Whether It’s Elway, Plummer Or Cutler, It Really Doesn’t Matter!
Friday, December 01st 2006 (Bob Acton)

Since 1999 the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks have hooked up 10 times and in 9 of those occasions the Broncos have won the game and 8 times they have covered the point spread. This Sunday they meet in Denver as the folks at SuperBook.com have this game presently at Denver -4 and the total 40.

Broncos boss Mike Shanahan has benched starter Jake Plummer in favor of Vanderbilt rookie Jay Cutler. The team is 7-4, but ranks 26th in the league in yards passing per game (171.5).Plummer has thrown 12 interceptions to go with 11 touchdowns, and he’s completed 55.6 percent of his passes for a meager 6.33 yards per attempt and a middling quarterback rating of 70.5.

It is the first time Plummer has been benched for a reason other than injury in his 10-year career. He’s 39-15 as Denver’s starter in the regular season. Shanahan and Plummer have the fifth-best regular season winning percentage - with a minimum 50 starts - since 1970. The key to the Broncos on offense has and will be the running game on Saturday. Denver should get a boost with the return of former Oklahoma St. back Tatum Bell.

As for Seattle, there are reports that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has a few broken bones on the non-throwing hand, but if Shaun Alexander can run like he did this past Monday night, Seattle will not need to pass. Alexander ripped Green Bay’s defense for 201 yards on 40 carries.

At 7-4 many football insiders are curious with the change at the QB spot, but Cutler hails from the SEC, where he routinely went on the road to Tennessee and Georgia and played in front of 80,000 or more rabid fans.

Shanahan is 11-7 in his career against the Seahawks, including 11-4 since coming to Denver in 1995. Shanahan's final game as the Oakland Raiders' head coach was a loss to Seattle four games into the 1989 season.

Seattle’s Mike Holmgren is 4-6 in his career against the Broncos, including 2-5 while at the helm of Seattle. Holmgren is 3-6 head-to-head against Shanahan, including a loss for his Packers to Shanahan's Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII.

Bob Acton

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