Jake's Doubters Get their Day, Will Jake get His?

Sunday was a day for the doubters. Two interceptions, two fumbles leading to twenty four points. Jake Plummer was the primary benefactor to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ AFC Championship, making a genius out of Bill Cowher, a euphoria out of the City of Pittsburgh, and a fan favorite out of Jerome Bettis. As happy as the Steelers and their fans were to see Jake “The Snake” turn back into Jake “The Mistake” for a day Sunday, so were a nation of radio talk show callers, broadcasters, and other laymen who simply don’t see Jake Plummer as a quarterback capable of winning a game with his arm, no matter what this season said up to this point.

Plummer joined his critics and more objective observers alike in blaming himself for the Broncos loss on Sunday. "If we lose, I'm taking the blame. That's my job." he said. That is all he said. He did not say the Broncos got “outcoached”, he did not cite “protection issues”, and he did not call out his Offensive Coordinator or Head Coach for not putting the game more in his hands or try to put either in a headlock. He took responsibility for the loss, answered questions and went home. In fact, when it comes to being a football player at least, Plummer does little else but go out on the field and try to do everything he can to help his team win football games.

So why do so many people in Denver and across the country wish to see him fail?

In Denver, it’s simple. While some fans in Denver are starting to come around after three seasons with 70 touchdown passes and 34 interceptions and three straight playoff appearances, many see Jake as the Arizona castaway who is trying to redefine himself at the expense of their Super Bowl hopes. He is not the first round pick spurning the East Coast delighted to be coming to Denver. He is not the blonde haired golden boy leading the Broncos back from fourth quarter deficits week in and week out. He is not the weathered veteran pinwheeling for a first down in San Diego against the Packers. Simply put, he is not John Elway. In the seven years since Elway’s retirement, romanticism has allowed Broncos fans and media to forget that Elway was once the media piñata that Jake is now for not being able to “win the big one”. And he didn’t come close until he was joined by the greatest Running Back in Broncos history in the backfield. While they won’t tell you to your face, most Broncos fans had a hard time picturing Pat Bowlen on a stage in Detroit holding up the Lombardi Trophy shouting “This one’s for Jake!”

But nationally, the treatment is less understandable. Did Jake take Boomer Esiason’s parking spot? Every week? Did Kollette Klassen turn down Sean Salisbury’s advances at Baja’s? Why does every national and opposing market sports writer and talk-show host expect Jake “The Flake” with the 70’s porn-star moustache turned “Hillbilly Jim” beard and Johnny Damon hair to break down and piss his pants under pressure if the running game wasn’t gaining five yards a carry and he wasn’t up by three touchdowns.

Yes it happened. I saw it, you saw it, and Jake Plummer saw it. But credit Dick Lebeau and the Pittsburgh defense for taking away the run and play action, two thirds of the Broncos offense. Credit Ben Roethlisberger for forcing the Broncos to answer every drive down the field. Credit Larry Foote for making a play on the second interception that most linebackers don’t make. To simply say that Sunday was Jake Plummer reverting to his “old self” is to save you a lot of time studying film and researching the statistics of Jake Plummer’s tenure as a Denver Bronco.

Some dismiss Jake’s 2005 season as Denver’s running game taking the pressure off him and the passing game. More likely Plummer’s success in his third year under Mike Shanahan reflects a better understanding of his role in the Denver West Coast Offense allowing him to finally emerge as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.

If 2005 is an indicator and the rest of this Broncos team isn’t gutted. There should be a Super Bowl trophy in Jake Plummer’s future.

And then what would the doubters say?

Will Jake Plummer win a Super Bowl with the Broncos?
	Yes
	No
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