Coach Fangio says calendar is ‘closing in’ on QB competition

Vic Fangio expressed confidence in both of his quarterbacks following the Broncos win over the Seahawks, and said they’ve grown since the beginning of training camp.

“Both of these guys have done well,” he said in a press conference immediately after the game. “We can play and win with either one of these guys, and that’s a good thing.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter joined “The Drive” with D-Mac and Tyler Polumbus yesterday and potentially broke some news on the Broncos quarterback decision by saying the decision could come this week and it leans toward Bridgewater.

Regardless, Fangio also hinted in his comments after the game that the two quarterbacks may still split time this season.

“We’ll give it thorough thought,” he said. “We’ve been discussing it, with the coaches, with George (Paton), all along and we’ll continue to do that.”

When asked Saturday if he was any closer to naming a starter, he said, “I am. Because the calendar’s closing in on us.”

Doesn’t make it sound like one’s just completely outshining the other, but rather, they’re simply running out of time.

That said, the impression left by Bridgewater on Saturday cannot be overlooked.

“He’s got good quarterback awareness and instincts. I think it’s shown in the way he can move within a pocket and buy time that way,” Fangio said, adding that some of Bridgewater’s plays were “hard quarterback plays, where he had to manipulate the pocket, step up, step laterally, wait for something to come open late.”

Fangio was particularly impressed with Bridgewater’s fourth-down conversions - even though he acknowledged that one should have been a converted third down if the pass hadn’t been dropped.

And while the Broncos may not go for all fourth downs in a regular season game, Fangio believes at least two of those on Saturday were likely candidates.

“Of the three of them, two were very realistic,” he said of the conversions, noting that those two could’ve happened in any game, “You know, last year, statistically on third-and-two and -three, which is like fourth down, you know we weren’t very good at it, so it doesn’t warm your heart, or my heart, to be going for it. If I have confidence, we’ll do it.”

As of Saturday night, Fangio said he was not done analyzing Lock’s plays and that the QB competition was still open.

“I think Drew, we had some protection breakdowns when he got in there,” Fangio remarked, “I want to see all his plays with a remote in my hand and take a good look at it rather than what I saw on the field at the time.”

Quarterbacks weren’t the only ones serving up the sauce. Dalton Risner recovered a Javonte Williams fumble and turned it into a touchdown. Justin Simmons pulled a beautiful early interception, and rookie Jonathon Cooper strip-sacked Seahawks QB Alex McGough.

The team also had zero turnovers, zero penalties.

If there was anything disappointing about this rodeo, it was special teams - particularly with the long returns they gave up, and of course that punt blocked by Seattle’s DeeJay Dallas.

Asked about the deficiencies he noticed, Fangio specified coverage units.

“They had a nice kickoff return there on us,” he admitted, “They had another one that didn’t go quite as far, and obviously the deflected punt is, as good as we were playing, those are things that can ruin a game for you.”

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