Peyton Manning’s exile to the sideline will continue for at least one more week after Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak announced Brock Osweiler will start Sunday night against the New England Patriots, per Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. What will be interesting is how effective Osweiler and the Kubiak offense will be with a possibly returning Sanders and a seemingly revived running attack.
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“He had two checks between two different plays”, running back Jeremy Langford said. “Today is 100 percent about this team and coaching staff. We played great defense, we didn’t turn the ball over, and we ran the heck out of the football”.
The only problem the 6-foot-8 Osweiler appeared to be avoiding a strong Chicago pass rush.
Manning is in the midst of the worst season of his 18-year career.
“That’s hard”, Mueller said when asked if Osweiler should start.
A fast start didn’t hurt. At the moment, it’s convenient for the Broncos to allow him to take his time healing, given how Brock Osweiler is playing. Demaryius Thomas, one of the league’s best receivers, somehow broke wide open for a 48-yard TD, and Denver never trailed.
He didn’t answer but said the situation is “day to day, week to week”. Langford’s touchdown run with 0:24 left in the game would have won the game for the Bears had Fox chose to let Gould kick his fourth field goal of the game.
“I can tell you his mindset is a day at a time trying to get healthy and all those things and help his football [team]”.
The Bears, 4-5 entering the game against the 7-2 Broncos, were extreme long-shots for a wild-card playoff spot, and the loss to Denver – and uphill battle against Green Bay on Thanksgiving night – pretty much ends any talk of postseason aspirations.
Peyton Manning’s understudy, Brock Osweiler, was mistake-free, and that’s exactly what the Broncos needed from the birthday boy (he turned 25 on Sunday).
Jay Cutler fumbled inside the Broncos 35 with less than 2:30 to go, which seems to underscore Fox’s decision to go for it.
“Peyton is frustrated by the fact that he’s injured”, Kubiak said. “We hadn’t scored touchdowns”.
The last two games saw a few shaky defense from the Broncos. “In the games that we’ve lost, we haven’t”. You’re right, when we get the ball on the 50 or if we have the ball on the one, those drives need to end in touchdowns.
As it turned out, of course, the Bears had two more opportunities.
After the Bears marched down the field to score a touchdown with 29 seconds on the clock – thanks in part to a couple of pass interference calls – Ward and the Broncos’ defense were not about to let the Bears extend the game with a two-point conversion. “You look back and think what you could have done differently… We just have to clean that up”.
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Not surprisingly, Langford met stiff resistance and came up a yard short. One time, they stung the Bears for 15 yards on a third-and-1 at the 13.
