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Jake is best or trailing the rest
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
Article Last Updated:10/09/2006 12:10:54 AM MDT
Broncos fans might have suspected as much. Now there are statistics to prove it.
No other NFL quarterback has his performance so tied to the scoreboard as the Broncos' Jake Plummer.
When playing with the lead, Plummer is the league's most efficient quarterback statistically. The best. Move over, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Make way for Jake.
But when the Broncos are behind, Plummer is the league's least-efficient quarterback. No. 32. Out of 32. Look, up there: It's Tennessee's Kerry Collins and the Raiders' Andrew Walter.
No. 1 and No. 32 are about as different as winning and losing.
"When you're behind, you might try to do a few more things that you normally don't do when you're ahead," Plummer said. "It depends on how far you're behind. If you're within striking distance, obviously you're playing close to your same game plan. But if you're way behind, there are going to be more calls trying to pass downfield."
This year's sampling might be small, but it also marks a continuation of a Plummer trend. In 2004, Plummer posted a 105.1 quarterback rating when ahead, 72.6 when behind. Last season, his ahead/behind ratings were 95.5 and 71.9.
Good Jake/Bad Jake? It's more accurate to call him Ahead Jake/Behind Jake.
Given this, it may behoove the Broncos to get an early lead tonight against the Baltimore Ravens when the teams meet at Invesco Field at Mile High. There's one more stat underlining the importance of an early lead: The Ravens through four games have allowed three second-half points.
"With his abilities to move around and make plays, Jake's going to be one of those guys who goes out and tries to win the football game," said former quarterback Joe Theismann, who will provide color commentary for the game tonight. "Like a Brett Favre, when you're behind, great athletes want it on their shoulders to win the game. It just so happens that in our sport, sometimes the less you do the better."
Before Plummer joined Denver, he spent the first six years of his career known somewhat as a Comeback Kid in Arizona.
Entering last season, his 19 game-winning comebacks in the fourth quarter or overtime were the most among active quarterbacks.
"The 'Comeback Kid' might have been a misnomer because to win in Arizona you had to come back just about every time there," Plummer said. "Coming back became a nature of trying to survive, whereas here, we get a lot of leads."
Plummer has engineered just two late, come-from-behind victories the past two seasons, yet the Broncos are 15-4 in that span.
That's the good news about this Ahead Jake/Behind Jake contrast. Since Plummer has been in Denver, the Broncos have been ahead more than not.
In these situations, Plummer's job is to complement the Broncos' noted running game with check-off completions, mixed with the chain-moving, intermediate passes.
The problem is, it's when the team is behind that all eyes are on the quarterback. After the AFC championship game last season, fans might not have considered the Broncos were trailing Pittsburgh 17-3 before Plummer threw his first interception. More likely, talk focused on how that first interception quickly led to another score that made it 24-3 by halftime.
"It's when you're behind that legends and legacies are made," Theismann said. "You don't become a legend when you're ahead."
Think all quarterbacks play better with a lead? Think again. Of the NFL's 32 passing-title qualifiers this year, 17 have higher ratings when trailing.
This group includes Baltimore's Steve McNair, who has led the Ravens to back-to-back, final-second victories.
"Be patient. Take one play at a time and do your best on that play," McNair said about how he approaches a series when his team is behind. "And every play you run, you forget about it and go on to the next one."
There was a time when Plummer was asked about how he was able to raise his play when the game appeared lost. In 2003, his first year with the Broncos, Plummer had an 82.5 rating when they led, and 100.6 when he stared down a deficit.
This would suggest the Comeback Kid is not dead inside Plummer, merely dormant.
"Those type of stats are for people who burn the midnight oil," Plummer said. "I just go play ball."
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_4463274
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
Article Last Updated:10/09/2006 12:10:54 AM MDT
Broncos fans might have suspected as much. Now there are statistics to prove it.
No other NFL quarterback has his performance so tied to the scoreboard as the Broncos' Jake Plummer.
When playing with the lead, Plummer is the league's most efficient quarterback statistically. The best. Move over, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Make way for Jake.
But when the Broncos are behind, Plummer is the league's least-efficient quarterback. No. 32. Out of 32. Look, up there: It's Tennessee's Kerry Collins and the Raiders' Andrew Walter.
No. 1 and No. 32 are about as different as winning and losing.
"When you're behind, you might try to do a few more things that you normally don't do when you're ahead," Plummer said. "It depends on how far you're behind. If you're within striking distance, obviously you're playing close to your same game plan. But if you're way behind, there are going to be more calls trying to pass downfield."
This year's sampling might be small, but it also marks a continuation of a Plummer trend. In 2004, Plummer posted a 105.1 quarterback rating when ahead, 72.6 when behind. Last season, his ahead/behind ratings were 95.5 and 71.9.
Good Jake/Bad Jake? It's more accurate to call him Ahead Jake/Behind Jake.
Given this, it may behoove the Broncos to get an early lead tonight against the Baltimore Ravens when the teams meet at Invesco Field at Mile High. There's one more stat underlining the importance of an early lead: The Ravens through four games have allowed three second-half points.
"With his abilities to move around and make plays, Jake's going to be one of those guys who goes out and tries to win the football game," said former quarterback Joe Theismann, who will provide color commentary for the game tonight. "Like a Brett Favre, when you're behind, great athletes want it on their shoulders to win the game. It just so happens that in our sport, sometimes the less you do the better."
Before Plummer joined Denver, he spent the first six years of his career known somewhat as a Comeback Kid in Arizona.
Entering last season, his 19 game-winning comebacks in the fourth quarter or overtime were the most among active quarterbacks.
"The 'Comeback Kid' might have been a misnomer because to win in Arizona you had to come back just about every time there," Plummer said. "Coming back became a nature of trying to survive, whereas here, we get a lot of leads."
Plummer has engineered just two late, come-from-behind victories the past two seasons, yet the Broncos are 15-4 in that span.
That's the good news about this Ahead Jake/Behind Jake contrast. Since Plummer has been in Denver, the Broncos have been ahead more than not.
In these situations, Plummer's job is to complement the Broncos' noted running game with check-off completions, mixed with the chain-moving, intermediate passes.
The problem is, it's when the team is behind that all eyes are on the quarterback. After the AFC championship game last season, fans might not have considered the Broncos were trailing Pittsburgh 17-3 before Plummer threw his first interception. More likely, talk focused on how that first interception quickly led to another score that made it 24-3 by halftime.
"It's when you're behind that legends and legacies are made," Theismann said. "You don't become a legend when you're ahead."
Think all quarterbacks play better with a lead? Think again. Of the NFL's 32 passing-title qualifiers this year, 17 have higher ratings when trailing.
This group includes Baltimore's Steve McNair, who has led the Ravens to back-to-back, final-second victories.
"Be patient. Take one play at a time and do your best on that play," McNair said about how he approaches a series when his team is behind. "And every play you run, you forget about it and go on to the next one."
There was a time when Plummer was asked about how he was able to raise his play when the game appeared lost. In 2003, his first year with the Broncos, Plummer had an 82.5 rating when they led, and 100.6 when he stared down a deficit.
This would suggest the Comeback Kid is not dead inside Plummer, merely dormant.
"Those type of stats are for people who burn the midnight oil," Plummer said. "I just go play ball."
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_4463274