TUESESDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

1.3. 

Nope, that’s not the average household # of cars in the U.S.  

We’re not even talking Grade Point Average. 

We’re talking Quarterback Ratings. 

Yes, a 1.3 QB rating. 

A 1.3 QB rating!  

That my friends is what Chicago Bear quarterback Rex Grossman produced this past weekend. A one point freakin’ three quarterback rating.  

I didn’t know the rating system even went that low.  Apparently it does. 

It’s mind-blowing that a NFL starter can play THAT poorly. 

Funny thing is: the Bears won the game.  Granted, I think it had A LOT more to do with that defense of their’s than the offense –BUT STILL! 

No wonder fans in Chicago are calling for his head…err…I mean his backup – QB Brain Griese. 

Same went for Denver’s out-of-a-starting job Jake Plummer.  Though …and again granted, his QB rating never sunk as low as 1.3. 

I mean my sister could strap on a helmet and get at least a 3.8. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, his former back-up throws a nice spiral. I’ll give that to new Bronco starter Jay Cutler.  But does that warrant a starter’s job? 

It’s the timing that I’m referring to. 

Two teams who only a couple of weeks ago were talking Super Bowl…now are talking QB change (or in Denver’s case– already changed).   

Isn’t it a little late for that? 

Folks — its week 13 going on 14.  It’s the most crucial part of the season.  Changing the most important position on the team now would be like me changing blog writers in the middle of a blo… 

“Hi everyone my name is Roger Cornchowder…and I’m filling in for Adam for the rest of the paragraph.  I’m not really qualified to write here since I’ve never actually read his blog nor have any idea what his style is like.  Sorry about that.  I’m just here to help paint an analogy and take up space.  Hope this doesn’t cost him a shot at getting nominated for the Nobel  Sports Prize. ” 

Ahem… It just doesn’t work – it’s too late.  

It’s not like these teams are bad with nothing going for them outside the hope of what next year may bring.  No, these are supposedly two premier teams – battling it out for the chance to call themselves Champs come season’s end. 

Ladies and gentlemen, the season is almost over.  You have just played 12+ games plus all of pre-season under one field general…and both teams are still legitimate playoff teams.  How can you expect a quarterback to suddenly come in at this juncture?   

It’s less of an issue for Chicago since Griese is a proven veteran.  But replacing Plummer (who yes, has a bad habit of messing up at the worse possible moment) with a rookie at this point seems moronic to me.  (Note: This same Plummer-guy is also the same guy who leads current active quarterbacks in fourth quarter comebacks.) 

Despite consistent poor play, it’s just too late in the season to pull the Back-up Card.  

To make such a change, you would have had to do it much earlier in the year like Dallas did with Tony Romo.  Bill Parcells made the change early enough, where both Romo and the team could grow together, get enough snaps and GAMES under their belts to actually have a fighter’s chance come playoff time. 

How does Denver expect to make a deep run with a rookie who will only get five games to learn not only his team… BUT also THE NFL?!!!  To me, this move by Denver signaled the white flag for this year.  I’m not saying Cutler isn’t the quarterback of the future for the Broncos.  I’m just saying Denver wins last Sunday’s game against
Seattle with Plummer under center…and I’m saying Plummer (despite his poor play) gave the Broncos the best shot at winning this year!   

Bear fans – you still have hope!  But time is running out in Chicago (still the favorite by some over Dallas to come out of the NFC).  Keep in mind, if Grossman continues to play poorly, the fans will grow increasingly restless…and you’re already past danger-time.  You need to make a decision once and for all on who your starting QB is the rest of the season…because the longer you wait, the greater the chances you will have diminished success come playoff time. 

And as you know, this is the worst possible time of the year for a quarterback controversy! 

TIME FOR SOME CHARGER TALK: 

• W. McGahee, the self-proclaimed “best running back in the league” was held to 26 yards on 16 carries.  His 1.6 yards per carry easily out did LaDanian Tomlinson’s 178 yards (on only 28 carries) and 2 touchdowns.

• Did anyone notice that Donnie Edwards had eighteen, count them, 18 tackles Sunday?! 12 of them solo.  He also had two ham sandwiches, three speeding tickets and blocked seventeen pre-teens from getting illegal tattoos of their second grade boyfriends’ names (boyfriends who wouldn’t last the month by the way).  Check the box score!

• Sunday’s game marked a return of sort’s to a dominant output by San Diego’s defensive unit.  The Charger defense limited
  Buffalo to a mere 63 yards rushing (26 coming from a srambling QB), forced 4 turnovers and unleashed 3 sacks. 

Poor third quarter play by the team’s other units (ahem…offense… and let me clear my throat…special teams…ahem) were responsible for 14 of Buffalo’s points— and a combo of a turnover and a semi-prevent defense at the end of the game led to Buffalo’s final score.  In other words, the game was not as close as the final score indicated.  The defense played solid… despite STILL not being close to full strength.   

• With 2 sacks, Shawne Merriman joined Shaun Phillips as co-sack leaders in the AFC!  Not bad for a duo who have both missed time to injury and …err…other  reasons

• 7 catches for 90 yards and a TD – welcome back to Antonio Gates!!!!!!

• A great day around the league for the Chargers! 
  Indianapolis lost (dropping the Colts into a virtual tie for both home field advantage throughout the playoffs and the top seed in the conference.  I say virtual, because the Colts currently hold the tie-breaker in that they have a slightly better conference record than do the Chargers.), Denver and Kansas City lost (dropping both teams a whopping three games behind San Diego!!!!!!), and the Raiders lost (which doesn’t really mean anything as far as the playoffs go…but its just plain fun to see). This all comes on the heels of the Ravens losing Thursday night!   Yippee!

• If this type of stuff interests you:  The Chargers are atop ESPN.com’s Football Power Rankings this week.  Ahead of
  Indianapolis (#2) and Dallas (#3).  The Patriots (#5), Ravens (#6), Bengals (#8), Chiefs (#12) and the Broncos (#13) round out the rest of the teams of interest to the Chargers right now.

• Did you know:  San Diego clinches a playoff spot with a victory Sunday over Denver.   Further, they clinch the AFC West title with both a win combined with a Kansas City loss to
  Baltimore.  However, considering their current three game lead over the Chiefs (with only four games remaining), it may ultimately be better for San Diego’s cause if the Chiefs knock off the Ravens.  Why?  The Ravens are only one game behind the Chargers for home field advantage and hold the tie breaker.  At this point, playoff seeding takes precedence.  More space between the Bolts and the purple birds may be more advantageous than a four game gap over the Chiefs…

IN OTHER NEWS: 

• Speaking of the Raiders (well a couple of paragraphs ago): did you hear that they lost despite the fact that their defense held the Texans to -5 yards passing?  That is not a typo. 
  Houston had negative yards for the day passing the ball (I didn’t know that possible) and the Raiders still found a way to lose. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  What else can they do?  Maybe we should see what would happen if we just put a bunch of mannequins on the field…I wonder if the Raiders would still lose?

 

• Someone at the SD Union Tribune is smoking crack.  They picked Buffalo at the Jets as  the “best game next week” Say what?  Over Denver at San Diego? Over Baltimore at
  Kansas City?  Over NY Giants at Carolina?  Over
  Indianapolis at Jacksonville?  OverNew Orleans at
  Dallas (which NBC picked as the game of the week for broadcast)?  Ooooooookay….

• Speaking of smoking crack – 
  Buffalo should permanently return to their throw-back blue and white uniforms that they wore against the Chargers.  These are such a tremendous step above their normal dark blue/white/red with squares monstrosity they have been wearing the past couple of seasons.   Whomever made the decision to change to those from their old blue and red unis (that they wore during their 4 Super Bowl-runner-up glory days) was smoking something – im thinking Crack   Man, those are hard on the eyes!

• Speaking of hard on the eyes – the red-shirted costumes (yeah, I said ‘costume’) the NY football Giants wore again Sunday gave me headaches.  Talk about a hideous uniform.  Nothing matches – and the only blue is on the helmet and it looks weird teamed with the red tops!  Why wear those when the Giants normally sport one of the best uniforms in the league?  Seriously, both the Giants and the Jets perfected the throw-back threads …why mess with what works?

Talk with you tomorrow…

 

ps. Greg Maddux has signed a 1 year deal with the Padres with a mutual option for year two.  Stay tuned…