Sean Payton Grades Broncos QB Jarrett Stidham in First Start vs. L.A.
After a turbulent build-up to the Denver Broncos' tilt with the Los Angeles Chargers, getting the 16-9 win was no mean feat.
Irrespective of the Broncos' hard-fought but boring victory, the harsh reality is they were finally eliminated from playoff contention. In any other season, the focus would be very much on the Broncos' now severely depressing eight-year playoff drought.
A dearth of success continues to dog the franchise and hasn't been helped by head coach Sean Payton creating a firestorm of controversy by benching quarterback Russell Wilson. When backup-turned-starter Jarrett Stidham was asked if he'd provided the "spark" that Coach Payton was looking for, he left the answer up to others.
“I mean, that’s not for me to judge on, I guess. My job is to come in here and move the chains and score points and, ultimately, win," Stidham said post-game. "Like I said, I thought we did some really good things offensively. I thought the O-line played incredible tonight. Obviously, when we get in the low red [zone], we have to put the ball in. We had a couple chances and didn’t do that, so we have to fix that, for sure. As far as the spark, I’ll let others talk on that.”
Stidham's performance may not have been anything to write home about, but he can be proud of the way he navigated the tricky external issues beyond his control, all while still doing enough to carve out a victory. Inevitably, the tropes will wheel back to the still-morphing fallout emanating from the Wilson benching.
As much as Payton would have preferred not to answer more questions about the dethroned Wilson, he simply had to post-game.
"Russ has been fantastic this week," Payton said."Look, I think this idea that he and I, or we, don’t have a good relationship, or he’s not a fit, all of that stuff comes from people further away from our program. You guys are close to it. I think the further away people are from the program, the more they just jump to a narrative. It is what it is, but he’s approached this week like we expected—like a pro.”
Further questions will arise, and based on Stidham's one-game sample size, it's hard to foresee him proving undoubtedly to be the answer to Payton's prayers under center. Still, Payton referenced the poise he's always seen within Stidham, which he felt served him well as the starter on Sunday.
“I thought he was good. I thought he was collected, calm. I thought he played with really good poise," Payton said of Stidham. "He felt experienced relative to a guy who hasn’t had as many minutes maybe as some others. You certainly didn’t feel that during the course of the game. I thought he was efficient in and out of the huddle. I thought he made some good throws for us overall until I see the tape. I thought it went pretty good.”
Stidham will get another chance to impress his head coach next week against the Las Vegas Raiders, who are currently riding a seven-game winning streak over the Broncos. Despite getting one more opportunity, and even with Payton's uneasy cordiality toward Wilson clouding issues, we're heading into an offseason where Denver identifying a new starting quarterback will dominate the headlines.
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