5 Things we Learned from Denver Broncos 27-24 win over Seahawks

What do we make of Keenum’s fist real action?

We took a pretty harsh look at John Elway and his performance with regards to Denver’s quarterbacks here.  So what should we take away from Sunday’s performance by Elway’s latest contender, Case Keenum?

Do we take comfort in the 329 yards and three touchdowns?

Should we be cautious because of the three interceptions?

To be fair, it was more than the three interceptions that were concerning.  Keenum missed several other throws and a few of his completions were on great recoveries by his receivers.  For example, on a second-quarter crossing route, if Keenum had hit Tim Patrick in-stride, Patrick goes for a touchdown.  Instead, the pass sailed high, Patrick mistimed his jump and the play fell incomplete.

To be further fair, the picks and missed passes were of concern but they can not override the quality of his throws on the DT touchdown mentioned above to win the game or the touch on the throws to Sanders and Phillip Lindsay.

If Keenum was guilty of anything on Sunday, it was in trying to overplay this game.  When the Denver offense was clicking and relaxed, they looked unstoppable.  We’ve seen him throw high in the preseason and this may be a case (pun!) where preseason games actually hurt a player.  Particularly a player that is new to the system.

It’s not that Keenum had any competition at quarterback, he was the known starter from the time he signed with Denver.  It’s that nearly every position around him was a battle, some the most intense of camp.  Wide receiver and running back depth charts weren’t settled until the week before the opener.  The offensive line spent little of the preseason together, as a unit.  Tight end Had a mix of uncertainty, with injury and youth that demanded a lot of reps, a lot of looks.

Sunday afternoon was the first time in a game situation that Keenum had his entire offense around him.  What resulted was far more good than bad and we can be pretty confident that the bad is circumstantial.  Keenum has too much respect from teammates and coaches to believe otherwise.  This isn’t Trevor Siemian, nobody is looking over their shoulder with Keenum’s play.

Elway got this one right, despite some opening game jitters, Case Keenum reminded what a legitimate starting NFL QB looks like in Denver (with love and no disrespect meant to Trevor Siemian).