This story sounds pretty familiar, doesn’t it?
The Broncos just gave up an embarrassing loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, involving five turnovers by the first-team offense and giving up 29 points. Despite a 7-2 record, fans cried for some sort of a change to the offense. In comes Brock Osweiler to answer the call at quarterback, settle the fans and bring some stability to an unsure offense.
The similarities don’t stop there. With a Sunday night home game against the New England Patriots looming the following week, the Broncos had to regain their composure and find a way to defeat an NFC opponent, on their home turf, with a morning start. In 2015, it was the struggling Bears. This year, it’s the soaring Eagles.
The biggest difference this time? Osweiler didn’t get half of a game to get into rhythm with the offense. Against Philadelphia, he’s going in cold.
In 2015, when Osweiler was called upon to start for the Broncos the first time, the Bears had been attempting to turn around a rough season start, posting a 4-5 record going into the game, but coming off of two wins. After a quick three-and-out by Chicago, Osweiler and the Broncos struck first with a touchdown on four plays, going 74 yards in less than two minutes.
After that, both offenses stagnated, driving for field goals until the fourth quarter when Osweiler struck again with an almost four-minute drive to put the Broncos up by a full touchdown and two-point conversion.
Then-Bears quarterback Jay Cutler responded late. With 1:49 left on the clock, he drove the Bears 65 yards for a touchdown, putting the game within two. The Broncos’ defense would hold on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, and after recovering an onside kick, Denver would secure its first victory of the Osweiler era.
Osweiler completed the game by completing 20-of-27 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t throw an interception, but was sacked five times. Overall, he finished the game with a 127.1 quarterback rating, a solid first performance.
No. 17 went on to beat the Patriots the following week and eventually helped the Broncos to a No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. The Broncos, then, turned that into a Super Bowl win.
Now, the Broncos face a significantly different challenge. In fact, the tables have completely turned. With a 3-4 record, the Broncos are struggling to become relevant in the playoff picture again, while the Eagles sit a 7-1 and look to extend their lead against a foundering NFC East.
Unlike the 2015 Bears, who only averaged 20.9 points per game for and 24.8 points per game against, the Eagles are a large threat on both sides of the ball. Philadelphia is averaging 29 points for and 19.5 points against per game, good enough for fourth and 10th in the league, respectively. The Broncos’ offense is only managing 18.1 points for and now sits at 21 points against per game, 24th and 13th, respectively.
But that was under Trevor Siemian.
Osweiler entered this season trying to recover from a tumultuous 2016. He signed with the Houston Texans after leaving the Broncos and testing free agency. After an 8-6 campaign where he threw for 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, Osweiler was benched in favor of backup Tom Savage and then traded by the Texans to the Cleveland Browns in the offseason. The Browns cut Osweiler, eating $16 million of his contract to part ways, which led to the Broncos signing him to a one-year deal for the league-minimum $775,000.
Now, Osweiler once again finds himself in the starting role for the Broncos, a move that is hoped to spark the team into a stronger offense and a playoff push. If the last time Denver was under his reign can be used as any indication, good things may be coming.
