Posted on 11/28/2006 8:44:57 AM PST by Terpfen
DENVER -- Jay Cutler's been the Denver Broncos' starting quarterback all of one practice and he's already a rattled rookie.
Cutler was playing it cool in his first interview at the podium when fellow rookies Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler began heckling him from the side. Cutler tried to keep from laughing and couldn't.
"I'm excited," Cutler said. "And a little nervous."
The Cutler Era has officially started. Coach Mike Shanahan ended the speculation Monday by elevating the rookie to starting quarterback for the rest of the year, sending Jake Plummer to the bench.
"He's our future, he's our present," Shanahan said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
NFL ping fodder.
I told you.
Jay Cutler = fresh meat
I'm trying to remember the last time a Super Bowl contending team used their first round draft choice on a quarterback. Normally teams that appear in their conference championship game don't have an issue at that position.
Jake the Snake was struggling, but this is a pretty extreme move. Let's see what the kid's got. Hopefully he has all the standard rookie struggles (as a Bengals fan, I need Denver to completely collapse if we have a chance at the Wild Card--also have to win pretty much every game left, including the bout with Denver--a very tall order).
I can't think of an example either.
It'll be interesting to see how Cutler does with a team that's all but clinched a playoff spot.
The Bengals can do it, but it's a very difficult task. I honestly think they're going to go 8-8.
What bugs me is that the Jets might get that second wild card.
All but clinched? They're third in their own freaking division after having lost to KC (equal records, lose the tiebreaker on divisional record), and Cincinnati, New York, and Jacksonville are all only one game back. Right now, Denver sits in a very precarious 6th seeding in the AFC, which would mean an a**-whipping in San Diego if the playoffs started today.
I was being partially sarcastic. Denver's got a tough schedule, and losing to their divisional opponents really hurt.
Of course, the teams you cited have tough schedules too, New York excepted. Jacksonville can and will choke. Cincinatti's schedule is pretty difficult. Don't leave the Dolphins out of the hunt, especially if the Jets lose a game both to Miami and to someone else.
Denver's got nothing to lose.
Anybody else noticed that the Parcells move seemed to trigger a wave of "let's start the young guy over the seasoned veteran" move? There's no way to prove it, but I bet if Romo had bombed that Gibbs, Shanahan, and the others would have been far more cautious about benching their starter. Of course, Tennessee and Arizona have also done it, but without nearly the publicity or success (so far.) Vince Young continues to improve and get some incredible breaks (the Giants handed them the game three times), and Lienart has performed well, but the Cards are, well, the Cards.
Looking at that least, all of them except Denver made the switch when their season was already heading for the crapper. Dallas has gotten lucky that their change produced some immediate effect (or just luckily coincident with the team's general impriovements or matchups) and that Philly and New York have fallen apart.
Denver is the only team on that list making the switch while already being a serious playoff contender.
I think Dallas and Denver were in similar situations. Both have enough talent that they shouldn't be scrambling for the last playoff slot, but were underperforming on offense. Loss to division rival that puts them in third, and yank the trigger on the old QB. True about the others, they've given up on this year and are looking to the future.
8-8 is very possible. A few weeks ago I thought that was optimistic. They let some games slip away in agonizing fashion (Tampa Bay, San Diego) that really hurt them.
At least the O looks like a juggernaut again. And the D can be good--at least better than dead last. They need to show some heart and play as hard as they did Cleveland. I don't see many shutouts, but they can do better than surrendering 42 points in a half. Although since San Diego also shredded Denver I don't feel quite as bad as I once did.
I think Tony Dungee is staying up late at night praying that Baltimore beats San Diego in the conference semifinals. The Chargers may be the best, or at least most dangerous, team in the NFL right now -- Tomlinson looks unstoppable and Rivers has been a pleasant surprise.
I think that's a fair assessment. Baltimore could be the ones to do it with their monstrous D and opportunistic O. I am really excited for/dreading the Thursday night game between the Ravens and the Bengals. The division is out of reach but Cincy needs to stay on a roll. They can beat them--and would have in Baltimore earlier this season if they hadn't spotted them 14 points. We'll see.
'Bout time. Jake is a good athelete but consistently makes poor decisions. This move is overdue.
Being from Denver and a rabid Bronco fan, I agree....should have been done before the season started IMHO....
I wonder how much hope Shanahan even has left in a Super Bowl trip this year by making this move.
It's setting up to once again be a very interesting AFC playoffs this year.
I'm sure he still has some hopes. It's pretty safe to say he's not doing this because he feels pressured to produce or get fired, because he's never going to be fired. Coach Kevlar indeed.
I'm just glad he drafted Cutler instead of Maroney which he was very close to doing last April.
Except a playoff birth. Stupid move..real stupid. Dever beat New England and should have beaten the Colts--with Plummer. This kid (cutler) is going to have growing pains...season over for Dever.
I think everybody knew it was a matter of time before Shanahan benched Plummer for Cutler. What's surprising is the timing. Either the coach knows something, or he's given up on the the season.
Maroney definitely looks pretty good, but behind that line, who wouldn't?
Denver Broncos in 1992. Drafted Tommy Maddox in the first round after losing the AFC championship the year before.
Well the line is doing a great job protecting Brady but in terms of opening up running lanes they still need some work.
That's right. Didn't understand that decicision.
Granted, I don't watch every Patriots game, but from what I've seen, the line looks good enough to give Maroney plenty of those highlight reel running lanes.
If he can stay healthy he's going to be awesome in a few years.
The problem is there's a list of games they "should have" won but because of Plummer's ineptness they lost. Had they held their lead against San Diego instead of blowing it (largely with bad QB play that couldn't continue drives and eat the clock) and put up some points against KC (again lots of bad incompletions that ended drives pre-maturely) and not chucked 3 INTs against ST Louis they'd be 10-1 right now and #2 in the conference thanks to the Indy loss. Instead Jake played for crap in those games (and in a few they won thanks to their defense putting up two consecutive 11 quarter streaks without giving up a TD) and they're 7-4 nursing the last spot in the playoffs.
Cutler might have growing pains but will the be any worse than the growing pain that has been Plummer this season (and most of his career really). Shanahan apparently thinks they won't be. It was clear when they drafted Culter that the plan was to get rid of Jake and do it fairly soon, the only question was how soon, now we have the answer.
Maroney really doesn't look so good behind the line. It's those too-unusual situation where he makes it more than two yards downfield and is still standing that he shines. The Pats have got to figure out how to get him running at speed on one or two defenders more.
The Ravens are playing alot better and far more physical than they did when they played the Bengals in Baltimore. They have taken their game both on O and D to a new level from the second half of the Atlanta game and it carried over to the Pittsburgh game. And from what I have seen of the Bengals is that they have trouble in physical smash mouth games with teams like Pittsburgh and Baltimore over the years. This game will be won by who wants it more. From what I've read in the Baltimore Sun it does not sound like the Ravens are complacent. I look for a smash mouth game on Thursday.
The O-line for Cincinnati has really gelled as the band-aid replacements build chemistry. Sometimes Rudi is unstoppable, others he is stuffed. Chris Perry's season is over so the running game will suffer. However, with Palmer firing on all cylinders again, and the WR corps of TJ, 85, and Henry, the running game will be more useful for setting up the pass and eating up the clock rather than for its own sake.
Nothing needs to be said about the Baltimre D. The Ravens O is more than adequate with Todd Heap and Steve McNair, and a D that routinely gives it short fields.
Baltimore is the class of the AFC North and will easily win the division but the Bengals can beat them. Their only hope is the WC. I too look forward to the game.
Nothing needs to be said about the Baltimore D. The Ravens O is more than adequate with Todd Heap and Steve McNair, and a D that routinely gives it short fields.
That's changing a bit. Baltimore's 3 first half scoring drives were 70-85 yds each. Jamal Lewis is running over people. He knocked Polamalu out cold and ran over a few of their LBs too. Billick rested Jamal and McNair in the 4th quarter to save them for this game.
Can the Bengals beat the Ravens? Sure they can they are very talented. But if the Ravens play anywhere close to the way they did versus the Steelers they will win by 10-14 points.
I hope they can. The Pats need to finish strong in order to grab that second seed.
IMO, Cutler will end up being a better QB than Young or Leinart.
So what. My thinking is okay knowing that John Madden agrees with me that its a bad move.
Your thinking was that Plummer wouldn't be replaced. He was.
I never said he wouldn't. My argument from the get go has been that its stupid.
Coach Kevlar disagrees. We'll find out Sunday if he's right.
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