Foxborough, Mass. – The notes are coming! The notes are coming! …
Now for the story within the story: Javon Walker, he of the two touchdowns and 130 receiving yards, thought he might have a big game at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night, but not in a Broncos uniform.
Walker was in the Philadelphia airport on draft day ready to board a flight to Boston for what he assumed would be a news conference to introduce him to the New England media. Just then, some friends called him with word that the deal had fallen through and he had been dealt to the Broncos.
“I was sitting at the gate on my way here,” Walker said. “I was on the phone talking with Tom Brady. The next thing you know, I get a call from friends. They said ‘Hey, man, you’ve been traded to Denver.’ I was like, ‘You’re kidding, I’m on my way to New England.’ They said, ‘Well, go look at a TV.’ So I ran to a restaurant inside the airport and saw, ‘Javon Walker gets traded to Denver.’
“Now we get to this point and I said: ‘You know what? I’m finally making the trip to New England and making it as a Denver Bronco.”‘…
How badly did the Broncos need that 83-yard Jake Plummer-to-Walker touchdown pass? Before that play, their running game had accounted for more net yards this season (425) than their passing game (409). That’s not easy to pull off in today’s NFL. …
Plummer on his 32-yard touchdown pass to Walker, the first touchdown in the Broncos’ 17-7 victory over the Pats: “It felt really nice. I had kind of forgotten the feeling of what it was like to score. In this offense, that’s a sin if you’re not putting it in the end zone.” …
We interrupt this speculation about Plummer’s job status for an important message: Todd Sauerbrun is the one who ought to be worried. Or maybe you haven’t noticed Paul Ernster‘s work out of the bullpen in Sauerbrun’s absence. Ernster going into Sunday ranked fifth in the league in gross punting at 47.8 yards per, then proceeded to drop his first punt on the Patriots’ 1-yard line. …
The networks have lost a step. To wit: NBC’s cameras didn’t zoom in on Jay Cutler until the 7:16 mark of the first quarter. Sure enough, one play later, Plummer threw a near-interception to Tedy Bruschi. …
The Rolling Stones performed Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium. Why mention it here? Because the Broncos need to adopt “Start Me Up” as their new theme song. Three games into things, they have yet to score in the first quarter. …
By the numbers: The Broncos’ W kept them ahead of the Patriots for the most wins in the league since Mike Shanahan‘s arrival in 1995. They went into the game with 123, one more than the Boys of Belichick. …
More numbers: The Broncos’ 36 points marked the second-fewest in a three-game span during the Shanahan era. They scored 33 in three games in the second through fourth games of the 1999 season, losing all three. …
Not that Plummer was heck bent on throwing the ball away instead of risking interceptions, but his second-favorite receiver was a blond in the Patriots’ cheerleading crew. …
On a night when the Broncos caught their share of breaks from the officials, none was bigger than a third-quarter pass to Kyle Johnson that was ruled an incompletion but could have gone as a fumble. “I didn’t think so at all,” Johnson said. “‘It was a muff.” …
Once again, the Broncos stepped up and played lights out against the Patriots. The win improved their record to 9-2 vs. Belichick-coached teams – 4-0 vs. the Browns, 5-2 against the Pats. Now for the interesting part: The Bronx are 5-0 vs. Belichick on the road. …
Let the record show that Tatum Bell ran for those 123 yards despite a nasty case of cramps that required 1 1/2 bags of IV solution.
How much did his condition affect him? He asked out of one play in the entire game. …
Bell, on his ascension into the full-time tailback job: “I think I’ve paid my dues to be where I am. I went out and showed I can run for four quarters. I kind of got down when they named Mike (Bell) the starter, but I bounced back and tried to stay humble and not lose any confidence.” …
Plummer, on the Broncos’ defense: “They’re dominating. I told Ian (Gold) and D.J. (Williams) I haven’t seen two linebackers fly around like them in a long time.”
Catch Jim Armstrong from 6-9 a.m. during “The Press Box” on ESPN 560 AM. He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
