Broncos Grading the Quarterbacks from Win Over Buccaneers

The Denver Broncos had their two young quarterbacks see action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Unfortunately, that happened because of injury. Just how did the two quarterbacks grade?

Injuries happen in the game of football and unfortunately, the Denver Broncos starting quarterback hurt his left shoulder and left the game. To come in was their first round rookie quarterback, who showed exactly why the Broncos took him in the first round.

However, despite the change, it was almost like the Broncos offense didn’t miss a beat. They continued to play well for both quarterbacks and kept putting points on the board. There were some obvious changes with the quarterback switch, but that is normal. Great coaches cater to what their quarterbacks can and cant do.

Broncos Starter

First up is the starter, Trevor Siemian. Siemian didn’t see much time before he hurt his left shoulder and was carted off the field. He never returned to the game, and is listed as day-to-day with his shoulder injury. Good sign for Siemian is that Gary Kubiak thought he could have returned to the game, if deemed necessary.

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Siemina threw only seven passes on the game. He completed just five of them for 68 yards and a touchdown. He got helped some with filed position from Aqib Talib picking off two passes early, but he was still impressive with his throws.

If he is able to play next week, it will be curious to see how much the injury will affect him. In the preseason, Siemian hurt his shoulder and didn’t do so hot after that. However, as for his game against the Buccaneers, Siemian earned a 88.7 grade.

Broncos Backup

When Siemian went down, the Broncos went to their first round pick out of Memphis, Paxton Lynch. One thing was made clear, Lynch has the stronger arm between the two Broncos quarterbacks. He was slinging passes that should remind Broncos fans of John Elway.

However, what Lynch didn’t show was a good understanding of touch on his passes. Often he was zipping passes to his target, and they weren’t able to come down with the ball. On these occasions he needed to have some touch on the passes to help out his receivers.

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Two other areas that still need a lot of work from Lynch are his ball placement, especially when targeting the back shoulder, and his footwork. There were a couple of times Lynch was trying to his back shoulder fades and he just didn’t place the ball in the right spot. A few of those were in the end-zone and kept Denver from scoring two touchdowns on separate occasions and settling for field goals.

As for his footwork, it was a good thing that head coach Gary Kubiak was having Lynch operate out of shotgun, because his footwork coming from under center was sloppy. Lynch looks rushed with his footwork and just needs to slow things down. Cleaning up his footwork can help him with everything else after that.

It was clear that Lynch was just a rookie on a few plays where he looked lost and confused. That said, he looked good and capable of being the starting quarterback and leading the Broncos to a win. For his first career game, Lynch earned a very respectable 84.9 grade.

Quarterback Controversy?

There is not a quarterback controversy in Denver. Yet. Siemian got hurt and Lynch came in to finish the game. However, if Siemian struggles, or can’t play next week and Lynch balls out, there will be a controversy. Early expectations if for Siemian to play this coming Sunday, but he is listed as day-to-day with the shoulder injury.

Neither quarterback got much help from their running game, which has disappeared over the last two games. They will need to find it again to sustain success for the rest of the season. The issues are coming from both their offensive line and their running backs.

Next: Broncos Sit At the Top of the AFC With 4-0 Record

Next up to be graded are the running backs and offensive line. Does one group deserve more blame than the other? How did the players do in the other aspects of the game? Find out when they get graded next.