Walker passes chemistry test with overtime catch

Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 18, 2006 at midnight

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Javon Walker was talking earlier in the week about how he truly would know he has developed chemistry within the Broncos offense.

The biggest clue, he said, would come when quarterback Jake Plummer chucks the ball into tight coverage situations in his direction, having the confidence the receiver will make the big play anyway.

Walker said he felt that symmetry previously in Green Bay with Brett Favre.

Call it foreshadowing, but a 24-yard catch by Walker in overtime that helped set up the Broncos' 9-6 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs went almost exactly by that script.

David Kircus' 14-yard catch broke the ice for the offense in overtime, and Tatum Bell shot through the middle of the Chiefs line for 20 yards to give the Broncos a first down at the Kansas City 49-yard line, setting up Walker's heroics.

Lined up man-to-man with five- time Pro Bowl cornerback Ty Law, Walker stutter-stepped trying to gain separation, but Law hung with him. Plummer flung the ball high in the air and the receiver made a nice adjustment.

Four plays later, Jason Elam was trotting on the field for his winning 39-yard kick.

"He's a great cornerback. He's been one of the best in the league for a long time," Walker said of Law. "But I feel when it comes down to playing games, I'm finally getting back to what I used to be and how I played in Green Bay."

Four previous catches for 55 yards and two runs for 21 in regulation helped Walker rediscover his old self.

One of those rushes gained 16 yards on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter and helped the Broncos produce points after its first home halftime shutout on offense since the final game of the 1999 season.

"Sometimes when you get in the groove of things as a receiver and get one catch or two catches, you feel you can't be stopped," Walker said. "And when Jake put it in the air, obviously, it being overtime, I just made a play on it."

Plummer hardly would describe his contribution as a thing of beauty.

"I just threw it up in the air and let him come down with it," Plummer said. "There wasn't any timing on it, no leading him, nothing pretty. I was just throwing it up there to give him a chance to come down with the ball, and he did."

Walker, like the rest of the Broncos offense in the opener in St. Louis on Sept. 10, had difficulty finding any semblance of rhythm.

On two straight plays, he had drops. One was a potential touchdown. It prompted questions as to whether the receiver still was rusty from surgery on his right knee that wiped out nearly all of his 2005 season with the Packers.

"He just had a bad game last week," Tatum Bell said. "We all have them. And those are plays he makes every day in practice. So he didn't surprise any of us."

Walker certainly wasn't shocked he was able to put that game behind him.

"I feel like anytime you put it in '84's' hands, something good's going to happen," he said.

rasizerl@RockyMountainNews.com

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