Denver Broncos: Trevor Siemian Wins AFC Offensive Player of the Week
In his first career road start, Trevor Siemian wins the AFC Offensive Player of the Week Award while leading the Broncos to a 29-17 win over the Bengals.
Trevor Siemian, the former seventh round draft pick is putting to bed the notion that he can’t be a starting quarterback in this league. The pundits said he wouldn’t overtake Mark Sanchez and win the starting job for the Broncos—he did. No way was he going to beat the Panthers in his first NFL start—wrong again. Going into the Jungle for his first career road start was going to be a disaster right? Wrong wrong wrong—all he did was win his first AFC Offensive Player of the Week honor in just his third career start, his first on the road.
Apparently throwing for 312 yards, 4 TD’s and no interceptions is a pretty good day for any quarterback, let along a seventh round draft pick who is just supposed to be keeping the seat warm for Paxton Lynch. This is a feat that no other NFL quarterback has ever accomplished in his their first career road start.
Winning
All Trevor Siemian has done since becoming the Denver Broncos starting quarterback is win football games. He has made some mistakes, as all young quarterbacks do, but he has been great in the fourth quarter of games, bringing his team back from a deficit twice in his first three games. When it matters the most, Trevor delivers.
A lot made of Siemian's poise. On last drive, by my count he went 7-for-7 for 65 yards. Slow heartbeat when mattered most today. #DENvsCIN
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) September 25, 2016
Trevor has proven that the stage is not too big for him. Through three games, his statistics are nearly identical to what Peyton Manning did just a season ago—the difference is Siemian is improving as Manning appeared to be regressing with each passing game.
First three games '15 and '16.
PFM: 755yds/5td/3int
Siemian: 756yds/5td/3int
Nearly identical, per @kylekeefetv— Vic Lombardi (@VicLombardi) September 27, 2016
History
Needless to say, Siemian has been impressive. He is now the eighth quarterback in franchise history to win AFC Offensive Player of the Week. To do it in his third ever career start is an achievement that shouldn’t be taken lightly. He also became only the second quarterback in franchise history to throw for more than 300 yards, at least three touchdowns and no interceptions (Peyton Manning accomplished that feat twice in 2013).
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The Broncos offense scored more points in regulation on Sunday than they did at any point in their 2015 Super Bowl campaign. Siemian was a very big part of that. With the offense opening up, it should only help open up more running lanes for C.J. Anderson to run through. In turn, this will lead to more big plays downfield in the passing game. With the defense yet to hit their stride, and yet still playing lights out, it is appropriate to say that this Broncos team is better than the one that just won a Super Bowl.
Making His Mark
Trevor Siemian has now made three starts and has seemingly made improvements each week. This is one thing that really impressed his head coach.
“Here’s what I like about him most: last week, we had a chance to put a team away and not put our defense back on the field with a 3-point lead, we put our defense back on the field.” Kubiak said Monday. “This week, we get the ball, they possibly could have had to go back out there with a 5-point lead, but we stayed aggressive, made big plays and we got a two touchdown lead.”
Kubiak also touched on the fact that a big difference between this year and
Sep 25, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian (13) gives instruction prior to the snap against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
2015 is third down efficiency. Siemian has done a great job this season at keeping the offense on the field on third down, which was an area of struggle for the majority of the 2015 season.
Monday, Kubiak said “One of the things that Trevor has done a really good job at is third downs and keeping our offense on the field. Last year that was a problem for us. Right now this year, I think we’re pretty close to 50 percent which is excellent in this league.”
This is huge for a team that relied entirely on their world class defense a season ago. Keeping them on the sidelines a bit longer throughout the course of a game will only help them unleash at the end of the game. This has showed as the defense has forced all of their turnovers in the fourth quarters this season.
Gary Kubiak is not the only person impressed with Trevor Siemian; his teammates have expressed the utmost confidence in the young quarterback. Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post states that Russell Okung compared Siemian to another quarterback he’s played with—Russell Wilson.
“He’s cold as ice,” Okung said. “Those are the biggest similarities I see in the two. That showed a lot of fortitude on his part. He could have easily went for the first down, but instead he wanted to go for the big play.”
Siemian has even prompted his boss, John Elway, to take to social media and gloat to a fan that had criticized the draft pick at the time.
John Elway responds to fan questioning Siemian pick 511 days later https://t.co/IATjDD4IcR pic.twitter.com/rligtYdSCf
— FOX31 Denver KDVR (@KDVR) September 26, 2016
He certainly has made his mark on the organization from top to bottom, and has given the Denver Broncos a feeling of security at the most important position on the football field.
All He Does is Win
Siemian is a young football player—mistakes will happen. With that said, if he can continue to grow, this is a player that can help lead the Broncos back to the Super Bowl. Congratulations Trevor Siemian on your record setting day, and first ever AFC Offensive Player of the Week award. This feels like the start of yet another very special season.
All he does is win.
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