A Few Thoughts on the Denver Broncos 'Quarterback Conundrum'

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

(Joe Mahoney/Associated Press)

As a lifelong Denver Broncos fan, I have to admit that this may have been the strangest offseason for the team that I have ever been privy to. While this is the second time I've seen a quarterbacking legend retire from the team, this is the first go round that I've seen their successor spurn the team and walk away from the job.

Osweiler's decision to join the Texans has made for an uncomfortable preseason with a quarterback battle that saw a seventh round draft pick in Trevor Siemian win the coveted job and as we say goodbye to exhibition games and look forward to the regular season, there is a strange air of anticipation making the rounds amongst Broncos fans. There are some who believe the sky is falling and this season is going to be a disaster with #13 at the helm. There are others who feel Paxton Lynch should start and learn the ins and the outs of NFL quarterbacking on the fly, but regardless of which side you stand on...it's clear that few people in the city of Denver seem content with where things are at on offense.

Which quite frankly is strange. Sure it sucks that Osweiler bailed, and yes, there will be growing pains regardless of whomever starts at quarterback for the Denver Broncos, but folks need not panic or be concerned that a fourth Super Bowl title will be far from our grasp without the perfect guy under center...because we've been here before. Let's be clear, Peyton Manning was outright awful last season. Yes, he is a first ballot Hall of Famer. Yes, his career ended in perfect fashion with a Super Bowl Championship, but nothing about his play last year was something to celebrate. Father time and injuries had caught up with the legendary quarterback at last...and the end result was a QB that only found the end zone nine times, and was intercepted seventeen more. Yet...Denver walked away with the Lombardi Trophy, because the era of slinging the rock has come to an end in the Mile High City.

Which is going to be a hard adjustment for Broncos fans. We expect our quarterbacks to be gunslingers and get the team out of trouble with a powerful eighty yard bomb that stuns a defense, and if we aren't witness to that, we expect our QB's to become involved in a shootout where their arm strength saves the day. We saw it time and time again with Manning and Plummer, and of course John Elway. But the Duke is changing with the times and so should we. Which means we shouldn't expect our shiny new quarterback to run out there and fire off five incredible touchdown passes per game. He simply needs to not turn the ball over, manage the game in effective fashion and let Kubiak's zone run system do its thing, because from here on out for the foreseeable future...it's all about that defense. 

In a way, it's 2015 all over again, and because we knew Manning was at the end of his career, we overlooked and forgave his sub par play. The fans will no doubt be a little harder on Trevor Siemian once he struggles, but the key here is that it's incredibly important to keep emphasizing that this year is a lot like the last one for one big reason...everything is going to be okay. We have to trust in Elway and Kubiak to make the right calls, and if they feel the need to lean on the defense to win the day, so be it. Eventually, our gunslinging ways will return, at least when Lynch is ready, but in the here and the now, our defense has proven it can win a championship and until they show otherwise, they are the focus and the man under center just needs to keep them off the field long enough to catch their breath so they can continue to dominate and make Broncos Country proud. It's going to be an incredible season any way you slice it Broncos fans, so let's just sit back, and enjoy the ride. 

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