Even after leading the Broncos to a 16-9 victory over the Chargers on Sunday, it remained unclear whether fourth-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham could provide the offensive spark that head coach Sean Payton has been looking for.
Payton, however, is adamant about making Stidham the starter.
Payton announced on Monday that Stidham, who threw for 224 yards and a touchdown, will continue to be the starter. Russell Wilson will start the game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
“First and foremost, let us proceed without making any assumptions. “The depth at that position will be the same going into next week’s game with Jarrett as the starter and Russ as the No. 2,” Payton said. “… Jarrett did an excellent job with his decisions, ball security, and everything else you’d expect from a player in that position.”
Last week, Payton benched Wilson to shake up an offense that had been struggling.
“That was a long stretch of 15 weeks where we’d seen a very similar pattern,” Payton told reporters. “I believe that will change. I made the decision in the hope that it (would) contribute to change. There’s no guarantee that it will, but in the meantime, I felt it was necessary.”
Payton admired Stidham’s poise and decision-making abilities. However, the offense appeared to be very similar to what the Broncos have shown all season. Denver struggled pre-snap, burning a timeout on its third play of the game, and offensive linemen Garett Bolles and Quinett Meinerz were flagged for false starts on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter.
The Broncos gained 3.1 yards per carry on average. They failed to score a touchdown on both of their red zone attempts. The Broncos only scored once, on a 54-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey in the second quarter, as they settled for three field goals on four attempts.
Denver, on the other hand, was more aggressive in the passing game in the first two quarters, with Stidham accumulating 165 yards before halftime. However, he threw for 59 yards in the second half while the Broncos scored only three points against one of the league’s worst passing defenses.
“There were some things I was really encouraged about yesterday,” Payton was quoted as saying. “If we were to measure it week by week, you’d say, ‘Man, we scored less than 20 points.'” That was insufficient.’ We passed up chances in the red zone, but we were safe with the football. We are certainly looking forward to the next game.”
Denver’s victory over Los Angeles demonstrated that determining whether Stidham has the juice to ignite the Broncos’ offense to fit Payton’s vision will be a process. Stidham sees the Broncos’ game against his former team, the Raiders, as an opportunity to create value for himself moving forward.
“We are constantly evaluating how they play, and then it would definitely carry over to how we feel about next year, relative to their role,” Payton told reporters. “I think these are important snaps and games for him.”
