Broncos coach Gary Kubiak refused to say whether Peyton Manning or Brock Osweiler will start at quarterback when Denver opens its postseason in 13 days.
“I won’t say anything,” Kubiak said on Monday morning. “I’ve got nothing for you today. . . . I have no timeline.”
Kubiak is playing coy, but the reality is it’s almost impossible to imagine that Manning won’t get the start. Kubiak benched Osweiler with the Broncos losing to the Chargers on Sunday, and Manning led the Broncos to a win that secured home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Under those circumstances, there’s no way a healthy Manning would go back to the bench.
Still, Kubiak is insisting that he thinks he can win with both quarterbacks.
“I’m proud of both of them. Obviously Peyton did a great job early in the season before he went through the injury. Brock’s done a great job with this football team. Yesterday it took both of them. It’s taken all of us all year long,” Kubiak said.
But only one quarterback will be under center when the game starts on Sunday, January 17, and that quarterback will almost certainly be Manning. Even if Kubiak isn’t willing to say so yet.