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Why Plummer was benched


Bronco Billy
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DEN's pts scored ranking: 25, their worst effort ever in the Mike Shanahan era in DEN

DEN's total offense ranking: 22, their worst ever in the Mike Shanahan era in DEN

 

Both of those numbers are despite DEN having the 8th best rush O in the NFL this year.

 

DEN's ranking in time of possession:

2003 1st in NFL

2004 2nd in NFL

2005 1st in NFL

2006 16th in NFL

 

Here's the really damning evidence though:

 

There are 38 QBs in the NFL who have thrown 100 passes or more this year. Of those 38 QBs, here are Plummer's rankings:

 

QB Rating: 31

Completion Percentage: 30

Passing yards per game: 30

TD passes/attempt: 21

INTs/attempt: 22

 

Put all those factors together in comparison with his peers, and Plummer is #34 on the list of 38, ahead of only Bledsoe, Young, Simms, & Walter. Despite being a seasoned vet & having 4 years in the DEN system, Plummer this year ranks overall behind even guys like rookies Leinart & Gradkowski (sp?) and Seneca freakin' Wallace.

 

The talk here in DEN by our almighty media is whether Shanahan has given up on this season by benching Plummer and how Shanahan can justify the move to a rookie QB to his vets when this is a 7-4 team. My response is that it appears Shanahan is trying to salvage this season while DEN still has a shot at the playoffs. It is hard to imagine that Cutler can't outperform Plummer this year, given the stats that Plummer has put up so far - despite the fact that he'll be a rookie operating a complex offense.

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That sounds about right. Everyone wanted to blame the organization in Ari for Plummer's problems but the straight truth is that he isn't very good.

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i gotta believe he lacks mental toughness and confidence.

they bring in a rookie to compete and he falls apart. unlike Brees who only took off once San Diego drafted Rivers.

i remember Phil Simms saying give me a QB with the physical ability and i'll teach him to be a good QB. i find that philosophy to be backwards though. i'd think you'd want a confident, intelligent player first even if his arm may not be as strong as others.

i'll take a guy like Brees or Brady over Plummer or Bledsoe any day. (obviously)

and it seems to me Joe Montana didn't have much of an arm either.

Edited by rebdog
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i gotta believe he lacks mental toughness and confidence.

they bring in a rookie to compete and he falls apart.

 

I think this has a lot to do with it... He was the man at AZ State; with the Cardinals he had no one behind him to push him; and he also had no one behind him to push him here in Denver the last several years. Yes, the Denver media and public is ruthless on any QB not named Elway, but when there's a capable backup QB in the picture - watch out!

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any chance at all that this is more bulloh poopy Shenanigans? I mean, would anyone be surprised if Cutler plays this week and Shanahan puts Plummer back in next week ala the" Mike Bell is my starter"(and then Tatum gets all the work) from earlier this season??

 

 

I don't think so... It's been reported in the media that Jake is tired of Shanahan getting on his case all the time and Cutler's picture has been all over the local rags. It's for real... If not, it's the greatest dupe of all time and Shanahan's giving Barnum & Bailey a run for their money. Which, might already be happening...

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I did a little looking back at Cutler's pre-season performance, trying to see if there's anything that might help know where the ball is going. Here's what I found:

 

for the four games, Cutler was 40-62 for 561 with 4 TDs and 1 INT

 

As far as who he passed to:

 

David Kircus 11 Att. with 9 Com. and 2 TDs

Tony Scheffler 11 Att with 8 Com and 1 TD

Todd Devoe 9 Att with 6 Com

Darius Watts 8 Att with 4 Com

Nate Jackson 7 Att with 4 Com

 

That's about all of interest. He threw passes to 11 other players, completing passes to 7 of them. Interesting, however, is who he didn't throw passes to: either one of the starting WRs, Walker and Smith. He didn't get any game time work with the full complement of starters, so there's no indication there of who he may have a raport with. It does seem that he likes throwing to TE's as he threw to Scheffler, Jackson, Alexander and Mustard a total of 21 times, or about 34% of the time. He threw 9 times to backs out of the backfield, with the remaining 31 going to WRs (he threw one clock stopping spike). Not sure if this helps anyone, but interesting to look at.

Edited by Bring Back Pat!!!
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He did very well last year. That's the most puzzling part - his performance literally fell off the table this year after 3 years of looking like he was getting progressively better & more consistent.

 

 

Just thinking out loud here, but do you think the departure of Kubiak would have anything to do with it?

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Just thinking out loud here, but do you think the departure of Kubiak would have anything to do with it?

 

 

I give that a lot of credibility if Plummer weren't a 10 year vet. I do know that Shanahan had to simplify the game plan as this season has progressed because Plummer just can't comprehend a full compliment of plays - which astounds me since he has been in DEN for 4 seasons now. It could be that Kubiak protected Plummer by dumbing down the plays he sent in while he was here, and when Kubiak left Plummer didn't have the buffer from Shanahan that he normally had.

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I did a little looking back at Cutler's pre-season performance, trying to see if there's anything that might help know where the ball is going. Here's what I found:

 

for the four games, Cutler was 40-62 for 561 with 4 TDs and 1 INT

 

As far as who he passed to:

 

David Kircus 11 Att. with 9 Com. and 2 TDs

Tony Scheffler 11 Att with 8 Com and 1 TD

Todd Devoe 9 Att with 6 Com

Darius Watts 8 Att with 4 Com

Nate Jackson 7 Att with 4 Com

 

That's about all of interest. He threw passes to 11 other players, completing passes to 7 of them. Interesting, however, is who he didn't throw passes to: either one of the starting WRs, Walker and Smith. He didn't get any game time work with the full complement of starters, so there's no indication there of who he may have a raport with. It does seem that he likes throwing to TE's as he threw to Scheffler, Jackson, Alexander and Mustard a total of 21 times, or about 34% of the time. He threw 9 times to backs out of the backfield, with the remaining 31 going to WRs (he threw one clock stopping spike). Not sure if this helps anyone, but interesting to look at.

 

 

 

Since Smith and Walker were probably rarely on the field with Cutler in pre-season play, it would be difficult for him to complete a large number of passes to them :D:D

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Since Smith and Walker were probably rarely on the field with Cutler in pre-season play, it would be difficult for him to complete a large number of passes to them :D:D

 

Right. "Where are the passes going to go?" - my money is on Javon Walker.

 

Though let's not discount BBP's research completely - if he favored Kircus and Scheffler in the pre-season, that means he trusts them and has some chemistry with them. It wouldn't be surprising if their performance got bumped up a notch or two with him starting now, it's happened plenty of times before.

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Since Smith and Walker were probably rarely on the field with Cutler in pre-season play, it would be difficult for him to complete a large number of passes to them :bash::D

 

 

 

"He didn't get any game time work with the full complement of starters, so there's no indication there of who he may have a raport with."

 

Can you read?? :D

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He did very well last year. That's the most puzzling part - his performance literally fell off the table this year after 3 years of looking like he was getting progressively better & more consistent.

 

 

That puzzles me as well. With the addition of Walker and the running game still at a relativley high level (especially earlier in the season), one would think that his play would be at least as good as last season, and perhaps even better.

 

I'm beginning to think that DEN's coaching staff is hiding a nagging injury, like a strained groin or bruised ribs. That would also explain why Plummer's dropping back in the pocket much more often this year and running far fewer bootlegs.

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Plummer has always been inconsistent. He is having a down year this year after a very good year last year.

 

As a Raider fan, I have to hope that Cutler will come in and flail, so that the Donkeys will miss the playoffs this year :D

 

 

With our luck, Plummer will probably be the Raider's starting QB next year...

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That's not all that far-fetched...

 

 

Unfortunetly you're right, my buddy and I were talking yesterday about QBs Al Davis is going to look at in the offseason, and Plummer is really the only one who jumped out at us that would be a likely thing to happen.

 

It sucks.

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