Denver Broncos: Peyton Manning or Brock Osweiler?

“Peyton and I had a good visit today, and we’ve got a plan in place for his recovery”, Head Coach Gary Kubiak said. Playing him now lets the Broncos see if the 6-8 Osweiler is their quarterback of the future.

“I wish I had a broke bone instead”, Spilborghs said Tuesday. The larger question pertains to what the team will do if Osweiler continues to play well and Manning’s injury improves. After the game, coach Gary Kubiak revealed Manning was dealing with plantar fasciitis and sore ribs.

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Clausen played in two games this season after starter Jay Cutler injured his hamstring in Week 2, completing 23 of 40 pass attempts for 184 yards and one interception. Osweiler will start again this week and Siemian is again expected to be his backup, at least until Ponder has a chance to catch up with the Broncos’ playbook.

Jeffri Chadiha of NFL.com added he was equally impressed with Osweiler in his first NFL start. “That’s hard for him, but he’s been great with me”.

Asked whether the expectation is that Manning will be back at some point, Kubiak said: “Absolutely”.

Other than 2011, when Manning had spinal fusion surgery and missed the season, Sunday’s game was the first start Manning missed in any of his other 17 seasons. The Broncos’ defense remains the league’s best on a per-game and per-play basis; all the team needs is an average offense that doesn’t make mistakes.

How would the franchise handle sitting Manning the remainder of the season and possibly the playoffs after he was brought to Denver to win a Super Bowl and in the process of him coming from Indianapolis, he ousted the uber-popular Tim Tebow? This assumes Osweiler performs like he did against Chicago.

“I’m sure there is a lot you can learn from Tom Brady or Peyton Manning”, Belichick said. But that was the only negative from the Broncos’ passing game Sunday, as Osweiler hit 20 of 27 passes without an interception, giving the Broncos their first game without an interception this season. “We made the decision we made last week”. That can cause a problem with Manning’s ego, but that can be managed with the help of Elway, who can tell him the goal is winning, not stats.

Manning will sit out Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots and though he could conceivably return for the Broncos game against San Diego Dec. 6, it seems unlikely he would be available given the timetable for his injury.