Elway said Osweiler will be the Broncos backup quarterback until Paxton Lynch returns from a sprained throwing shoulder in a month or more.

The previous time Osweiler was a Bronco, he was ahead of Trevor Siemian on the depth chart and served as Peyton Manning’s understudy. But he bolted to Houston in free agency after Manning retired and Siemian rose to the top of the depth chart.

Siemian beat out Lynch again this summer and Lynch got hurt in the third preseason game, necessitating Denver’s search for a veteran QB.

The Broncos cut rookie camp sensation Kyle Sloter and tried to re-sign him to their practice squad Sunday, but Sloter instead signed with the Vikings for a $20,000-a-week practice squad paycheck.

The Broncos are only on the hook for $775,000 of Osweiler’s salary this season with the Browns paying the other $15.25 million.

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Oddsmakers don’t think Brock Osweiler should guarantee the 16-point underdog Houston Texans can beat Tom Brady and the Patriots in New England. In fact, even if Brady were not playing, the Patriots would be favored by nearly two touchdowns.

”Normally, he is worth six to seven points to the spread, depending on the opponent,” said Scott Cooley, spokesman for BookMaker, an offshore book and casino. ”But in this situation it changes a bit because the Patriots have a very capable backup in Jimmy Garappolo, who we’ve seen perform well in meaningful games. If Brady wasn’t playing this weekend, we would make the Patriots 12- to 13-point favorites.”

The Patriots (14-2) beat the Texans 27-0 in Week 3 with third-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett leading the way.

Brady, of course, will be under center against the Texans and he’s playing some of his best football. He’s taking nothing for granted because coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t have it another way.

”There is nothing easy about this game for our offense,” Brady said on WEEI radio in Boston.

Osweiler is 1-0 against Brady. Peyton Manning’s former backup rallied Denver from a 21-7 deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Patriots 30-24 in overtime last season.

But this isn’t the same Osweiler – he was benched last month – and the Texans (10-7) are not last year’s Super Bowl champion Broncos.

The Patriots are used to double-digit point spreads in the playoffs. They’ve been involved in the five largest spreads since 2000, according to Pro Football Reference. They’re only 1-3 covering the spread as favorites, but 3-1 in the won/loss column.

New England was a 14-point underdog when it upset the Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl. After going 16-0 in 2007, the Patriots failed to cover three times as favorites of 12 1/2 or more in the playoffs. They defeated the Jaguars and Chargers before losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl.

In 2012, they whipped Tim Tebow and the Broncos 45-10 in the divisional round to cover a 13 1/2-point spread.

Pro Football Reference lists 59 double-digit favorites in playoff games since the Super Bowl began in January 1967. The favorites are 33-25-1 against the spread and 47-12 straight up.

The five biggest point spreads in the playoffs since 1966:

19 points: 49ers vs. Chargers in 1995 Super Bowl. Steve Young threw six touchdown passes, including three to Jerry Rice, to lead San Francisco to a 49-26 victory and its fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy.

18 points: Colts vs. Jets in 1969 Super Bowl. Namath guaranteed a win for the underdog Jets and delivered. Broadway Joe threw for 206 yards, Matt Snell had 121 yards rushing and a TD and Jim Turner kicked three field goals in New York’s 16-7 victory over Baltimore.

16 + points: Vikings vs. Cardinals in 1999 NFC divisional round. Randall Cunningham tossed three TD passes, including one to rookie Randy Moss, to lead the Vikings to a 41-21 win.

15 + points: 49ers vs. Bears in 1995 NFC divisional round. William Floyd ran for three TDs and San Francisco routed Chicago 44-15.

15 points: Cowboys vs. Falcons in 1978 NFC divisional round. Danny White replaced Roger Staubach after he sustained a concussion and led the Cowboys to a 27-20 win, but not a cover.

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With Tom Savage out with a concussion, the Texans will look to their $72 million man to lead them in their wild-card playoff game against Oakland on Saturday.

Osweiler joined the Texans in the offseason on that huge contract after spending his first four seasons in Denver. He started the first 14 games this season before being benched in the second quarter against Jacksonville on Dec. 18 after throwing interceptions on consecutive drives to give him 16 for the season. Savage took over and rallied the Texans to the victory and started Houston’s last two games.

But Savage suffered a concussion early in the second quarter Sunday in a loss to the Titans , and Osweiler took over and threw for 253 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score.

It will be Osweiler’s first career playoff start after he was benched for Peyton Manning before the start of the postseason in Denver last season.

”It’s a dream come true … I couldn’t be more excited,” Osweiler said. ”I can’t wait for Saturday to be here. I wish it was here today. But I’ll definitely be ready to go.”

With Savage out Saturday, Brandon Weeden , who hasn’t played since last season, will back up Osweiler.

Osweiler’s coaches and receivers all thought he played more freely on Sunday than he had in the past and the quarterback explained what he thinks brought about the change.

”I told myself: `If you get an opportunity to go back in, just go have fun. Get back to the joy of football,”’ he said.

Osweiler set that tone the second he took the field on Sunday, gathering the offensive lineman telling a quick joke before getting down to business.

”Everyone had a good little laugh,” Osweiler said.

But details of that joke will be left in the category of what happens on the field stays on the field.

”I’m going to keep that one between me and the linemen,” Osweiler said with a sly smile.

Osweiler and star receiver DeAndre Hopkins had some trouble connecting this season with the quarterback often trying to force balls to Hopkins that were intercepted. Things were different on Sunday when Osweiler and Hopkins linked up repeatedly, and he ended with a season-high 123 yards receiving. It was the most yards he’d had since finishing with 113 in a win over Kansas City on Sept. 18.

”He did a great job coming in, being a leader and stepping in, forgetting about everything’s that’s happened,” Hopkins said. ”He’s been doing a great job at practice on leading everybody, being the same guy that he was when he was first in there. Nobody’s seen a change in the way he’s been acting … so I expect him to continue his play from last week.”

Oakland coach Jack Del Rio, who will start rookie Connor Cook at quarterback Saturday, worked with the Broncos when Osweiler was there. He was asked if he expects to see a different player than he did when Oakland beat the Texans in Mexico City on Nov. 21.

”That’s up to Brock,” Del Rio said. ”I was with him in Denver. I understand the arm strength and size and his mobility and decision-making and all those type of things, and we’ll get ourselves prepared and do the best we can.”

Osweiler believes being relegated to backup last season in Denver helped him deal with this year’s setback.

”Obviously nobody wants to be benched, but I have experienced that before,” he said. ”I think I handled it much better this time than previously.”

The 26-year-old Osweiler used this time on the bench to observe the game from a different perspective, and it helped him learn and see some things that he didn’t see before. After figuring out a way to have fun on the field again last week, Osweiler plans to take that same mindset into Saturday’s game even though the stage will be much bigger.

”Just take what the defense gives you and just go play football … just go have fun and go play some backyard football with your buddies,” he said. ”And that’s really the mentality I took into Sunday’s game and I’m going to continue to carry that with me.”

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Osweiler, who Houston signed to that huge contract this offseason, was replaced after throwing interceptions on two straight possessions in the second quarter last Sunday against the Jaguars. Savage took over and threw for 260 yards in his first action since 2014 to help Houston rally from a 13-point deficit for a 21-20 victory .

Coach Bill O’Brien stayed with Savage this week and the third-year player will make his first career start against the Bengals.

”He’s confident in his own abilities,” O’Brien said. ”He’s a good communicator with his teammates. His teammates have a lot of respect for him. They’ve seen how hard he’s worked to wait to get this opportunity.”

Savage was a fourth-round pick in 2014, but has appeared in just three games since then after spending all of last season on injured reserve and serving as Osweiler’s backup for most of this season.

”It’s a great opportunity to go out there and show what I can do,” he said. ”I have to go out there and execute what I need to do and I’m going to have some fun doing it.”

Houston (8-6) can secure the division title and a playoff spot Saturday with a win against Cincinnati and a loss by the Titans, who are playing the Jaguars. The Texans insist they aren’t thinking about any other team this week and are simply focused on themselves.

”We know what’s at hand and what’s in front of us, so we’re just going out there trying to get another win, trying to get our ninth win, defend our home field,” left tackle Duane Brown said. ”That’s all we’re worried about.”

The Bengals (5-8-1) look to end a disappointing season on a high note after losing four of their last six to be eliminated from playoff contention , ending a streak of five straight postseason appearances.

”Obviously, we’ve raised the bar here, so we expect to be competing within our division,” defensive end Carlos Dunlap said. ”This year, we didn’t do that and the end result is what we’ve got now. So it’s not a good feeling. Very frustrating. Nothing we can do about it now. We’ve just got to learn from it and not let it happen next year.”

Some things to know about the Bengals-Texans game:

FOURTH QUARTER BLUES: The Bengals have scored only 51 points in the fourth quarter, an average of 3.6 that is the worst in the NFL. The winless Cleveland Browns are second-to-last. In the past six games, the Bengals have managed three field goals and a safety in the fourth quarter, contributing to the slide that ended their postseason hopes. In a 24-20 loss to the Steelers on Sunday, they were shut out in the second half and managed only 38 yards total.

HOPE FOR HOPKINS: Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins should have reason to hope he’ll have better numbers now that Savage has taken over at quarterback. Hopkins was third in the NFL with 1,521 yards receiving last year, but his numbers have suffered this season as Osweiler struggled to get the ball downfield and Houston’s passing offense sank to near the bottom of the NFL. Hopkins has 788 yards receiving and has just one 100-yard receiving game this season after finishing with six last year. Savage got the ball to Hopkins on Sunday and he finished with 87 yards receiving, which was his highest total since a 113-yard game against the Chiefs on Sept. 18.

NO CHANGES: Bengals coach Marvin Lewis won’t make any lineup changes with Cincinnati eliminated from playoff contention. Some of his younger players have gotten bigger roles as the season has evolved, but Lewis isn’t going to increase their number of plays in the last two games.

”My thought is to win these next two football games with the best players we can put out there to play,” Lewis said. ”That’s what we owe to everybody. This isn’t junior high school.”

CLOWNEY KEEPS COMING: Houston defensive end Jadeveon Clowney has played perhaps the best two games of his three-year career in the last two weeks. Clowney had a sack, three tackles for losses and two quarterback hits against Jacksonville last week after getting a strip-sack against the Colts two weeks ago. The top overall pick in the 2014 draft, who was selected to the Pro Bowl on Tuesday, is tied for fourth in the NFL with 15 tackles for losses and has a career-high five sacks this season.

WELCOME HOME: Kicker Randy Bullock was a Texans fifth-round pick in 2012. The Bengals released struggling kicker Mike Nugent and claimed Bullock off waivers from Pittsburgh a week ago. He made field goals of 23 and 22 yards as well as both of his extra-point attempts against the Steelers, getting a loud ovation from fans at Paul Brown Stadium. Nugent’s struggles – six missed field goals and five missed extra points – contributed to the Bengals’ slide.

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AP Sports Writer Joe Kay contributed to this report.

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