Teddy Bridgewater Out: Ian Rapoport Dishes on Why Week 16 Could be Drew Lock's Last Chance

The Denver Broncos travel to take on the Las Vegas Raiders this week with their season and many jobs likely on the line. The Broncos are hoping to snap a three-game losing streak vs. their biggest divisional rival.

On Wednesday, we learned from head coach Vic Fangio that Teddy Bridgewater has officially been ruled out following his second head injury in two and a half months. Denver’s 2020 starter — Drew Lock — is set to start at quarterback on Sunday.

Not only is Denver’s season on the line but Lock's career could be, too. Last season, Lock led the Broncos on a trip to Las Vegas but it turned out to be anything but lucky as the team’s last trip to Sin City resulted in Denver being embarrassed to the tune of a 37-12 loss with Lock having arguably the worst game of his young career as he tossed four interceptions.

Lock will hope his fortunes have changed as some believe this game will be a defining moment for the young quarterback's career arc going forward.

On the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, NFL insider Ian Rapaport discussed Lock and his matchup versus the Raiders and laid out just how stark the stakes are.

“Drew Lock is going to take the field and have his first start with everything on the line. You would like Bridgewater to be in there but that’s kind of fascinating since Bridgewater beat Drew Lock out.

“If you like Drew Lock. If you think he’s going to be a really good quarterback, you could watch and pick out moments where you say ‘alright, this is why he is going to be a successful starter’ and then he has other moments where you are like ‘okay… he is not’ and maybe this is who he is going to be? Maybe he’s going to be a backup who can flash. Absolutely massive opportunity for the Broncos and for his career on Sunday.”

"With Teddy Bridgewater out this will be the biggest start of Drew Lock's career on Sunday" ~@RapSheet #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/H1gmVurCHP
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 22, 2021

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If Lock plays solid football on Sunday and can avoid the mistakes that have plagued his football career to date, perhaps he can hold onto the Broncos’ starting quarterback spot for the remainder of the season, although Fangio didn't sound too optimistic about it.

"Teddy's our quarterback," Fangio said Wednesday.

Lock might even be auditioning for a chance to compete for a starting gig in 2022 and beyond if he can protect the football, operate the offense, and play well down the final stretch of the season. There is no question he has the arm talent and athleticism to be a quality quarterback in the league but teams simply will not put up with how often he has shown to turn the ball over in today’s NFL, as Rapoport highlighted.

"Drew can show up too, right? He’s a guy who can show up for a big moment. We will see how much he’s learned and grown and everything. It felt like they did not want him to be the starter at all even though they drafted him. There were a couple games where he showed up and made some big plays (last season) and then you watch an entire season to like Week 10 or Week 11 and all I heard from Broncos fans was like ‘we still don’t know if he’s the guy or not’ and it’s like if you don’t know this far into… do you ever? I think that’s where the Broncos got and now they get to see him in a massive moment. It’s huge.”

Lock has a golden opportunity in front of him right now going up against the atrocious Raiders, who have fielded the single worst pass defense EPA per play over the last five weeks of the season. If he can take a page from Bridgewater and learn to live to fight another down while also incorporating his own flair and propensity to take vertical shots into the offense, Lock might be able to do enough to garner a future opportunity in the league. '

Let’s hope for the Broncos’ case that Lock can rise up and help his team continue to contend for a Wildcard spot with a win over the Raiders on Sunday. Lock is 1-2 all-time vs. this opponent.

Follow Nick on Twitter @NickKendellMHH.

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