Brock Osweiler, not Peyton Manning, 'expected to start' vs. Steelers

Brock Osweiler experienced his first loss as starting NFL quarterback in Week 14. In Week 15, if a 9NEWS report holds true, Osweiler will get his first chance at a bounceback.

Peyton Manning is not expected to be ready to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Klis of 9NEWS reports, and Brock Osweiler is expected to make his fifth consecutive start. This report is not officially from the horse's mouth - Gary Kubiak was non-committal regarding Manning's status next week when asked postgame.

"I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but obviously the plan is that we're moving forward," Kubiak said. "We had some good days last week working out, doing some drill work. I don't want to get ahead of myself here and tell you 'yes.' Let me see where we're at Monday, Tuesday. Let me see what's going on."

While we wait for official word from Kubiak, one thing is clear: the quarterback controversy in Denver is heating up. Across five games in 2015 with four starts, Osweiler has thrown five TDs to three INTs and has an 85.8 passer rating. In nine games for Manning, he threw nine TDs to 17 INTs and a 67.6 passer rating. Clearly Brock's numbers are better, but neither QB's stats are stellar. It'll be interesting to see in which direction Kubiak goes once Manning is cleared to play, which Klis suggests could be Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football.