Cleveland Browns
Starting Quarterback- Derek Anderson
Back-Up Quarterback- Brady Quinn
Now when the season started Brady Quinn was the starter for the Browns. After throwing 3 INTs in the first 3 weeks of the season, the Browns pulled Quinn during the Ravens game in week 3 and put in Derek Anderson who immediately came in and threw 3 INTs of his own. However Mangini said he showed "promise" and therefore kept him as the starter. The result? The Browns are a division worst 1-7 and Anderson has thrown an INT in every game he's started. His QB rating of 36.2 is the lowest in the entire league. He's thrown 9 INTs compared to just 2 TDs all season so far. As far as what will happen with Brady Quinn... well the Browns seem to not have a straight answer for that. Latest word is that they may start him when they return from their bye..we shall see. In the meantime the Browns did fire their general manager George Kokinis. Dont think that bodes well for Mangini this coming off-season.
Carolina Panthers
Starting Quarterback- Jake Delhomme
Back-up Quarterbacks- Matt Moore & A.J. Feeley
Jake Delhomme is having the absolute worst season of his entire career. 8 games into the season and he has already thrown 13 INTs and only 5 TDs. His passer rating is 59.3 which ranks 32nd in the league. The Panthers are 3-4 and in 3rd in their division. Wide receiver Steve Smith caught his 1st (and so far only) TD of the season last week against the Cardinals. Despite his poor performance, John Fox refuses to switch to Moore or Feeley. Are they waiting to see what kind of improvement he will make? Are they thinking they will make the playoffs like they did last year? Umm...let's be realistic people. Be happy if you get to 8-8 by season's end. Dont know about the future beyond this season for either Delhomme or John Fox.
Oakland Raiders
Starting Quarterback: JaMarcus RussellBack up Quarterback: Charlie Frye
The Raiders are an awful team on every side of the ball. JaMarcus is the center of an offense that has struggled this season to score TDs. His quarterback rating is a pitiful 48.3. He has thrown 9 INTs to just 2 TDs so far this season and the Raiders are a miserable 2-6. Russell's arm strength is phenemonal but his fundamentals are terrible. His footwork is terrible. His work ethic is terrible (he is notorious for missing mandatory team meetings). His young receivers are in desperate need of leadership from their quarterback, but rather than provide it, JaMarcus throws his team under the bus claiming that it isnt his fault they are losing games. Despite this, Tom Cable refuses to switch to the veteran Charlie Frye. JaMarcus has never been properly developed nor brought in behind a veteran QB who could teach him proper techniques and fundamentals. Sadly, because they havent allowed this to happen JaMarcus may never develop fully into the quarterback that he could become. Who knows how long this experiment in disaster will continue. Al Davis seems to love JaMarcus (which unfortunately has contributed to a spoiled attitude) despite his poor play. If something doesnt happen, they will continue on this losing track they have been on since 2003.
Buffalo Bills
Starting Quarterback (for now): Ryan Fitzpatrick
Back-up Quarterback (for now): Trent Edwards
Back in week 6 Trent Edwards was knocked out the game with a concussion. Since such time Ryan Fitzpatrick has been the starter. How has that worked out for the Bills? They are 3-5 and in last place in the AFC East. Fitzpatrick's QB rating is 57.8 & he has thrown a total of 2 TDs while throwing 3 INTs. The Bills are expecting to have Edwards back in Week 10 (they are on bye this week). Does this mean wins? Not necessarily. Edwards QB rating is only 73.0 and he has thrown only 5 TDs while throwing 6 INTs. Neither quarterback is great so the Bills will need to do something to improve their lot if they ever want to be competitive again in the the AFC East division.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Starting Quarterback (beginning this week): Josh Freeman
Back-up Quarterbacks: Josh Johnson & Byron Leftwich
What an awful terrible dismal season the Bucs are having. No matter what they do they cannot seem to muster up a single win. Not to say that they wont luck up and win one this season, but the Bucs look pathetic and it starts at the quarterback position. The season began with Byron Leftwich at quarterback. After a pathetic start going 0-3 and Leftwich throwing 4 TDs & 3 INTs the Bucs decided to switch to Josh Johnson in the middle of the Giants game in week 3 (after Leftwich threw an INT). Johnson showed some promise in the Giants game late, but it quickly evaporated. His QB rating now is 50.9 and he has thrown twice as many INTs (8) as he has TDs (4). Now the Bucs are returning from bye this week and have decided to start the rookie Josh Freeman. He came in at the end of the New England game and completed 2 passes for a total of 16 yards and 0 TDs. Will the rookie be able to turn things around for the Bucs? Time will tell but things arent looking good for them.
St. Louis Rams
Starting Quarterback: Mark Bulger
Back-up Quarterback: Kyle Boller
The Rams FINALLY won their first game of the season. Of course it came against the Lions who only have 1 win so I dont know how significant you can make that win. Despite the win they are a horrendous team. Mark Bulger is injury prone (already been out 3 weeks this season) which hurts them every year. His quarterback rating is 68.2 and he has thrown 3 TDs and 4 INTs all season so far. Should they switch to the back-up Kyle Boller? Well let's examine that..during the 3 weeks he was the starter while Bulger was out he finished with a dismal 0-3 record, a 66.1 QB rating and threw 2 TDs and 3 INTs. In other words switching to Boller may not make any more of a difference than keeping Bulger as the starter. The lone bright spot in this sad offense is Steven Jackson but without help around him they are not going to muster up any more wins this season. This team MUST address their offensive line problem to keep their quarterback healthy and to help Jackson get more first downs on run plays.
At this juncture I could put in the Tennessee Titans, but since Vince Young came in last week and played well and got them their first win of the season, I'll let them slide for now, depending on how well Young continues to play. It was clearly time to make a change for them. Same thing can be said with the 49ers. The return of Alex Smith who showed great potential in the loss to Houston in week 7 may be the spark needed to get them back on track. Last week he struggled against the Colts, but the Colts are undefeated so have to give him some credit for only throwing 1 INT in the game.
Some would want me to mention the Washington Redskins, but despite the fact that they are only 2-5 Jason Campbell's quarterback rating is 85.8. In this situation the problem is not the QB it is his offensive line which has been plagued by injuries (Chris Samuels is on IR) and breaking down on every play. How well can you complete passes when you are constantly having to scramble for your life or getting sacked? This issue is the same one that Seattle is going through. Matt Hasselback is a good quarterback, but his offensive line stinks. Hasselback ends up injured every year due to the lack of a proper o-line in front of him protecting him. After Shaun Alexander's stand out year in Seattle, teams raided the Seahawks of their offensive linemen. Now years later, they have yet to replenish the line and the Seahawks have been playing poorly ever since. The Kansas City Chiefs are struggling due to a bad offensive line too. They have good receivers, a decent running game and a good newly starting quarterback in Matt Cassel. He has the same problem as Campbell and Hasselback where his line is leaving him open & getting him sacked alot. If they shore up his line maybe we would see better production out of the Chiefs, but..well let's wait and see on this one.
The Lions have a rookie quarterback who has shown great promise and potential but his o-line stinks and his defensive is atrocious. The Lions have been blown out in several games this season and last season. Since this is Matt Stafford's first season, all of their woes cannot be blamed on him. Blame alot of it on Matt Millen constanly drafting wide receivers instead of offensive or defensive linemen. This team is going to be bad for several more years as they look to rebuild and hopefully fill in the necessary offensive and defensive players. Once that happens maybe we will see better play out of Stafford.
-NFL Girl
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