Broncos can find their way only with Cutler

Van Walker, Special to the News

Published October 23, 2006 at midnight

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"I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks." – Daniel Boone

If Mike Shanahan is as smart as many people think he is, he’ll use this quote at the press conference announcing Jay Cutler as Denver’s starting quarterback, sometime within the next 30 days at the most. There can be no question that Cutler’s inevitable ascension means the end of Denver’s vestigial championship hopes for this season. The real question is this: What will four more games tell us about Jake Plummer that the first six haven’t already told us?

Rarely is so much so obvious, but these are the Broncos. Remember, it only took Shanahan a full training camp and three games of the regular season to find a starting tailback. It therefore stands to reason that he would waste three times as many games figuring out that Plummer stinks like fish guts, when all he had to do was watch the tape from last season’s AFC Championship game. Maybe it’s just me, but the Broncos still haven’t scored more than 17 points in any game since that one.

Then again, maybe it ain’t just me. No. 30-ranked offenses do not win championships, nor do they beat good teams when asked to do so. It’s hard to imagine this team beating Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and San Diego in its current state; things will only get worse because Plummer’s play has the gore crows circling again.

At the Worldwide Fearless Leader, Chris Mortensen announced that Plummer was playing for his job, and then Plummer went out and laid a rotten egg against a post-mortem Cleveland squad. The death watch has officially begun. We’re only waiting for a puff of white smoke from Pat Bowlen’s office to know that the successor has been anointed.

Until then, count on the following: Denver will get utterly outclassed by Indianapolis, they will lose a winnable game at Pittsburgh, they will struggle to beat Oakland, and they will lose at home to a San Diego squad lacking Shawn Merriman. Every Wednesday, Shanahan will have to answer questions about how many reps the rookie got with the first team. Every Sunday, network cameras will find Jay Cutler standing alertly by, ball cap in place and clipboard in hand, the future just waiting to begin. After every loss, Plummer will be asked his opinion about the quarterback situation, and he will grow surlier and hairier by the minute. There will be such a media frenzy in Denver that Terrell Owens will start doing situps in John Elway’s driveway.

One of two things is certain. When Jay Cutler lines up behind guard, we’ll call it innocence. When Jake Plummer completes two more passes to the other guys than to his own tight ends, we’ll call that incompetence. Either way, Denver doesn’t win more than nine games this year.

Like I said before, only the excuses will change, not the results.

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