Brock Osweiler proves steady for Broncos in first career start

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CHICAGO -- A  Riley Nash Women Jersey funny thing happened as the tried to figure out how life would go without starting at quarterback:They started looking very much like the team they were supposed to be.The ran the ball effectively . The new quarterback, , performed efficiently. Denver basically resembled a far more balanced football team -- instead of one learning how to co-exist with a future first-ballot r.The would never say this openly, of course. This entire year has revolved around whether they could meld Manning's love of a wide-open offense with a more conservative attack guided by first-year head coach Gary Kubiak. Denver had shown glimpses of striking a balance between those two dynamics before a torn plantar fascia in Manning's left foot for this contest. The presence of Osweiler merely revealed what it really takes for this offense .This isn't so much a knock on Manning as it is a reality of the ' current state at the quarterback position. They don't need an aging superstar anymore. They need a game manager who does exactly what Osweiler did."One thing we really stre sed all week long was ball security, being able to come out of this game with no turnovers," Osweiler said after completing 20 of 27 pa ses for 250 yards and two touchdowns. "To be able to play the entire 60 minutes and have the game finish with a zero in that turnover column, to meet one of your team's goals for the week, it was huge for  Riley Nash Jersey the offense."It was huge because GM John Elway built these for these types of games. He fired head coach John Fox because he thought Kubiak had a better feel for handling a star quarterback so late in his career. Elway won two s before retiring with a dominant run game, a solid defense and a willingne s to do le s under center. He was Manning with the same a sets to lead the to another Lombardi Trophy.That strategy sounded nice in theory. The execution hasn't been so stellar. The have fielded , but their running game ranked 29th in the league coming into this contest. Manning had been just as disappointing -- his 17 interceptions were the highest total in the league. Denver relished the moments when Manning delivered in the clutch during a season-opening, seven-game win streak -- as he did in a comeback win over Kansas City -- but they also were winning in spite of him .Osweiler's presence should a suage some of those concerns. Even though he's bound to go through the same growing pains that haunt any young starter, he's learned some things in four seasons in Denver. He clearly felt prepared and didn't seem rattled. He also capitalized on Kubiak's desire to pound the ball (Denver ran for 170 yards on 36 attempts) and his defense's ability to make critical plays, including and .The had seven turnovers in back-to-back lo ses (six on interceptions by Manning). This time around, they had more control and better results."What we needed to do was Taylor Chorney Men Jersey  go play clean football as a team," Kubiak said. "We've had many turnovers ... hurting ourselves, and the me sage this week was 'Let's protect the football and play.' We'll play great defense. We're consistent in what we're doing there, and let's not hurt ourselves as a team. I think that's what we ultimately did."" Osweiler was efficient," added running back . "He's a leader. Nothing really changed. We knew Brock had it in him. He's just playing behind a r. It's like when the did the same thing to A-Rod. Green Bay quarterback spent three years sitting behind Brett Favre before becoming a starter. He went out there and did his job today."It's certainly far too early to start thinking that Osweiler can give the what Rodgers has given Green Bay. It's more realistic to see the larger point Anderson was making -- that Osweiler has strengths that we couldn't see before. For one, he's more mobile than Manning, which is a big requirement in Kubiak's West Coast offense. Osweiler also was more willing to get his tight ends involved than Manning has been in recent weeks.Prior to Sunday, -- a former tight end whom Denver with the at the outset of November -- had just two receptions in two games with the . He led the team with six catches (for 68 yards) against the . Another tight end, , added four receptions of his own Jeff Zatkoff Men Jersey  for 69 yards. The didn't utilize wide receiver as they usually do, but he did produce on one of his three receptions.This is the way it likely will look for the in the coming weeks. They'll have to play to Osweiler's strengths while recognizing the importance of managing his limitations. The days of Denver fielding a prolific, record-breaking unit pa sed long ago. This team is now in complete survival mode, and it's been that way ever since Manning's play declined precipitously.The most encouraging aspect of Osweiler's first start was his own maturity. He understood that this was a huge moment -- both because of his chance to play and the man he was replacing -- but he kept it in perspective."One thing that I have learned in my three and a half years of watching Peyton and this football team is that you need to close out that outside noise," Osweiler said. "At the end of the day, it's a football game. When you can focus on the task at hand -- one play at a time, one drive at a time, one game at time -- none of that other stuff is going to dictate what happens in the game."Osweiler felt so comfortable in his new role that he even addre sed the team when Denver arrived in Chicago on Saturday night. He wouldn't go into specifics, although he did admit that he stre sed the importance of having "a mentality that I wanted us to play with today." It's a safe bet that Osweiler's mentality involved many of the things Denver had done succe sfully before this point. He clearly knew he didn't have to be Superman for his team to escape with a victory.This was ultimately a critical test for both him and the , proving they have plenty of steam left for a championship run. To win a game on the road  Taylor Chorney Women Jersey under adverse circumstances -- with a backup quarterback, and -- means a statement was sent to the rest of the NFL.After all, the question before this game was: Could Denver win without Manning on the field? The one that came out of it is just as intriguing: Are the actually better off without him?Follow Jeffri Chadiha on Twitter .