QBs not making Kubiak’s life easy
Broncos starter must protect ball
Perceptions can often determine how we assess reality.
That’s why it was rather striking to glimpse Gary Kubiak’s movement on the sideline near the end of the first half Saturday night. The Denver Broncos coach had just witnessed not one but two Mark Sanchez fumbles in the red zone in less than 30 seconds. As Sanchez stood in his shadow, it appeared for an instant that Kubiak might be pulling out his hair.
That would be an understandable image.
The perception of the quarterback position for the defending Super Bowl champions is quite unsettled, with Sanchez and second-year challenger Trevor Siemian seemingly shaky options while first-rounder Paxton Lynch is groomed in the wings. Maybe Kubiak was actually running his fingers through his hair to establish some order up there.
Either way, the former backup quarterback had to be frustrated, if not enraged.
“What is it now?” Kubiak rhetorically asked after the exhibition loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He knew. “Four turnovers in two weeks? We can’t have that,” he said.
Siemian, who made his first preseason start, threw an ugly pick-six to Niners safety Eric Reid. The pass, high and soft to the flat, came nowhere close to intended receiver Demaryius Thomas. It tarnished an otherwise safe performance that hard-
ly staked a claim that Siemian should be the starter.
But then Sanchez one-upped his competition. The first fumble came after he used nifty footwork to escape pressure. He stepped up in the pocket, then BAM!
Fate would give him another chance after the 49ers promptly turned the ball over in one snap. Yet three plays later Sanchez was swallowed in the pocket ... and out popped the football.
“In a real game, maybe we just run it and take the points. But going into my eighth year, I know better,” Sanchez said. “I have to get the ball out.”
It was another snapshot of the perception that has come to define Sanchez. He can tease you with his athleticism and moxie and then break your heart with a major league gaffe. Before the first fumble, he coolly led his unit down the field and into scoring range. Then he got careless. He knew, too.
“I just squandered a great opportunity to separate myself,” he said. “There’s no excuse for that poor, poor quarterback play.”
It has been Sanchez’s job to lose ever since Broncos architect John Elway dealt a seventhround pick to the Philadelphia Eagles last spring and later walked away from a trade for San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick. That Siemian is in the mix underscores the risk of expecting Sanchez to overcome his history.
Siemian, a Northwestern product with a live but not consistently accurate arm, was a seventhrounder last year. But his poise and consistency have impressed camp observers. Saturday (10for-14, 75 yards), his throws were primarily short and to the out- side. He got rid of the ball quickly and never took a sack.
Meanwhile, Sanchez (10-for-17, 120 yards) was sacked three times in addition to the fumbles.
All of which leaves Kubiak in a holding pattern, never mind the conventional NFL pattern of having starters in place by the third preseason game. The Broncos need that next exhibition, Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams, for further evaluation.
When someone asked about his timeline for a decision, Kubiak said, “I foresee myself trying to find a way to fix some mistakes. I’m going to take it a day at a time.”
But that marker might be fluid, depending on whether the errors can be eradicated. Lynch, meanwhile, is not schooled enough to be the Week 1 starter. But stay tuned — it’s a long season.
The Broncos were stung by inconsistent quarterbacking last season, when Peyton Manning struggled and since-departed Brock Osweiler had his baptism by fire. Yet they won the crown anyway as the NFL’s best defense carried the day, the C.J. Anderson-Ronnie Hillman running game relieved pressure and Manning settled down during the stretch run of his final season.
Defense is obviously still the ticket. The Broncos don’t need a juggernaut offense, just a safe unit that can capitalize enough to complement Von Miller and Co. But the formula can’t include repeatedly pushing that great defense into a corner with turnovers.
That’s why Kubiak’s decision ultimately might hinge on which quarterback can best protect the football. Sanchez’s experience is nothing to bank on when it is wrapped in giveaways.
“It’s difficult playing like crap on two plays and then ruining an opportunity,” Sanchez said. “That’s difficult.”
So is Kubiak’s dilemma.