Denver Broncos backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham has suddenly become the steward of the hopes and dreams of Broncos Country.
He also possesses a one-way, non-stop, first-class ticket to Canton, Ohio with his head coach’s name on it. If Sean Payton is to be fitted for football’s most desirable jacket, Stidham might as well be the tailor.
It’s a shame about Bo Nix, Payton’s handpicked signal caller, who, in just his second year as a pro, led the Broncos to the AFC Championship Game – on the heels of a 14-3, first-place campaign, no less. On one, seemingly innocent play with the game nearly in hand, Nix somehow suffered a season-ending injury. Whatever happened on the play was so benign that nobody even noticed. In fact, the heart and soul of the Broncos ahead-of-schedule ascent barely winced. Of the 78 thousand (and change) on hand at Empower Field, none of them, including his head coach, knew that Nix’s eighth game-winning drive of the season had just come at the ultimate price.
Nix is done. And now it’s up to Stidham.
“Stiddy’s ready to go,” Payton said after delivering the bad news about Nix. “I said this at the beginning of the season: I feel like I’ve got a two [backup QB] that’s capable of starting for a number of teams. I know he feels the same way.”
It’s a coach’s job to maintain poise in the toughest of situations. It’s a coach’s job to instill confidence in his team, even if it may not be justified.
Payton did, to his credit, tell everyone about Stidham at the beginning of the season. He also said the Broncos could win a Super Bowl. He coolly mentioned that Bo Nix would be a “top-4 or -5 quarterback” in the league.
“So, watch out. Just watch,” Payton doubled-down on “Stiddy,” as if to call another shot.
Who are we to doubt a coach who’s looked like a prophet all season?
But here’s the real kicker: If Payton can win a Super Bowl behind a no-name backup who’s been in the league for seven seasons and only taken four, garbage-time snaps in his most recent, the coach will punch his ticket to Canton faster than Mike Tyson decked Marvis Frazier.
It’s not as if Payton doesn’t have a case for Canton already – he most certainly does. The coach already has a .630 winning percentage over his 18 years as a head coach. He’s already hoisted one Lombardi Trophy with the Saints. If Nix could have handed Payton his second, one would think Payton would have been a shoo-in for Canton.
Then again, Mike Shanahan won two Lombardi Trophies and he’s still mysteriously waiting.
Tom Coughlin and George Siefert (who has a better lifetime winning percentage than Payton) both won two Super Bowls, and are still awaiting the call from the Hall.
And don’t forget, some argue there’s a dark cloud that hovers over Payton because of “Bountygate” and the 2012 season-long suspension that followed. It’s safe to say that not everyone is a fan of Payton, and politics have a funny way of keeping deserving folks from various honors.
But if the ol’ ball coach can somehow win a ring with Jarrett Stidham? Oh, he’s in like Flynn.
When it comes to winning coaches, there’s an age-old debate: Is it the coach or is it the quarterback? That dilemma likely plagues Shanahan and Siefert, both of whom coached Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Canton most certainly awaits Bill Belichick, who won six Super Bowls with Tom Brady. But going 29-38 without him, and posting just one winning season in New England’s post-Brady era, makes Belichick the subject of the same old argument.
By winning with Stidham, Payton can settle that debate and skip to the front of the line for consideration into football’s most prestigious club.
History tells us that winning it all with a backup makes one a lock.
Bill Parcells, Payton’s mentor, won Super Bowl XXV with backup Jeff Hostetler under center. Phill Simms went 11-3 as the starter. After suffering an injury, Hostetler won two regular season games then guided the Giants to Parcell’s second championship.
Like Hostetler, Redskins quarterback Doug Williams started just two regular season games in 1987 before going on to win Super Bowl XXII against the Broncos. The win marked the second of three Super Bowl victories for Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs.
Even Don Shula, the engineer of the NFL’s only perfect season, had to lean on Earl Morrall when Bob Griese went down with an injury. Morrall didn’t start in the Super Bowl, but Shula called on “the greatest backup in NFL history” to go 11-0 as his starter.
Shula, Gibbs, Parcells: All synonymous with the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Each dealt a bad hand when their starting quarterback went down. All champions anyway.
Nobody thought that Payton would be coaching the AFC’s top seed this season. Nobody thought that Bo Nix would guide his team to the AFC Championship Game in just is sophomore season. In their wildest dreams, nobody could imagine Jarrett Stidham being the starting quarterback in Super Bowl LX.
Nobody except Payton, that is.
If he’s right, he’s as good as gold.
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