Ever since Peyton Manning retired, it doesn’t consciousness similar a Broncos offseason without a question people astatine the backmost position.
Incumbent starter Drew Lock and newcomer Teddy Bridgewater person been battling done the preseason to find retired who volition pb Denver nether halfway starting successful Week 1.
We took it to the virtual gridiron to spot which backmost volition person much occurrence with the Broncos successful 2021. In simulations successful Madden NFL 22, we took a look astatine however Bridgewater’s and Lock’s seasons played out.
The rules: Injuries and trades are turned disconnected to make an adjacent playing tract for the 2 quarterbacks. Both rosters and extent charts are identical. Every week, players who are eligible for a stats upgrade volition person one. Trades person besides been turned off.
So, here’s a look astatine however the 2 Broncos quarterbacks fared:
Teddy Bridgewater
Stat line: Completed 348 of 517 passes (67%), 4,201 yards passing, 30 TDs, 12 INTs; 42 carries, 165 yards rushing, 2 TDs.
Broncos record: 12-5
For the archetypal clip since the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50-winning season, Denver makes a instrumentality to the playoffs.
With Bridgewater nether center, the Broncos were seventh successful the AFC with 448 points, an mean of 26.4 per game. The defence was key, limiting opponents to conscionable 383 points (fifth-best successful the AFC). Denver was arsenic palmy astatine location (6-3) arsenic they were connected the roadworthy (6-2). Bridgewater finished the twelvemonth ranked sixth among the AFC’s champion quarterbacks.
One cardinal that helped this team’s occurrence was Von Miller’s re-emergence. He returned from wounded with a vengeance, breaking Michael Strahan’s single-season grounds with 23.5 sacks.
Denver’s 12-5 grounds gave the squad a second-place decorativeness successful the AFC West, down undefeated Kansas City.
The Broncos bushed the Patriots successful the wild-card game, 28-21. Denver past mislaid to the high-powered Chiefs, 28-21, putting an extremity to its season.
Drew Lock
Stat line: Completed 363 of 566 passes (64%), 4,287 yards passing, 21 TDs, 8 INTs; 26 carries, 106 yards rushing, zero touchdowns.
Broncos record: 8-9
For the 5th consecutive year, the Broncos finished with a losing record.
After starting the play 7-5 and successful striking scope of their archetypal playoff berth since 2015, the Broncos crumbled astatine the extremity of the season, losing 4 of the past 5 games. The discourtesy struggled, compiling conscionable 342 points (second worst successful the AFC), averaging 20.1 per game. Lock wasn’t ranked among the apical 10 quarterbacks successful the AFC.
The defense, however, was among the AFC’s best. Led by Miller and Bradley Chubb, who combined for 31 sacks, they allowed conscionable 382 points (fourth-best successful the conference).