FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – Maybe it’s time for Denver fans to stop booing Jake Plummer and start cheering the Broncos’ defense.

Plummer threw touchdown passes of 83 and 32 yards to Javon Walker Sunday night as the Broncos beat New England 17-7. They were his first two TD passes of the season and just the second and third touchdowns Denver has scored this season.

“There was no difference, just go out and play,” Plummer said. “We had a good game plan … it just happened to work this week.”

But the credit goes as much to a Denver defense that shut down Tom Brady and a New England offense that was without several of its few options – rookie receiver Chad Jackson, the team’s only deep threat, was out with a hamstring problem and running back Corey Dillon left in the first half with an arm injury.

Even when Dillon was in the game, New England’s offense was rendered ineffective by a defense that finally surrendered its first touchdown of the season with just over nine minutes left. That came on an 8-yard pass from Brady to Doug Gabriel at the end of an 80-yard, 10-play drive after the Broncos had opened up a 17-0 lead.

The win was the fifth for the Broncos (2-1) in its last six games with the Patriots (2-1), including a 27-13 win in Denver last season.

The offense did its share, too.

Pinned three times inside its own 5-yard lines by Josh Miller punts, Denver consistently moved the ball far enough to give Paul Ernster room to kick it out of danger.

That was largely the work of Tatum Bell, who gained 123 yards on 27 carries and the efficiency of Plummer, who hit two third-down passes in the first half to move the ball out of danger.

Perhaps more importantly, he didn’t make the mistakes he is sometimes prone to making.

Plummer, who entered the game with no TD passes, four interceptions and a dismal passer rating of 38.6, finally threw his first TD pass of the season with 56 seconds left in the half, less than three minutes after rookie Stephen Gostkowski’s 37-yard field-goal attempt for New England was blocked by Dominique Foxworth. It was the second straight blocked kick by Gostkowski, who had one stuffed by the Jets last week.

The drive was highlighted by a 19-yard run by Bell on the first play after the blocked kick. On third-and-one from the New England 32, Plummer hit Walker perfectly in the corner of the end zone for his first TD as a Bronco.

The second TD, just Denver’s third of the season, was a strike over the middle to Walker, obtained in a draft day trade from Green Bay to give the Broncos a big-play receiver.

“We took it upon ourselves for everyone to be liable for their mistakes, step up when it’s time to step up,” Walker said. “You know, just listen to the game plan and come out here and make plays.”

He eluded Asante Samuel and James Sanders and ran almost untouched to the end zone.

Plummer was 15-of-30 for 256 yards, the kind of percentage that had Broncos fans calling for rookie Jay Cutler. But he was much more efficient than in his first two efforts.

Brady, hampered by a running game that produced just 50 yards, was 31-of-55 for 320 yards, much of it late against a prevent defense.

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