By Jordan Long
The Denver Broncos beat the Dallas Cowboys in their first preseason game 17-7. They will now prepare to take on Buffalo on Saturday for preseason game #2. The Broncos have a competition for the backup quarterback role.
The two quarterbacks on Denver’s roster besides Russell Wilson are Josh Johnson and Brett Rypien. Johnson is listed ahead of Rypien on the depth chart. Both played against Dallas.
Johnson played the first half. He started slow, missing his open receivers. In his first three drives, the Broncos didn’t score any points. They punted twice and gave the ball back to Dallas on downs once.
After that, Johnson’s play improved, leading the Broncos to 3 straight scoring drives, including a pair of touchdowns. Johnson finished the game 16 of 23 passing for 172 yards, and 2 touchdowns. The offensive line gave him time to throw the football. Johnson also didn’t force the ball into double coverage and wasn’t sacked in the game.
In the 2nd half, the Broncos turned to Brett Rypien. His numbers weren’t bad but they weren’t like Johnson’s. Rypien was 8 of 18 for 113 yards. Rypien also wasn’t sacked nor threw an interception. The difference between him and Johnson was Johnson led the Broncos to points. Rypien unfortunately didn’t. Rypien drove the Broncos to the Dallas’ 3-yard line with 3:48 left in the third quarter. Denver decided to go for it on 4th down and didn’t score a touchdown. Dallas took the ball over on downs. This was the closest Rypien was to adding points for Denver.
The Broncos are most likely going to play Johnson and Rypien for the majority of the game on Saturday. There is the possibility Russell Wilson may play a drive or two, but Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett hasn’t said his plans for this week yet. For Johnson, he doesn’t have to change anything. He played well and was reading the defense. He is leading the competition.
Rypien had some great throws to his receivers. Sure he was able to move the chains but Denver needs to see him score points. It didn’t happen against Dallas. Against Buffalo, Rypien must show growth. Moving the ball into scoring range and punching the football into the endzone will make the race for the backup quarterback position closer.
The truth is the job for the backup quarterback is far from over since the NFL is a week to week league. For right now, Johnson is the leader. An awful game against Buffalo and Rypien has his chance to seize control of it. The Broncos will take on Buffalo on Saturday with kickoff at 11:00 A.M mountain time. Hopefully, both of these quarterbacks step up their play and make the decision for the coaching staff more difficult.
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