Among the former NFL players and coaches who have become prominent analytical consultants on the game of football, only Phil Simms qualifies as the foremost authority on all things Broncos.
A former New York Giants quarterback, as Broncos fans going back to Super Bowl XXI will never forget, Simms has seen Denver play three times in person as a CBS commentator this season and watched the other five games on TV or film in preparation for his telecasts.
Sensing the current state of peace and calm in Broncoland all the way from his New Jersey office Tuesday, Simms chuckled in befuddlement. Earlier this season, the 6-2 Broncos won back-to-back games by 10 points against Baltimore and Oakland, but because the scores were 13-3 in each, there was angst and debate from Grand Junction to the network studios in New York.
The concern was whether the Broncos could reach the Super Bowl with an offense this anemic and a quarterback named Jake Plummer. Put in Jay Cutler!
But the Broncos scored 31 points in each of their past two games, Plummer played well, and so what if their defense gave up a combined 54 points and a whopping 936 yards?
Confidence in Broncoland has reached its season high.
Face it, fans and the media, with their fickle nature, feel significantly better about the Broncos winning 31-20 than they do winning 13-3.
“If I was a fan, I would have felt better when the defense was giving up three points and six points,” Simms said. “If I was a fan of the Broncos, I would go, yeah, the offense has played really well the last two weeks, but wow, have we given up a ton of yards. But no, now we’ve erased the Jake Plummer story and things are great.”
Never mind that defense won championships for Baltimore and Tampa Bay in the past six years while Hall of Fame-caliber quarterbacks Dan Marino and Peyton Manning never have won a Super Bowl.
Style matters. Winning isn’t always everything. If it was, Plummer’s 38-13 record since 2003 – the highest winning percentage among NFL quarterbacks not named Manning or Tom Brady – would have been enough to carry him through his early-season slump without hearing cries for Cutler, the talented rookie and first-round pick.
“Look, I’ve seen Cutler in college, I’ve watched his film, I’ve seen him in practice and I don’t kid anybody – this guy’s unique when it comes to throwing the football,” said Simms, who during his draft analysis rated Cutler higher than he did Matt Leinart and Vince Young. “But when you look at the matchups the Broncos had earlier in the season, Jake really didn’t have a chance to do the things he likes to do until he went up against the Colts, and when he had the chance then, he hit them. Against the Steelers, I thought the Broncos were going right back in the fire. They had six chances to make a big play and Jake hit all six. That’s pressure.
“Jake is 38-13, yet if it was up to the fans across America, he should apologize every single week for being the Broncos’ starting quarterback. That upsets me. Wait, I thought you said it was about winning?”
In Denver, it is about winning. Winning with offense.
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
