DENVER – Brock Osweiler dropped the ball. Literally.

However bad you thought Osweiler’s return to Denver could be, it was worse than you imagined. Osweiler is shaping up as a huge free-agent mistake for the Houston Texans, and on Monday night he produced a blooper that will serve as a sad summation of his first Texans season.

Osweiler’s faux pas came at the start of the fourth quarter. Trailing 21-9, Osweiler wound up for a pass and even though he wasn’t under pressure, the ball slipped out of his hands just before he started to throw it. The ball floated aimlessly and meekly for a few yards. The Broncos recovered the fumble. Broncos fans, many of whom are still upset that Osweiler left as a free agent in the offseason, laughed.

Monday night’s game was the kind of signature Broncos performance that helped get Osweiler a $72 million deal in the offseason. Denver played great defense, keeping the Texans out of the end zone, made a few plays on offense and got a 27-9 win. The defending champs improved to 5-2, tied for first place in the AFC West. The Texans are 4-3, but nowhere near the same level as some of the AFC’s best teams, like the Broncos.

Osweiler having the ball fall out of his hand is the highlight that you’ll see often from Monday night’s game, but it was an awful homecoming long before that. At the time of Osweiler’s fumble to start the fourth quarter, he had 64 yards on 23 attempts. His longest pass to that point was 12 yards. Not one of his other attempts in the first three quarters went for more than 10 yards.

Late in the third quarter the Texans were still in it, trailing 14-9. But running back Alfred Blue was popped by safeties Darian Stewart and T.J. Ward, and Denver recovered the fumble. Denver cashed in that turnover with a touchdown, and there was no way the Texans were coming back.

Let the jokes commence about Osweiler, but Denver’s swarming defense has wrecked quarterbacks a lot better than Osweiler. When the Broncos play like this, they’re tough to beat. Especially in Denver. The defense will keep the Broncos in most games, and then it’s on the offense to produce enough to win.

Denver’s running game was pretty good on Monday night. C.J. Anderson and rookie Devontae Booker are a tough 1-2 combination. They combined for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Trevor Siemian isn’t dynamic, but he can get the ball to his talented wideouts. Demaryius Thomas caught a touchdown pass. Emmanuel Sanders had a ridiculous 31-yard catch to set up another touchdown. The Broncos offense isn’t great, but it doesn’t need to be. It was definitely good enough on Monday night.

The Texans felt like they were getting closer to that formula when they got Osweiler. Nobody was under the impression that Osweiler was the next coming of Aaron Rodgers, but the Texans had back-to-back nine-win seasons with terrible quarterback play. If Osweiler could be merely decent, maybe Houston could take the next step.

Osweiler hasn’t been decent. On Monday night, he couldn’t even hold onto the ball.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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