Originally posted by Northern Card
Where have all the firm believers that JAKE PLUMMER was a fake gone?
Love to hear them tell-one-and-all that his presence in Denver has made no real difference.
Explain, why (if Jake is so inconsequential) they were 1-3 when he was out.
Why they thumped Indy last night without Clinton Portis...etc. etc... 
Ok I'm bored today so bring it on (-:
Jake is having his best year ever, still the numbers aren't all that great if you're familiar with Denver and Shanahan. Griese's first year as a starter 19 TD 4 picks, Brister, Frerotte, Shanahan has a knack for getting one great year out of a QB. The question is can he do it year after year?
Jake against SD(twice) Oak and Det 10 TD passes 1 INT rating over 100 in all 4 games average rating about 120.
Jake in the other y games he started this year.
5 TD passes 6 INT 2 ratings over 100 average rating about 77(note by average rating I just took each game rating, added together, and divided by number of games, I did NOT combine all stats and compute one rating which is the way it SHOULD be done).
So in 4 games against 3 of the weaker pass defenses in the NFL, Jake had 2/3 of his TD passes and only 1 pick, against the rest of the NFL he's pretty much the same guy as he used to be, with slightly less INT's. Because Jake got injured and missed the Raven and Patriot games he had an unusual situation this year where Cleveland at 13th was the highest rated pass defense(completion %) he played against all year.
He has added a big dimension that Griese couldn't with his running, they're clearly a better team with Jake than without him, but he's still not an "elite" QB. He's a bargain this year, a bargain next year, and then they have to decide on his option and what to do with his contract. If the NFL adjusts to Jake with Denver as they did to Brister and Frerotte and Griese it'll be interesting to see if he gets to year 3. I didn't think he would initially, right now I'm inclined to say he will for one reason, even if he struggles next year, he played well enough this year that Shanahan will gamble he's his man in year 3.
Overall I'm amazed at how well Jake has played this year, he is now a bona fide "good" NFL QB, currently only 4 starters in the NFL have a higher passer rating than him(although 5 more are within about 5 points should he falter in Green Bay). His stats are slightly skewed by the schedule he played but he really has become a better player in Denver. If he'd played anywhere near this well as a Card he'd still be here, but he didn't.
I'll be quite happy with Roethlisberger next year the sky is the limit on that kid.
