The Denver Broncos haven’t made the playoffs since their Super Bowl winning season in 2015, but after a 3-0 start in 2021, is it finally time to consider the past five seasons of failure, water under the bridge?
Mired in a stretch of mediocrity after numerous unsuccessful attempts at finding the successor to legendary signal-caller, Peyton Manning, it seems the Broncos may have finally found their answer from the unlikeliest of sources.
In late April 2021, career journeyman, Teddy Bridgewater, was acquired from the Carolina Panthers to play the role of veteran backup to expected starter and former Missouri standout, Drew Lock. But in a surprise to many around the NFL, Bridgewater not only earned the starting job, he’s also steered the Broncos back on the path to relevancy.
For as much homework as the Broncos did on Bridgewater, he too, had done some homework of his own.
According to Super Bowl 50 MVP and future hall-of-famer, Von Miller, Bridgewater’s greatest asset is his leadership; something the team has desperately lacked following Manning’s retirement in 2016.
Pitted in a division featuring perennial MVP candidate, Patrick Mahomes, a second-year starter coming off a historic rookie season in Justin Herbert, and three-time pro-bowler, Derek Carr, the odds were never in Bridgewater’s favour, but that’s nothing new for Teddy. Continually written off by pundits around the league as nothing more than the prototypical “game-manager,” a dreaded designation in the world of professional quarterbacking, the seven-year veteran’s captivating presence may be the game changer the Broncos have been searching for, as they continue their push to shake up the hierarchy of the toughest division in football.
Matthew Lomon 