Brock Osweiler celebrated his 25th birthday in style Sunday as the Broncos backup quarterback picked up a 17-15 win over the Bears in his first career start.
A second-round draft pick in 2012, Osweiler completed 20 of 27 passes for 250 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His performance has led to murmurs that he may start more games moving forward. Denver's starter Peyton Manning missed the game whiie dealing with a partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot in addition to rib and shoulder issues.
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Denver struck first after Demaryius Thomas caught a 48-yard touchdown pass on the team’s opening drive. It was the first time this season the Broncos scored on their first drive and was the first game without a turnover for their offense. Not too bad for a guy taking over for a future Hall of Famer.
Osweiler was helped all day by a strong running game — the Broncos rushed for 56 yards in the first quarter, which is the team’s second-highest rushing total in any quarter this season. Denver's 161 rushing yards for the day was nearly double the team's season average of 89 yards a game.
Osweiler added another score in the fourth quarter when he hit wide receiver Cody Latimer on a 10-yard touchdown pass to secure the win. The Bears would score to make it 17-15, but failed on a two-point conversion with 24 seconds remaining.
The Broncos are slated to host Tom Brady and the Patriots next week while the Bears will head to Green Bay to visit the rival Packers.
If the Broncos keep Osweiler under center, Manning will miss out on perhaps his last regular-season matchup with Brady. Without Manning-Brady, what will all the pregame shows discuss for hours?