MileHighWrath
09-23-2008, 12:12 PM
Broncos' Jay-C can be MVP
By Mark Kiszla
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 09/23/2008 12:16:30 AM MDT
With their perfect record and obvious flaws, the Broncos have one chance to make a serious Super Bowl run.
Quarterback Jay Cutler must become a serious MVP candidate.
Anything that can be dreamed is possible in his third NFL season, because Jay-C has three weapons on his side: the big gun, a huge receiving target and that indescribable wow.
"The sky's the limit for him. Jay Cutler can be as good as he wants to be. He's got what I call the 'It' factor. Either you've got it or you don't. He's got it," Broncos coach Mike Shan- ahan said Monday.
In Cutler's arm, Shanahan has the peace of mind the coach never allowed himself when Brian Griese or Jake Plummer was in charge of the whole shooting match.
Cutler gives the Broncos a QB who has earned the coaching staff's complete trust. He can make throws Griese could never imagine. Jay-C opens the Denver offense to pages of the playbook that Plummer never cracked.
"If you've got the quarterback you believe in, you can open up the whole playbook for him in his third year," Shanahan said.
While the D-fence of the Broncos has often looked more like a swinging gate, here's a truth about the NFL in 2008 that will make Ray Nitschke roll over in his grave.
Defense is overrated until the playoffs begin, when all of a team's weaknesses are exposed and the margin of error can be the finger that tips away a pass in the end zone.
But as every Tom, Peyton and Brett have proved, the regular season passes in a blur at 25 mph over the speed limit from September through December, when it is far better and way more fun to be the irresistible force than an immovable object.
Those heart-pounding scores of 39-38 and 34-32 won't be the last shootouts Cutler wins.
What I'm trying to say is: So long as the team has journeymen Nate Webster and Marlon McCree as defensive starters, Denver is not winning the Super Bowl. Praying for this defense to significantly improve is probably a waste of your breath and football gods' attention.
But Cutler could get the Broncos to the league's triple XL game. While it's a nice dream to imagine how John Abraham or Patrick Kerney might have looked lining up for Denver at defensive end, the reality of pro football in this era is it's far more valuable to have the pitch-and-catch battery of Jay-C and Brandon Marshall, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound receiving target.
John Elway needed four seasons before he could carry the Broncos to the Super Bowl. While meaning no disrespect to the Duke of Denver, Cutler has a cooler head and way better toys than Elway did at the same point of his young NFL career.
Of course, I have long been guilty of being bullish on Jay-C.
When my suggestion the Broncos should trade up to get him was broadcast on radios from coast to coast in the days prior to the 2006 NFL draft, nobody listened. When I suggested he would take starts away from Plummer as a rookie, folks scoffed. When predicting a Pro Bowl in Cutler's future before last season, I was at least a year early.
So is Cutler ready to be the MVP? Why not? What part of the 914 yards passing and eight touchdown throws through three games don't you like?
"It's still a learning process for him. There's going to be some mistakes made," said Shanahan, who quickly added Cutler does not wallow in his errors. He doesn't get rattled. "And that's when you know you have somebody special at quarterback.
"The next question for (Cutler) is going to be: OK, can you win a playoff game? Can you win the Super Bowl? Anything less than winning the Super Bowl has to be tough to accept. You have to understand what goes with the position, and you have to be mentally tough enough to deal with it."
As a role model for Cutler, Shana- han cites Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, who led the league in touchdown passes and efficiency rating in 1992. "Then he lost to Dallas in the playoffs and got booed coming off the field," Shanahan said. "But Steve Young was tough enough to come back and throw six touchdown passes (in Super Bowl XXIX). He understood the winning standard, understood how tough it was and made sure it happened."
This season, all injured New England quarterback Tom Brady can do on crutches is look cute. These days, when Peyton Manning stands and surveys the defense from the line of scrimmage, it appears as if he's about to take abuse rather than give orders. And like that worn-out pair of Wrangler jeans in the closet we cannot bring ourselves to part with, we dearly love Brett Favre, but he's wrinkled and old.
From New York to San Diego, there's not a tougher gunslinger in the AFC than Cutler.
Jay-C could be the last one standing.
Reminder: we have a number of threads discussing the poor Defense, can we leave that discussion out of this thread and talk about the AMAZING OFFENSE please?
By Mark Kiszla
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 09/23/2008 12:16:30 AM MDT
With their perfect record and obvious flaws, the Broncos have one chance to make a serious Super Bowl run.
Quarterback Jay Cutler must become a serious MVP candidate.
Anything that can be dreamed is possible in his third NFL season, because Jay-C has three weapons on his side: the big gun, a huge receiving target and that indescribable wow.
"The sky's the limit for him. Jay Cutler can be as good as he wants to be. He's got what I call the 'It' factor. Either you've got it or you don't. He's got it," Broncos coach Mike Shan- ahan said Monday.
In Cutler's arm, Shanahan has the peace of mind the coach never allowed himself when Brian Griese or Jake Plummer was in charge of the whole shooting match.
Cutler gives the Broncos a QB who has earned the coaching staff's complete trust. He can make throws Griese could never imagine. Jay-C opens the Denver offense to pages of the playbook that Plummer never cracked.
"If you've got the quarterback you believe in, you can open up the whole playbook for him in his third year," Shanahan said.
While the D-fence of the Broncos has often looked more like a swinging gate, here's a truth about the NFL in 2008 that will make Ray Nitschke roll over in his grave.
Defense is overrated until the playoffs begin, when all of a team's weaknesses are exposed and the margin of error can be the finger that tips away a pass in the end zone.
But as every Tom, Peyton and Brett have proved, the regular season passes in a blur at 25 mph over the speed limit from September through December, when it is far better and way more fun to be the irresistible force than an immovable object.
Those heart-pounding scores of 39-38 and 34-32 won't be the last shootouts Cutler wins.
What I'm trying to say is: So long as the team has journeymen Nate Webster and Marlon McCree as defensive starters, Denver is not winning the Super Bowl. Praying for this defense to significantly improve is probably a waste of your breath and football gods' attention.
But Cutler could get the Broncos to the league's triple XL game. While it's a nice dream to imagine how John Abraham or Patrick Kerney might have looked lining up for Denver at defensive end, the reality of pro football in this era is it's far more valuable to have the pitch-and-catch battery of Jay-C and Brandon Marshall, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound receiving target.
John Elway needed four seasons before he could carry the Broncos to the Super Bowl. While meaning no disrespect to the Duke of Denver, Cutler has a cooler head and way better toys than Elway did at the same point of his young NFL career.
Of course, I have long been guilty of being bullish on Jay-C.
When my suggestion the Broncos should trade up to get him was broadcast on radios from coast to coast in the days prior to the 2006 NFL draft, nobody listened. When I suggested he would take starts away from Plummer as a rookie, folks scoffed. When predicting a Pro Bowl in Cutler's future before last season, I was at least a year early.
So is Cutler ready to be the MVP? Why not? What part of the 914 yards passing and eight touchdown throws through three games don't you like?
"It's still a learning process for him. There's going to be some mistakes made," said Shanahan, who quickly added Cutler does not wallow in his errors. He doesn't get rattled. "And that's when you know you have somebody special at quarterback.
"The next question for (Cutler) is going to be: OK, can you win a playoff game? Can you win the Super Bowl? Anything less than winning the Super Bowl has to be tough to accept. You have to understand what goes with the position, and you have to be mentally tough enough to deal with it."
As a role model for Cutler, Shana- han cites Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, who led the league in touchdown passes and efficiency rating in 1992. "Then he lost to Dallas in the playoffs and got booed coming off the field," Shanahan said. "But Steve Young was tough enough to come back and throw six touchdown passes (in Super Bowl XXIX). He understood the winning standard, understood how tough it was and made sure it happened."
This season, all injured New England quarterback Tom Brady can do on crutches is look cute. These days, when Peyton Manning stands and surveys the defense from the line of scrimmage, it appears as if he's about to take abuse rather than give orders. And like that worn-out pair of Wrangler jeans in the closet we cannot bring ourselves to part with, we dearly love Brett Favre, but he's wrinkled and old.
From New York to San Diego, there's not a tougher gunslinger in the AFC than Cutler.
Jay-C could be the last one standing.
Reminder: we have a number of threads discussing the poor Defense, can we leave that discussion out of this thread and talk about the AMAZING OFFENSE please?