Should the Broncos bench Bridgewater and start Lock?

It is the play that defines what the Broncos are now — sad, bad and uninspired. The 83-yard scoop and score by Philadelphia cornerback Darius Slay started with a crucial fumble on fourth down by running back Melvin Gordon. Let’s not forget that. But what really irks Broncos Country is Teddy Bridgewater made zero effort to stop Slay on his way to the end zone. Should Denver bench Teddy B and start Drew Lock at quarterback?

Yes, it’s time. The longer Bridgewater plays and doesn’t impress and loses games, the more crystallized the Broncos’ feelings about Lock become. The non-effort on the Slay touchdown was a terrible look and can’t be defended — just get in the way Teddy! But removing that play from consideration, I just don’t see a reason to keep trotting out Bridgewater. He was wildly inaccurate on Sunday even though his completion rate was 61.1%; the Eagles’ defense entered allowing quarterbacks to complete 75.5% of their attempts.

With a surgically repaired neck, even old Peyton Manning made two tackles following turnovers during his time in Denver, once against the Chiefs after a Montee Ball fumble and another time when PFM tripped up big Calais Campbell after throwing a pick against Arizona. So it’s tough for me to forgive Bridgewater for quitting on the play against Slay. What’s more troubling to me, however, is how Teddy B’s conservative offensive approach seems to have hit the wall of diminishing returns.

Ten games of watching Bridgewater in person is enough for us to agree that the ceiling has been hit. On Sunday, he had 36 pass attempts against the Eagles and only two traveled 16 “air” yards (one completion for 26 yards). The Broncos weren’t getting the receivers involved downfield and half of his completions were to running backs and tight ends. Three years ago, John Elway soured on Case Keenum because he felt Keenum wasn’t aggressive enough pushing the football down the field.

Bridgewater has been bold in victory and meek in defeat. Check out his yards per pass attempt stats. He has thrown for 8.65 yards per attempt in five victories, a number that drops to 6.40 in Denver’s five losses. We’ve seen enough to know Bridgewater is clearly not the long-term answer at quarterback. It’s time to find out if Lock can bring some renewed passion and more chunk plays to the Broncos’ often-stagnant offense.

Let’s say Lock starts against the Chargers on Nov. 28 and helps the Broncos to a win and then plays well down the stretch. Even if the Broncos aren’t committed to him long-term, he may have value on the trade market. The main reason I would give Lock a look: This defense is going to have trouble stopping opponents, which means the offense will have to chase the game and that means using Lock’s arm to challenge teams down the field, which may open up the running game, too.