Down 21-7 in the fourth quarter against arguably the greatest quarterback in the history in the NFL, whose team happens to be undefeated, in just your second career NFL start; the odds were stacked against Brock Osweiler. But, with the help of a Cody Latimer forced fumble on special teams, Osweiler led the Broncos to one of the finest fourth quarter comebacks in team history.
That’s saying something for a franchise that employed two of the quarterbacks Brady is in the argument for GOAT with, in John Elway and Peyton Manning.
On the final drive in overtime after his defense got him the ball back, Gary Kubiak showed incredible amounts of confidence in his young quarterback, ultimately letting Osweiler make the call that would determine the outcome of the game.
CJ Anderson on final play “When Brock changed it, I knew it had a chance.” #broncos pic.twitter.com/jfPz2ZtnZA
— Adam Kinney (@AdamKinneyRadio) November 30, 2015
Anderson told us that Osweiler was given two options of plays to call and based on the coverage’s, he chose the toss that ultimately sent Anderson into the endzone. “It was a check that we had worked on all week in practice,” Osweiler said postgame. “We were trying to run the ball to the weak side. They gave us a specific defensive front that we can’t run that ball into, so I checked to our second play that we called in the huddle. The line did a hell of a job and C.J. (Anderson) did the rest.”
“a tremendous team win. The biggest thing about tonight is it shows what this team is all about. Fighting til 0:00” pic.twitter.com/vSfhpSJe4D — Adam Kinney (@AdamKinneyRadio) November 30, 2015
When asked if Osweiler could be the guy leading the Broncos into the playoffs Kubiak was non-commital but still complimented his young quarterback. “I think Brock has taken advantage of an opportunity,” Kubiak said. “He’s doing a great job with his opportunity but I think what Brock is doing best is understanding that he’s on a good football team and staying composed and within himself and doing his job.”
It may be premature to anoint Brock Osweiler a legend after just his second career start, but Osweiler gave Mile High a feeling it hasn’t experienced since Elway led the Broncos back from 16-0 to score 21 points in the fourth quarter against the Colts in 1983.
Peyton Manning’s injury is going to keep him out at least another week, but with Osweiler playing at such a high level, especially when it matters most, its going to be a hard choice for Kubiak to make to go away from Denver’s newest comeback kid.
