Currently: - Game info: 4:15 pm EDT Sun Oct 23, 2005
- TV: CBS
Jake Plummer and the Denver Broncos have been in this position before, only to fall short of expectations.
The red-hot Broncos look to extend their winning streak to six games when they visit the New York Giants.
Denver began the last two seasons 5-1, only to stumble down the stretch and get knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. Plummer has his own theory on why the Broncos might finish better this year.
“We stop listening to questions that are constantly asked about, `You started fast and then (expletive) the last couple years,”’ Plummer said. “We’ll focus on the New York Giants this week, and I don’t even know who we play after that.”
The Broncos have made a remarkable turnaround after their season-opening loss at Miami, where they scored 10 points and Plummer played poorly.
Plummer threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s 28-20 victory over defending two-time Super Bowl champion New England. He also extended his streak without an interception to 17 quarters.
“I can’t say it’s any one thing,” coach Mike Shanahan said of Plummer’s success since Week 1. “He’s in his third year. He feels comfortable with the system. I think it’s a process and hopefully, he can keep it up.”
Plummer hit on throws of 72 and 55 yards, and Tatum Bell finished with 114 rushing yards to surpass the century mark for the second straight week.
Bell has almost the same amount of yards (395) as Giants running back Tiki Barber (397), but with 30 fewer carries.
Despite back-to-back big games, Bell is likely to continue to share carries with Mike Anderson and former Giants first-round pick Ron Dayne.
“I want to be the guy to carry the load and get those 25-30 carries,” said Bell.
Anderson has been starting for Denver, and is second on the team with 358 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin would like his team to forget last week’s 16-13 overtime loss in Dallas.
New York’s defense forced four turnovers, but the offense had its worst day of the season.
The Giants committed five turnovers and scored their fewest points of the year. New York still leads the NFL with 29.8 points per game.
“The defense created turnover after turnover, but we were too inept to capitalize,” said Barber, who had 14 carries for 64 yards. “The offense is out of sync.”
Quarterback Eli Manning was 14-of-30 for 215 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Manning struggled with his accuracy through the first three quarters. The second-year quarterback has thrown for 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns in five games.
Manning and the Giants will attempt to get their offense going against a revamped Denver defensive line.
The Broncos are fifth in the NFL in rushing defense, allowing 88.3 yards per game. Despite only eight sacks, Denver’s defensive line has provided steady pressure on quarterbacks, resulting in hurried throws, interceptions, offensive holding calls and intentional grounding penalties.
“You don’t know how many times I look back and see the ball skipping on the ground because the quarterback is on his back,” Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. “That makes a huge difference.”
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Michael Palmer TE, Antonio Dennard CB
