Sunday, November 26, 2006

Jake Plummer: AMF (adios mother fucker)

Last night I was about to declare that I thought the Broncos would continue to go with Jake Plummer for at least one more game. Well, I’m glad I didn’t say that because I would have been wrong. As of today, it will be announced that the Broncos will be going with Jay Cutler as the starting QB for next Sunday’s game with Seattle.

It’s probably about fucking time.

I liked Plummer and supported him but it became pretty clear that he wasn’t getting it done. He’d throw an amazing ball one series and lob a frozen turkey into the hands of the opposition on the next. That kind of inconsistency should land you on the bench.

If you worked in a restaurant and your top cook kept screwing up the meals he was putting out, you’d have to have a word with him. You’d put him on notice and if he kept screwing up, he’d have to either do another less important job (like prep cook) or find work elsewhere (working at Bennagins or its NFL equivalent, the Detroit Lions). When your focal point of your business is literally or figuratively dropping the ball, you have to stop the bleeding.

Going with a rookie right now is a little shaky, but if you saw Cutler in the preseason, he looked great. I don’t expect him to light it up ala some of the better QB’s in the league, but if he’s even slightly better than Plummer, they’ll be alright.

Plummer supporters will point to this season’s 7-4 record, but if they could look at those games without their Plummer colored sunglasses, they would see that the defense won most of those, not Plummer. Now the defense is getting worn down and the wins aren’t coming. They defense, once a mighty unit that didn’t allow a TD in so many games I can’t remember, is now letting people in the end zone like it was Hooters on “free fondle” night. Plummer can’t stay on the field, so 35 year old John Lynch has to run around like he’s 25….he’s not.

That defense was so hot in the beginning because they were healthy and rested. Now, they’re beat up and having to save the day on a weekly basis. You just can’t sustain that. Plummer can’t stay out there and keep a drive going because teams know he can’t throw the ball so they stuff the run make him beat them. He can’t, at least not on a consistent basis. And as we all know, it’s about consistency. As far as Plummer being consistent, just like Lynch being 25, he's not.

It’s hard to tell if Cutler is going to save this season which looks like it could go south real damn quick. On paper, and from what we’ve seen in the preseason, he seems like he could be pretty good. Most “experts” said he was better than Vince Young and Matt Lienart, but those two have been playing; Cutler has not. If he comes out blazing and throwing the ball well, it will help the stagnant running game and consequently, make the Plummer era in Denver a distant, mediocre memory.

Thanks for everything Jake, but I think it’s time we all moved on.

JR

2 comments:

How_Is_my_Leader_Today? said...

I'm happy and think it's about time that the change has been made.

I would like to add though that I believe the departure of Gary Kubiak has been the biggest blow to the Broncos since the loss of Terrel Davis.

Kubiak essentially muzzled Plummer's weaknesses and capitolized on his strenths (I miss you Gary!) Let's hope that Cutler has enough raw talent that he doesn't need the genius of a Kubiak at his side.

J Reidy said...

yeah, oddly enough i think you can point to Kubiak's departure as one of Plummer's problems. but how does he go in the tank this bad? i would have figured Shanahan and Heimerdinger would have him figured out pretty well.

as for Cutler, if you saw him in the pre-season or followed him in training camp, he's got one hell of an arm. that alone should back off some defenses and let the RB's get back on track. i don't expect him to be brilliant yet, but it just has to be an improvement....it has to right? right?????

JR