“You’re going to see the same guy out of me that you’ve seen the whole season, bottom line I just care about this football team winning games and if coach thinks Peyton gives the team the best chance then I fully support that”, Osweiler said.
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Kubiak met with Manning and the previous starter, Brock Osweiler, on Thursday before informing all the players about his decision, the Broncos announced on their website.
“What I saw physically, watching him work, watching him go about his business the last two weeks… the way he’s throwing the ball, the way he’s moving around, I don’t have any doubt, he doesn’t have any doubt, so that’s a good thing”, Kubiak said.
Gary Kubiak stuck to his word in naming Peyton Manning his starter even after declaring that Brock Osweiler had done nothing to deserve a demotion. Regardless, Peyton Manning will be the starting quarterback for the Broncos in the divisional round, so it will be definitely worth watching.
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images The Broncos are turning control of the offense back over to Peyton Manning for the playoffs.
On Sunday, Manning completed 5 of his 9 passes for 69 yards. His return provided a morale boost to help the Broncos overcome a 13-7 deficit.
Perhaps Denver feels that the struggle of Manning this season was related to his foot and other assorted ailments and he is felling better headed toward the postseason. Talib said the Broncos are “maybe the closest team I’ve been a part of”.
“Brock’s probably mad at me”, said running back C.J. Anderson, referring to his second half fumble against the Chargers in Week 17.
Manning missed six consecutive starts due to a tear in his plantar fascia near his left heel.
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The Broncos will get the lowest remaining seed to advance from the AFC Wild Card round. The Broncos finished No. 1 in sacks (52), pass defense (199.6 yards allowed per game) and fewest total yards allowed (283.1). If the Broncos don’t want him, the Montana kid just put together one hell of a resume tape and would be a highly sought after product by a number of teams whose QB situation’s are more dire than Denver’s. They likely remember the ill-fated first play of Super Bowl XLVIII in which Peyton missed the hike from the center, resulting in a safety for the Seahawks. And now that Manning has proven he’s healthy enough to play – he’s not 100 percent, but full health won’t come until long after the season, if ever, for an older player – this was the right call.
