By JOSHUA NATOLI
Staff Writer
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 25, 2011
It goes without question that the key to many teams success is a great quarterback. Guys like Aaron Rogers and Tom Brady are both very crucial cogs in the machines that are their powerhouse Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots respectively. But what happens when a team loses the man that they thought would be their quarterback and are forced into a very tough decision of who will fill the spot?
After a long lockout, the NFL season was underway with one missing component; Peyton Manning. The Indianapolis Colts lost their superstar and playmaker due to a lingering neck injury that has likely ended his season.
In a very desperate effort, the Colts schmoozed old time quarterback Kerry Collins out of retirement to take over the job. They were faced with yet another setback when Collins suffered a concussion in a loss to the Cleveland Browns and were forced to put in backup quarterback Curtis Painter in as a last resort.
With Painter at the reigns, the Colts are 0-4 on the season. Without Manning at the helm the Colts are 0-6 this season and have yet to score more than 30 points in a game. Even with other solid veterans like Joseph Addai and Reggie Wayne, the Colts cannot be successful. It is very clear just how much Peyton Manning matters to this team.
The Oakland Raiders recently lost their quarterback Jason Campbell to the broken collarbone in Week 6. In order to fortify their roster, the Raiders traded a 2012 first round draft pick and a conditional 2013 draft pick for Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer.
Carson Palmer had request a trade after last season but did not get his wish. After not reporting to training camp this season he was still left on the Bengals roster. Palmer led the Bengals to two playoff appearances and has been selected to the Pro Bowl twice.
Some of the quarterback woes this season have not evolved from injury, but pure lack of performance. After a terrible Week 6 showing and rather horrible season overall, the Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier took the game away from their offseason acquisition Donovan McNabb and handed it to draft pick Christian Ponder. Ponder is now the Vikings’ starting quarterback. McNabb was mainly there for short passing and to be the guy to give the ball to Adrian Peterson and he could not even get that right.
Another veteran quarterback under scrutiny is Washington Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman. After an outing against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6 in which Grossman threw four interceptions, Redskins coach Mike Shanahan decided to put in backup John Beck.
Backups and desperate acquisitions have not been all the rare though. The NFL has been exposed to two rookie quarterbacks that show a lot of promise as the season moves forward.
The Cincinnati Bengals rookie Andy Dalton out of TCU was taken in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft and has shown more than most first round picks have. He has led the Bengals to a 4-2 record. He has thrown for over 1000 yards and has a quarterback rating of 84.3.
Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers has been the talk of the rookies this season though. Newton had a more then impressive Week 1 in which he threw for 422 yards and 2 touchdowns. That outing let the NFL know that Cam Newton is for real. Even though the Panthers are 1-5, their future is bright if they can surround Cam Newton with quality talent in the next couple of years.
Even though this might not be the year of the quarterback football fans expected, it sure is panning out to be one great season.
