season game for the Broncos in the season in which they made their debut as the team’s starter. Of course, 16 games was all the organization needed to see as the Broncos traded for Flacco the following offseason.
No. 1: Teddy Bridgewater vs. New York Giants- September 12, 2021
The top spot on this list goes to Bridgewater and it’s not close. His play against the Giants last Sunday, while not electric by any means, was exactly what it needed to be.
Bridgewater showed the connection with his teammates that Flacco seemed to lack. He showed the play-making ability that wasn’t present in Lock or Siemian’s debut and the lack of turnovers that Keenum was not able to stay away from.
Every quarterback on this list was out of the starting saddle quickly and if you had to rate their debuts on a scale of 1-10, none of them would likely be given anything other than a mediocre score by most fans. Those same fans would probably see the debut of Bridgewater a lot more positively.
He made all of the plays he needed to make and though he played against probably the weakest opponent of any of the teams on this list, he made his teammates better throughout the game.
His QB rating of 115.7 for the game is also easily the highest on this list.
Most importantly, aside from winning the game, the belief in Broncos Country following this win is probably higher than it was in any of the other four instances on this list.
This Broncos team looks much better than those ones did and though it has just been one game, Bridgewater has them going in the right direction.