Notes from the Tuesday Morning QB. …
Red zone, meet dread zone: Jake Plummer before Monday night’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Rod Smith was 4-for-12 for 21 yards inside the 20 this season. Not only that, he had thrown an interception and coughed up a fumble that Miami’s Jason Taylor returned for an 85-yard touchdown. …
Said Mike Shanahan, when asked about the Plummer-to-Smith touchdown, “It took a little pressure off us as a group. We haven’t been very consistent in the red zone. You want to step up. We still weren’t as consistent as we would like, but we made some plays when we had to and we’ll keep on working on it.” …
They haven’t been very consistent. That’s coachspeak for they haven’t been very good. Fact: The Broncos have run the ball 16 times for 18 yards inside the 20 and Plummer has completed 6-of-14 passes for 45 more. That’s 63 yards gained inside the 20. Twenty-two more and they’ll catch Taylor. …
By the numbers: BYU on Saturday lost 51-50 to TCU in overtime. In the process, the Cougars became the first college football team to lose two games in which it scored 50-plus points. BYU lost 58-56 to Utah State in 1993 in a game in which John Walsh went for 619 passing yards. …
Now for the flip side. TCU became the first college team to win twice when allowing 50-plus points. The Horned Frogs beat Houston 62-55 in 2003. …
The BYU-TCU game, by the way, was played in 4 hours, 42 minutes. What, they didn’t have the humidor working? …
See it, don’t believe it: The Colts, 22nd in the league in scoring at 15.7 points per. …
Indy is undefeated, thanks to a defense that has allowed 16 points in three games, one fewer than the Chiefs allowed in Monday night’s opening quarter. …
The Broncos have allowed three points in the first quarter in three games. If my always precise calculations are correct, that averages out to, like, pretty good. …
Brett Favre on the Packers’ horrendous start: “This is obviously new to me, being 0-3. Guys say when you play long enough, you see everything. This is something you don’t want to see.” …
The Dolphins have scored 68 points in three games. That’s 45 more than they had at the same point in 2004. …
How down and out is the National League West? The Rockies aren’t the only club in the division without a 20-homer hitter. The Padres, who rank 27th in the majors in runs, don’t have one either. But they did spend last night at a Holiday Inn Express. …
Clint Hurdle on the few, the proud, the Rockies fans: “It takes courage to be a Rockies fan. They’ve had to exhibit patience. I get e-mails, I get letters, I get calls. The tone has changed dramatically from April and May.” …
Todd Helton on the season that was: “See these gray hairs here? That’s what that’s from. I worry about how I play. It took its toll, but I’m happy where I’m at.” …
It remains to be seen if the Rockies’ youth movement will ever translate into a contender, but know this: If they don’t win in the next few years, it won’t be for a lack of karma. Said Helton, “It was a tough year all around, but team-wise and personally, we bounced back. This is the best clubhouse I’ve ever been in. Win or lose, these are great guys.” …
Not that Shawn Chacon has been a godsend for the Yankees, but his batting average against reads .241. Randy Johnson‘s is .245. …
How hypercompetitive is the Mountain West Conference? “All of us are just trying to score one more point,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. Then there’s Utah’s Kyle Whittingham, who predicts no unbeaten teams in the conference and says 6-2 could get a share of the championship.
Catch Jim Armstrong from 6-9 a.m. during “The Press Box” on ESPN 560 AM. He can be reached at 303-820-5452 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
