Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos: Paxton Lynch must start week 17 matchup

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:29 p.m. ET

Fansided, Sayre Bedinger/FanSided via NFL Mocks

The Denver Broncos have officially been eliminated from playoff contention, shockingly, and now need to get one last look at Paxton Lynch this season…

The Denver Broncos are no longer able to defend their Super Bowl championship as a Miami Dolphins victory over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday and their own loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday sealed their fate.

Along with the rest of us, the Denver Broncos will be watching the NFL playoffs from home, and the sad thing is, they deserve it.

The Broncos’ defense carried the team as far as it could this season, but the deficiencies and ineffective play of offense couldn’t be overcome in the end, as Denver’s pitiful showing the last month of the season resulted in the worst case scenario — no playoffs for the Champs.

It’s the first time the Broncos have missed the playoffs since the year prior to Von Miller’s arrival, when Kyle Orton was the team’s starting quarterback for the majority of the season. That was also one of the worst seasons in Denver Broncos history, and the last year this team was not under the control of John Elway.

Now, the Broncos have missed the playoffs at a much more respectable eight (potentially nine) victories but not getting to the dance is something that will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of every Broncos fan and certainly everyone involved with the team.

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All of that said, the Broncos have an opportunity on Sunday in a meaningless game against the Oakland Raiders to get some meaningful reps for their first round draft pick, quarterback Paxton Lynch. Lynch has spot started a couple of games this season and come in relief of Trevor Siemian when hurt way back against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and has seen mixed results.

If we’re being honest, they’ve been mostly bad, but Lynch has every tool you require in a quarterback from size to athleticism, to arm strength and poise in big situations. He’s a good ball player and the Broncos are excited about him, but Siemian earned more confidence from the coaching staff this year.

Thus, Lynch’s reps have been very limited.

Against the Raiders, however, they should not be limited. In fact, Trevor Siemian shouldn’t play at all. Every option for the quarterback position this offseason is on the table, so there’s no sense in risking Siemian hurts his knee, breaks a leg, or anything stupid like that.

I’m not saying you go ahead and risk it for Lynch, but the Broncos have an opportunity to see more of their young quarterback, and this is a great situation to get some tape on him. We’ve seen what we need to see from Siemian, for now.

Lynch has had opportunities, to be sure, but hasn’t really capitalized. It would be great to see him string some plays together, a few scoring drives, and heck — maybe even lead the Broncos to a win and keep their above .500 streak alive.

Starting and playing Lynch in the week 17 game is a no-brainer, but we’ll see what head coach Gary Kubiak decides.