Phil Thompson and Tim Bannon at the Chicago Tribune pass on information about Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler, who will start in place of Peyton Manning this Sunday against the Bears. There’s not much there.
“Osweiler accidentally ignored Peyton Manning’s tweet congratulating him on draft day in 2012. He was chosen in the second round (57th overall). It wasn’t until he was boarding a plane later that he finally noticed it. ‘I was like, ‘Oh, shoot! Peyton Manning!'”
Manning was benched during a miserable outing last Sunday against the Chiefs in which,, though he was under siege, it was hard not to notice the lack of accuracy. Broncos head coach Gary Kubiac says it was due to injury. Most people have their doubts. With some exceptions, such as their game against the Packers coming off of their bye, Manning hasn’t looked good this year. Its likely that age is catching up with him.
That leaves the Bears facing a quarterback in Osweiler that the league doesn’t know much about. That would ordinarily be a major advantage for the Broncos. But the guess here is that few people know Osweiler better than Bears head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Adam Gase. In this, the Bears are fortunate and the Broncos are forfeiting that initial period of uncertainty that would usually come with starting a new quarterback. Further, assuming Gase exposes Osweiler’s weaknesses sufficiently, the Beras will provide a road map against the rest of the league for beating him.
Fox and the Bears are lucky they’re playing the AFC West division this season. The Bear coaching staff knows those teams very well and up until last Sunday’s win against the Rams the Bears had only beaten AFC West teams. Though the Broncos are certainly more talented, there’s at least reasonable hope that the Bears will be competitive in this game despite being underdogs at home.