[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

The Broncos were in the lead in a playoff race and then the team collapsed and lost three December games to miss the postseason.

Or was that 07?

Or 08?

Or 09?

Dude don't scare me like that. Ironically that bad year for them matched our second best year this decade (9-7). I guess this little blurb will give some insight. Apparently the Bronoc's missed the playoffs that year because they lost to San Fran in overtime. The Bronco's were 7-4 when the switch was made so don't think Shanahan won't pull Campbell.

Week 12: Denver 10 Kansas City 19

Denver might have made a switch at the QB position, but at the end of the day, the results were very similar. Rookie QB Jay Cutler (right) struggled mightily in his first start. Plummer had his own struggles, too, but the difference was that the majority of his bad starts included a victory. Behind the scenes, the Denver coaching staff was telling anyone who would listen about how much the QB change would help. They were talking about how they would now be able to open up their offense. In Cutler's defense, it was the first start of his career, but the offense looked just about the same. Denver was able to run the ball and struggled to throw it, which is the same problem they have been fighting all season. This was a real nice win for Seattle. Despite still having some struggles on the defensive side of the ball, they were able to force five turnovers and add a defensive TD. That was difference for Seattle in this football game.

The next week: Chargers 48 Denver 20

But Cutler, looking more poised than in his debut a week earlier, threw touchdown passes of 28 and 11 yards to rookie tight end Tony Scheffler in a span of 48 seconds in the third quarter. The second TD came three plays after Chargers rookie Antonio Cromartie fumbled on a kickoff return after being hit by Patrick Chukwurah, with Denver's Louis Green recovering at the San Diego 27.

After that: Denver 37 Arizona 20

The big story coming into this game was the battle of rookie QBs Jay Cutler (right) and Matt Leinart. Leinart had been playing better, but it was Cutler who got the job done on this day.
Coach Mike Shanahan has done a good job of trimming down the offense in the past two weeks and that has made Cutler's job a lot easier. He is quicker with his reads and making better decisions with the ball.

The other big factor in this game was the play of the Denver defense. The unit had become very vanilla in recent weeks, but defensive coordinator Larry Coyer did a good job of mixing his blitz packages and coverages in the back end to confuse Leinart and ground the Arizona offense.

Week 16: Denver 24 Cincinatti 23

Jay Cutler, the kid from Santa Claus, Ind., delivered for Denver on Christmas Eve, becoming the first NFL quarterback to throw for multiple touchdowns in each of his first four games.

Week 17: Denver 23 San Fran 26 OT

The Broncos sent the game into overtime when Cutler, who was knocked woozy and sidelined by a hard hit in the first half, drove his team 80 yards in 10 plays and threw a fastball to fellow rookie Tony Scheffler for a 9-yard TD with 90 seconds left in regulation.

"I was a little dinged up. My head was swimming a little bit," Cutler said. "But I was fine in the second half."

After Champ Bailey returned his league-leading 10th interception 70 yards for a touchdown and a 13-0 lead, the Niners responded with 17 straight points, capped by Walt Harris's 28-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Harris, who had three takeaways, also picked off Jake Plummer, who came in after Anthony Adams' hard hit sent Cutler to the sideline in the second quarter. Plummer, who was benched five weeks ago, also committed a false start.

Cutler looked woozy upon his return after halftime and made several bad decisions and poor throws and even burned all of Denver's three timeouts on one third-quarter drive.

I also like this quote. Reminds me a little of Joe Gibbs:

"I don't blame it on the quarterback. I blame it on me," Shanahan said. "I have to get it in there a little quicker."