The Denver Broncos are heading into their bye week at 5-5 following a difficult loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but it seems that Teddy Bridgewater will still be the team’s quarterback.
Despite the embarrassing 17-point loss at home, head coach Vic Fangio is apparently not considering turning to Drew Lock. Not even a little bit. Simply put, that is just the wrong call.
The fact that Fangio is so set on having Bridgewater as the starting quarterback is mystifying unless of course mediocre is his thing. Bridgewater is not a guy who is going to tip the scales, he never has been, and the fact that Fangio pretty much pegged him the starter right after the Broncos traded for him (regardless of what he’ll have the media believe) says all you need to know about him and his tenure as head coach.
It was bad enough to start the year with him when Lock played at least as good as he did in the preseason and at least in my opinion, better. It got a lot worse when Bridgewater seemed to be far less than 100 percent in the Thursday night game against Cleveland, played horribly in the game, and Fangio refused to make the switch at halftime when he should have.
Denver has a strong chance to win that game with Lock against a depleted Browns roster.
But following the bye week, Fangio plans to put Bridgewater out there again after he went and did this on Sunday.
There will probably be those that defend this play, but it’s absolutely ridiculous. If Bridgewater even gets in the way there to try and slow Darius Slay down, it likely prevents the fumble return resulting in a touchdown. But to just stand aside and watch him run by is completely unacceptable.
Teddy Bridgewater giving up on play will be long remembered
Instead, the play turned the game completely around and the Broncos never recovered. Slay’s fumble return sealed the Broncos’ fate in a game where if they win, they are tied for first place in the division.
Instead, they sit at the bottom.
The bye week would be the perfect (and probably last) time to get Lock ready and on the field. At least where it could still matter this season.
But it doesn’t sound like Fangio is interested in that idea. Instead, he seems intent to go down with Bridgewater and when this team misses the playoffs once again, then the two of them need to be shipped out together.
Bridgewater is a great “game manager”. He’s a solid guy on and off the field. But there’s no way to defend him not putting his team and the situation of the game at the forefront on Sunday.
That’s the play that will define his time in Denver.