Super Bowl 48: Brock Osweiler ready to go if Denver Broncos need him
By Hayden Kane
If the Denver Broncos need back-up quarterback Brock Osweiler to take over in Super Bowl 48 for Peyton Manning, it obviously changes everything: the match-ups, the general competitive nature of the game, the narrative building, and so on.
The Seattle Seahawks have talked all week about how much they are looking forward to facing Manning, but one imagines it would not make them too upset to see Osweiler forced into action against the Legion of Boom with the Lombardi trophy on the line.
For his part Osweiler, a 6’8″ second-year man who has thrown 20 career passes, insists that he is ready to go if the situation should call for it (quotes from the Denver Post):
"Peyton has had an amazing season, he has incredible numbers and he has led us to the Super Bowl…And now that we are in it, everybody has to play to expectations to get the result we want. That includes me. If I am called on, I have to do things to be the quarterback expected. I can’t necessarily play like him, but that doesn’t mean I can’t produce. I’ve prepared for a moment like this all of my life.”"
The only NFL reality Osweiler knows is holding a clipboard for Manning. That seems to be reflected in this quote about how he prepares for games:
"I use the playbook, the iPad, everything at home to study, because in this game the more you know the schemes, audibles and offense like the back of your hand, the more your skill can come out…Things happen in football sometimes in a millisecond. You’ve got to be ready.”"
In the background, Peyton looks on and nods with the approval of a proud father.
There is no better crash course for an NFL QB than studying Manning for two years. But no matter what Osweiler has done to prepare, the Broncos are toast if he is forced to enter Super Bowl 48.