The Denver Broncos came out of the preseason gates on Friday night with a head full of steam before proceeding to steamroll the Atlanta Falcons. The Broncos opened the exhibition season with a 27-7 road win, looking every bit like the Super Bowl contenders many expect them to be.
Jarrett Stidham got the start for the Broncos and looked terrific in the process, showing no signs that he is even close to losing his job as Bo Nix's primary backup. That news may not sit well in the minds of many Broncos fans who are still upset over the way Stidham performed in last year's AFC Championship game.
However, if Stidham was going to lose his job as the team's backup quarterback because of that game, that move should have already happened. Instead, Sam Ehlinger has had the door open for his chance to play his way into that job, or so we've been led to believe.
Whether this is a close competition or not is up for discussion, as some believe coach Sean Payton is just showing the league what he has in Ehlinger in an effort to earn some kind of compensation for him from a quarterback-needy team, and that he doesn't actually have much chance of wresting the job away from Stidham.
Jarrett Stidham is the Broncos' clear choice at No. 2 QB
Stidham showed strong command of the offense in this game. He completed nine of his 15 pass attempts for 131 yards and one touchdown. On the scoring play, he evaded the pass rush and made a good decision to find Jaleel McLaughlin for a 5-yard touchdown pass.
Takeaway ➡️ Touchdown 💪
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 14, 2026
📺: 9NEWS | @Speedkills2k_pic.twitter.com/RDqldiYvFI
For his part, Ehlinger didn't play badly. He completed 10 of 14 passes for 67 yards and ran for another 21 yards on the ground. But he also severely underthrew a deep ball in the fourth quarter that was intended for Dane Key and could have resulted in a touchdown if he had laid it out better. Instead, a Falcons defender came down with the ball and would have had an interception if not for barely landing out of bounds first.
Ehlinger is a good quarterback to have to draw on in a pinch. The Broncos like him, but he's probably not going to be the backup quarterback this season unless the team feels that the potential cap savings for cutting Stidham are too good to pass up.
However, in a season in which Nix is coming back from a broken ankle, the best option for the team would be to stick with Stidham. Yes, he fell short in the AFC Championship game, but he is far from the sole reason the Broncos lost that game. He gained more experience and likely learned a lot from that humbling defeat. He will be ready the next time his number is called.
Truthfully, this competition should already be over.
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Broncos’ backup quarterback battle appears to have an early favorite