The King
12-27-2004, 06:53 PM
Second down: Pennington. Plummer. Bledsoe. Two of these three QBs will most likely make the AFC playoffs. Can anyone of them actually do any damage?
Alan Grant: Each of them can do considerable damage. Of course, in the Snake's case, there's always the chance that he and/or his comrades may end up the damaged goods. But I think Bledsoe, being of relatively sound mind and (protected) body these past few weeks, is most capable of authoring that first-round upset which throws the rest of the tournament into upheaval. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that the evidence of this shall manifest itself in the season finale when Bledsoe and the Bills bring Ben Roethlisberger's win streak to a blustery conclusion. The following week, Bledsoe and his mates stand a very good chance of blurring the AFC picture.
Jeff Merron: That's a leading question with lousy choices, so it's tempting to say: absolutely not.
But the real answer is absolutely the opposite. Each of the three is capable of having a big game, each can play on cold turf. And -- I gulp as I write this -- Plummer is the most likely to succeed. He's got the full beard, the altitude training, the middle-finger attitude, and, best of all, the offensive line to be great. But as we all know, after each great game, Jake turns into a pumpkin, and stays that way for weeks.
Patrick Hruby: Absolutely. Pennington might damage his reputation as a former Rhodes scholar finalist with more inane comments about the media, while Plummer could seriously dent Mike Shanahan's chances of remaining employed with the Broncos.
Oops. You mean on the field. In that case, I'll have to go with Bledsoe. Not because it's 1997 again -- heck, even Hootie and the Blowfish have a better chance of recapturing their pre-millenial form -- but because the Bills are the hottest team in football. Buffalo has scored a minimum of 33 points in each of its six straight victories, winning by at least 10 (yep, I can read wire copy). Better still, the Bills have a stingy, hard-hitting defense, a budding star in tailback Willis McGahee and a urgent manner that suits playoff football. If anything, the club's winning formula involves minimizing Bledsoe's liabilities -- slow feet, occasional, Favre-like brainlocks -- and maximizing an arm that can still hit Eric Moulds and speedy rookie Lee Evans on play-action passes. Keep the game from resting entirely in Bledsoe's hands, and Buffalo may stun someone in January, even with a head coach named Mularkey. What, coaches Poppycock and Balderdash weren't available?
Aaron Schatz: Sure, Jake Plummer could do some damage if he's having one of his "good Jake Plummer" days. If you've ever wondered what would happen if a mad scientist crossed Grizzly Adams with Batman villain Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, we finally have the answer.
As for the other two quarterbacks, Pennington is clearly still injured; if the Jets pull off an upset in the first round, it will be on the legs of Curtis Martin and Lamont Jordan. And if Bledsoe is playing the Colts in the first round we may see a new record for quarterback sacks in a playoff game.
Skip Bayless: If the Jets and/or Jacksonville and/or Denver make the playoffs -- and Buffalo doesn't -- the NFL should be embarrassed. The Jets, Jaguars and Broncos are limping toward the playoffs, while Buffalo has gone from 1-5 to 9-6. Bledsoe's Bills definitely could do some postseason damage -- but not Bledsoe. He has turned back his clock and ego and become an older version of Ben Roethlisberger.
Bledsoe appears to realize that he's at the wheel of a very good team, and that his job is simply not to run it off the road. The Bills' defense is better than any in the NFC. The Bills, in fact, could win the NFC. They ran for 226 yards at San Francisco, requiring Bledsoe to throw for only 172 -- with no interceptions. Though his passer rating is only 76.9, his team has won eight of nine. If Bledsoe's team makes the playoffs, look out.
Alan Grant: Each of them can do considerable damage. Of course, in the Snake's case, there's always the chance that he and/or his comrades may end up the damaged goods. But I think Bledsoe, being of relatively sound mind and (protected) body these past few weeks, is most capable of authoring that first-round upset which throws the rest of the tournament into upheaval. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that the evidence of this shall manifest itself in the season finale when Bledsoe and the Bills bring Ben Roethlisberger's win streak to a blustery conclusion. The following week, Bledsoe and his mates stand a very good chance of blurring the AFC picture.
Jeff Merron: That's a leading question with lousy choices, so it's tempting to say: absolutely not.
But the real answer is absolutely the opposite. Each of the three is capable of having a big game, each can play on cold turf. And -- I gulp as I write this -- Plummer is the most likely to succeed. He's got the full beard, the altitude training, the middle-finger attitude, and, best of all, the offensive line to be great. But as we all know, after each great game, Jake turns into a pumpkin, and stays that way for weeks.
Patrick Hruby: Absolutely. Pennington might damage his reputation as a former Rhodes scholar finalist with more inane comments about the media, while Plummer could seriously dent Mike Shanahan's chances of remaining employed with the Broncos.
Oops. You mean on the field. In that case, I'll have to go with Bledsoe. Not because it's 1997 again -- heck, even Hootie and the Blowfish have a better chance of recapturing their pre-millenial form -- but because the Bills are the hottest team in football. Buffalo has scored a minimum of 33 points in each of its six straight victories, winning by at least 10 (yep, I can read wire copy). Better still, the Bills have a stingy, hard-hitting defense, a budding star in tailback Willis McGahee and a urgent manner that suits playoff football. If anything, the club's winning formula involves minimizing Bledsoe's liabilities -- slow feet, occasional, Favre-like brainlocks -- and maximizing an arm that can still hit Eric Moulds and speedy rookie Lee Evans on play-action passes. Keep the game from resting entirely in Bledsoe's hands, and Buffalo may stun someone in January, even with a head coach named Mularkey. What, coaches Poppycock and Balderdash weren't available?
Aaron Schatz: Sure, Jake Plummer could do some damage if he's having one of his "good Jake Plummer" days. If you've ever wondered what would happen if a mad scientist crossed Grizzly Adams with Batman villain Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, we finally have the answer.
As for the other two quarterbacks, Pennington is clearly still injured; if the Jets pull off an upset in the first round, it will be on the legs of Curtis Martin and Lamont Jordan. And if Bledsoe is playing the Colts in the first round we may see a new record for quarterback sacks in a playoff game.
Skip Bayless: If the Jets and/or Jacksonville and/or Denver make the playoffs -- and Buffalo doesn't -- the NFL should be embarrassed. The Jets, Jaguars and Broncos are limping toward the playoffs, while Buffalo has gone from 1-5 to 9-6. Bledsoe's Bills definitely could do some postseason damage -- but not Bledsoe. He has turned back his clock and ego and become an older version of Ben Roethlisberger.
Bledsoe appears to realize that he's at the wheel of a very good team, and that his job is simply not to run it off the road. The Bills' defense is better than any in the NFC. The Bills, in fact, could win the NFC. They ran for 226 yards at San Francisco, requiring Bledsoe to throw for only 172 -- with no interceptions. Though his passer rating is only 76.9, his team has won eight of nine. If Bledsoe's team makes the playoffs, look out.