Denver Post sports writer Mike Klis posts his Broncos Mailbag every Tuesday during the 2007 NFL season on DenverPost.com.
To drop a Broncos- or NFL-related question into the Broncos Mailbag or visit DenverPost.com’s .
Perhaps this would be a good time, Bronco fans, to give thanks to the Good Lord for placing Denver in the AFC West. And now, the mailbag. …
Is it just me or do the announcers on Monday night always seem like they pick a player for the other team and try as hard as they can to be elected president of his fan club? When we played the Packers, they fawned over Brett Favre (don’t get me wrong, I admire his skills completely). And this time, they couldn’t stop doing the same for Vince Young. When Jay Cutler made a bad throw, we heard about it for five minutes. But when Young threw two interceptions, it was a “maturing experience.” No sound on Monday night is best.
— Cyndy G., Kansas City
Cyndy – You have a nice way with words. I’ve heard this complaint from the beginning of sports-TV time, and I’ve reached the conclusion it’s more about how the listeners hear the comments than how the broadcasters say them. I’m guessing the fans in Nashville thought the “Monday Night Football” broadcast team was a little more biased toward Cutler. In fact, what I heard from Ron Jaworski were glowing comments about Cutler.
I thought Vince Young played very well, so if Tirico-Kornheiser-Jaworski said nice things, I agree with them.
Your example of Favre is noted, however. Broadcasters do get carried away with the guy. I especially thought they were a little too gaga over the Packers’ QB the past two or three years when he really wasn’t playing all that well. This was a case where his reputation preceded him. And Favre does make good TV. He’s always got a facial expression that reflects the particular moment of the game. He shows his emotions. And now that Favre is playing well again, broadcasters can’t gush enough.
Did Jay Cutler make a mistake against the Titans on Monday night? I did not see one.
— Derek, Lakewood
Derek – The kid did play well. One thing I’ve noticed: Because Cutler telegraphed a few passes earlier this season, opposing defensive backs are trying to read him and jump the route more than usual. Cutler completed several passes Monday where Tennessee’s defensive backs tried to go for the pick, but Cutler’s strong, accurate arm made them pay. That’s how he got his touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall.
It was one of those games where even when Cutler didn’t make his best throw, it turned out well. I thought he underthrew a deep ball to Brandon Stokley in the second quarter, but thanks to a cagey maneuver by the veteran receiver, the result was a 37-yard, pass-interference penalty. The way I saw it, Stokley drew that call by purposely hooking the arm of Titans safety Cortland Finnegan.
It reminded me of the old Jerry Sloan trick of drawing charging calls when he was a guard for the Chicago Bulls. (Yes, I’m old enough to remember Sloan the player.) In the 1970s, taking the charge was all the rage in basketball, from the NBA on down. From what I heard as a kid growing up in the outskirts of Chicago, Mike Shanahan used to take his share of charges while playing for the basketball powerhouse that was East Leyden High School.
Shanahan may recall how Sloan would occasionally grab an offensive player’s jersey and pull him back toward him for the charging call.
I don’t think Stokley’s tactic was quite that underhanded, but it was a clever move by a smart receiver.
Mike – Is it too early to compare this struggling Broncos team to a struggling Cowboys team of the early ’90s? Both teams replaced aging veterans on the fly and took their lumps. The Cowboys eventually became arguably the team of the ’90s with three Super Bowl championships. Do you see that same potential with our young Broncos?
— Shane Kryzsko, North Platte, Neb.
Shane – You might be on to something. It’s difficult for anyone absorbed in the 2007 season to see the forest through the imposing redwoods that are the New England Patriots. But let’s say Tom Brady, 30, and the Colts’ Peyton Manning, 31, lose some of their effectiveness two or three years from now. By then, Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler may well be entering the best years of his career. Remember, John Elway didn’t engineer The Drive until his fourth season.
To follow your Cowboys’ comparison, I can see Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler, who are all in their second seasons, approach the peak production of Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Jay Novacek. I don’t see the Broncos coming up with the next Emmitt Smith – there can only be one all-time leading rusher. But as we saw again Monday night against the Titans, whoever plays running back for the Broncos will be pretty good.
The Cowboys were a complete team in the 1990s, with their defense featuring the likes of Charles Haley, Ken Norton, Leon Lett and Darren Woodson. Perhaps more promising to the Broncos is the emerging youth on defense. Second-year defensive end Elvis Dumervil and rookie defensive linemen Marcus Thomas and Tim Crowder are already making plays. D.J. Williams and Champ Bailey are still in their 20s. And the Broncos have begun to make the transition to more youthful safeties in Hamza Abdullah and Domonique Foxworth.
It’s not difficult to see the Broncos making another legitimate Super Bowl run in another two years, but they need Brady and Manning to start fading.
Hey, Mike. Do you know what the music and lyrics are to the Broncos’ fight song? Being a Bronco fan transplant, I find myself frequenting sports bars on Sundays to watch my Broncos in action, and it seems that I have to listen constantly to other fans sing their team’s song without ever being able to respond in turn. Thanks.
— Chris Emerson, Washington
Chris – Here goes:
Hail mighty Broncos.
Pride of the West.
Like the mountains towering high,
Over all the rest.
Hum, hum, hum. Hum, hum, hum.
At least that’s what I say when I don’t know the words to a particular song. Which is why I hated saying goodbye to Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll, Part II.” It was the one song where I could usually fake all the lyrics and get away with it.
Hey!
I’m a ‘Phins fan and am excited to see if the Jay Cutler-compared John Beck can make a splash the rest of the way. Are there any players not showcased thus far that you’re eager to see play?
— Marc M., Rhode Island
Marc – Yes, like everybody else, I’d like to see what the Raiders have in rookie quarterback JaMarcus Russell. We’re probably not going to see Brady Quinn because the Browns are playoff contenders, and Derek Anderson deserves to take every snap. But the Raiders are going nowhere and seem to rotate Josh McCown and Daunte Culpepper every other game. Why not baptize Russell in the next week or two?
The dilemma confronting Russell is he didn’t even take a preseason snap because of his extended contract holdout. People who want to compare his situation to Carson Palmer’s rookie season in 2003 forget that Palmer completed 37 of 54 passes during the preseason.
Russell needs to hurry up and start making mistakes under fire if the Raiders are going to start recouping their record $29 million investment in 2008.
Hi, Mike. Love your mailbag. Don’t you think it’s ironic the fans are questioning Mike Shanahan’s choice at quarterback the same way they did Dan Reeves’s choice of John Elway? It’s only Cutler’s first real year in the league. Compare his stats with Elway’s. Thanks.
— John Moneghan, Elgin, S.C.
John – No, it’s I who loves your taste. Prevailing wisdom says it’s not fair to Cutler to compare him to Elway because The Duke is remembered for his body of work. Five Super Bowls, two Super Bowl championships. Incredible pass-rush escapes followed by 40-yard zingers across field. The final-minute comebacks.
But I also think it’s unfair to Elway to compare the start of his career to Cutler. Elway started the first five games of his rookie season, and had 11 games overall in 1983. Cutler didn’t play until the final five games of his rookie season. Cutler was more schooled when he took his first snap. And Elway didn’t have Mike Shanahan running his offense until the final four seasons of his career. Cutler got Shanahan from the get-go.
So it shouldn’t be surprising Cutler’s first 15 NFL games – 3,083 yards, 63.5 completion percentage, 18 TDs, 14 INTs and 88.7 passer rating – were vastly superior to the 15-game numbers of Elway – 2,143 yards, 48.7 percentage, 10 TDs, 18 INTs and 56.7 rating.
Still, those numbers do show that if anyone was expecting more from Cutler at this point, they’re way overexpecting.
How tall is Cutler, really? He seems to get a lot of passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage. And to compare, how tall was Elway?
— Pono, Hawaii
Pono – Cutler is 6-foot-3 and change, as measured at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2006. Elway was, and is, also 6-foot-3. I know what you’re thinking: It seems like Elway was taller. But not so. As for the knockdowns at the line of scrimmage, there can be two explanations: One, Elway delivered from a slightly higher arm angle; or two, defensive linemen are much better at anticipating the quarterback’s release and putting their hands up at the right time.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Mike Klis is in his third season of covering the Broncos after previously covering the Rockies and Major League Baseball for 15 years. To drop a question into his Broncos Mailbag, or visit DenverPost.com’s .
