Jarrett Stidham is experiencing some serious deja vu right now. With two games left in the season, the Broncos are sitting QB Russell Wilson so as to not risk him getting injured as they intend to move on from him this offseason. Head coach Sean Payton has named Stidham the starter for the final two games.
If this sounds familiar, it should. Replace Broncos QB Russell Wilson with Raiders QB Derek Carr and you have the exact situation at the exact same juncture for Stidham as last season in Las Vegas.
The Raiders lost to the Steelers to drop to 6-9 and out of any realistic playoff scenarios when they benched Carr, signaling the end of his career with the Raiders.
The Broncos just dropped two straight to the Lions and Patriots to fall to 7-8 on the season. A record they achieved largely on the play of their outstanding defense.
Thus making for the one major difference between this situation and last year at this time. That’s because the Broncos still have a shot at the playoffs, so Stidham won’t just be playing out the string. They hope he can perform better than Wilson and give them their best chance at reaching the postseason.
What’s really interesting here is it could come down to facing his former team in his former home. The Broncos season finale is in Las Vegas exactly a year after Stidham last suited up in Silver & Black.