Steelers coordinator speaks quite candidly about Osweiler, Manning

There is a slightly awkward, damned-if-he-does, damned-if-he-doesn’t vibe around Gary Kubiak and the Denver Broncos right now.

With Peyton Manning returning to practice this week and Brock Osweiler’s play — while not bad, per se — trending in the wrong direction, Kubiak heads into big games this week and next with a quarterback quandary hanging over his head.

Sunday’s opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers, appear anxious to exploit this and perhaps poke a bear a bit in the process.

[Yahoo Daily Fantasy: $10 could win you $30K in our $300K contest for Week 15]

Listen to the candor of Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler (via the team’s official website) when he speaks about Osweiler, the current starter, in comparison to Manning, the man he replaced. Should we blame Osweiler for taking five second-half sacks last week against the Oakland Raiders, or the Broncos’ shaky pressure?

(Note: emphasis added with bold.)

“A little bit of both,” Butler said. “Pulling the ball down and not being sure of where he goes with it. Obviously, Peyton knows where he’s going with it all the time. This guy, sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t.”

OK, that’s not the most incendiary thing you’ll read, trash talk-wise, when it comes to the Steelers. But it’s rare to hear such straight shooting from a coach, as they tend to play it a little closer to the vest, but Butler makes an interesting observation here. True or not, we cannot really say, although Osweiler clearly has taken some sacks since taking over that have been on him. So we tend to agree here.

Butler adds:

“But [Osweiler] does make some good throws. He does have a good arm and he’s done a good job for them. I know he’s given up more sacks. That’s not all his fault all the time. We have to try to do as much as we can to take advantage of him and get to the quarterback.”

The Broncos’ offense has stalled lately, failing to score a touchdown on its past 23 possessions. The run game has been stale, and the pass protection has failed Osweiler for sure, which has led to his play declining as a result. And the Steelers smell blood.

How the Broncos handle the next few weeks will be fascinating. It almost feels like they can’t make the right call, no matter what decision they make.

– – – – – – –

Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm