Can Jake the Snake shed his skin?

By Dan Nied [send email]

Forget the MVP talk and the idea that something special is brewing here.

Pay no mind to the best regular season a Bronco quarterback has seen since John Elway roamed the mountains.

Just put it out of your head because Jake Plummer hasn’t proved a thing yet.

Certainly Plummer has earned the respect of fans with his decidedly un-Plummer like year. If the season ended today, he would have the best quarterback rating of his nine-year NFL career, the second-best completion percentage of his career and, most importantly, would have thrown 14 fewer interceptions than he did last year.

That would be all well and good if Plummer was 25 and playing for the Houston Texans. But with the Broncos, who saw John Elway practically turn water into wine, Plummer’s only job is to win in the playoffs.

While it might be nice for fans to see 18 touchdowns to only six interceptions heading into Saturday's game at Oakland, they should know Plummer hasn’t fully turned the corner yet. They were burned by him last year when the Broncos were embarrassed by the Colts. The team still has not won a playoff game since Elway retired.

Bronco fans are still under water every time Plummer throws a pass – that is, they are holding their collective breath. For anyone who has followed Plummer’s career in Arizona and Denver, there is a tiny little thought that evil Jake will show his ugly face in the playoffs.

It seems like Plummer has flipped the switch this season. Seemingly overnight he has gone from one of the most unreliable quarterbacks in the game to one of the most efficient.

But the playoffs loom in a few short weeks, and that is when Plummer will have to prove to the Broncos that he can be counted on to not toss left-handed hook shots out of his own end zone.

He may do it. He seems to have turned this corner because of experience and coaching. That is not a combination that can be erased in only a few weeks.

But still doubt lingers because once bitten twice shy is exactly how the Broncos feel right now.

In Jake they trust.

But not until he performs in the playoffs.