Rypien breaks the Boise State curse, leads Broncos to a win in his first start
Brett Rypien is the third former Boise State player to start a game at quarterback in the NFL, but he’s the first to win one.
Rypien, who is in his second season with the Denver Broncos, made his first career start Thursday night against the New York Jets. Despite throwing three interceptions, he drove the team down the field late for the go-ahead field goal in the Broncos’ 37-28 win.
The previous two Boise State quarterbacks who started in the NFL — Kellen Moore (Detroit and Dallas) and Ryan Finley (Cincinnati) — are a combined 0-5.
Rypien and Giants quarterback Daniel Jones are the only NFL quarterbacks to lead a fourth-quarter, game-winning drive in their first start since 2017, according to ESPN.
Rypien completed 19-of-31 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns Thursday night. His first touchdown pass went to rookie wide receiver Jerry Jeudy on a 48-yard score, which gave the Broncos a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.
His second went to tight end Tim Patrick and stretched Denver’s lead to 24-16 late in the third quarter.
Rypien threw interceptions on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter, one of which was returned for a touchdown to cut the Broncos’ lead to 27-25. But he led a nine-play drive, which resulted in a 53-yard field goal and a 30-28 lead with 3:08 to play. He also threw a block on the touchdown run that clinched the Broncos’ win.
“I think first and foremost we got the win, that was the goal coming into tonight,’‘ Rypien said, according to ESPN.com. “That’s what I wanted to do. That feels really good ... I’m thinking about we got the win tonight and I’m feeling pretty good about it.’‘
The game had some similarity to Rypien’s first start at Boise State, in which he led eight scoring drives against Virginia in 2015. On Thursday, he led seven scoring drives.
The Broncos are waiting for starter Drew Lock’s shoulder to heal and have signed veteran Blake Bortles as a potential starter for next week’s game against the New England Patriots. But Rypien at least gave coaches reasons to consider keeping him in the lineup.
“I mean yeah we have some extra days here to think about it,’‘ coach Vic Fangio said, according to ESPN.com. “(We’ll) take a look at the tape thoroughly, analyze it and go with what we think is best.’‘
Rypien signed with the Broncos last year as an undrafted free agent and spent much of the season on the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster for three games to serve as Brandon Allen’s backup with both Joe Flacco and Lock injured.
The Broncos waived Rypien earlier this month, but he was re-signed to the practice squad. On Sunday, he saw his first action of the season after replacing starter Jeff Driskel late in Broncos’ loss to Tampa Bay.
The 6-foot-2, 202-pound Spokane, Washington, native finished his college career as the Mountain West’s all-time leader in passing yards (13,581), completions (1,036) and 300-yard passing games (21). He also passed Moore on Boise State’s all-time 300-yard passing list with 17 such performances.
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 11:29 PM.
