Denver Broncos QBs since Peyton: The Survivor
Teddy Bridgewater (2021): 3052 Pass Yards, 18 TD, 7 Int. 106 Rush Yards, 2 TD
Amid an era of up-and-down football under center, steady Teddy Bridgewater was a breath of fresh air for me.
He easily brought Denver the most consistent brand of quarterback play we’ve seen since 2014, and though the Pat Shurmur offense didn’t become a top unit, Teddy did a damn good job all things considered.
He takes what’s given to him, can extend plays with a little razzle-dazzle on his feet, and seems like a good leader to boot. And yes, he can throw it deep.
We got a good price for him in the trade, sending a 6th-rounder to Carolina. I was glad to again have a proven commodity at quarterback at least, and despite a weird year with the Panthers, I thought we could perhaps get him to his New Orleans level of performance with all our weapons.
It started out great with a three-game win streak to start the year where he had the highest passer rating league-wide but suffered a concussion in Week 4. He was back the next week, and Teddy had some great games for us this past year.
There was some frustration at the tempo of the offense in Denver, and it’s well-documented that weapons like Jerry Jeudy and Noah Fant were deeply unhappy with how they were being schemed into the system.
Yet despite all that, Teddy put up respectable performance after respectable performance, and ultimately put it all on the line for the team, suffering a season-ending concussion scrambling for a 1st down, leaping through the air like Elway himself.
I think in a vacuum, Teddy’s play may actually be the best we’ve seen in Denver since Peyton, and while this offense did have trouble clicking this past year, Teddy brought us all 7 of our wins.
Would have loved to see him in a Kubiak/Shanahanian offense, but it’s a poor historian who plays “what if”.