Wednesday Morning QB (Week 10)
The quarterback is one of the most important positions on a football team and teams are always looking for the next best one. As I have said before there are a number of QBs looking good right now including two rookie QBs in Cincinnati and Carolina. Andy Dalton and Cam Newton have done great right now and are helping their teams to recover from some bad years in the two cities. There are also the other young QBs that have not made as big an impression but have just begun playing taking over some bad situations. One of these is Christian Ponder who took over the tumultuous Vikings team when Donovan McNabb failed to perform. Another one of these QBs is probably the biggest name in young QBs but it is not necessarily for his performance. Tim Tebow was one of the best NCAA QBs to play the division I football as a Heisman and two-time National Championship winner. This performance created major hype around the young QB who was an extremely nice guy that was also very religious meaning that the religious south of the states fell in love with him. There were some concerns though as Tebow was regularly criticized for his throwing motion and his mechanics. This made hi fall to the 25th pick in the 2010 NFL draft when the Denver Broncos took a chance on him. Then the Denver Broncos gutted their management and brought in a brand new regime that included the last great Broncos QB John Elway and new head coach John Fox. With the change Tebow was no longer the savior of the team as Elway and Fox both had reservations and at points seemed utterly against the promotion of Tebow. Throughout this shortened offseason the Broncos began testing out QBs to find out who would take the reins on the team and many fans were hoping it would be Tebow. Through the offseason Kyle Orton won the starting job with Tebow falling to the third string QB behind Brady Quinn. As the season went on Denver began to struggle under Orton and the decision was made to start Tim Tebow in week 7 against the Miami Dolphins. The debate then began as many people said that Tebow’s mechanics were not good enough to be a QB in the NFL and even though he could run it would not save him in a league that has moved towards passing more and more. They said that Tebow is not good enough to be a starting QB and many believed that the move to start him was simply to quiet the fans who were chanting his name throughout the preseason and regular season. With Elway and Fox so against starting Tebow this theory seemed realistic as they may have been setting him up to fail and then move on to draft a new QB that may be better suited for them. Then Tebow did something that many did not expect as he guided the Broncos to wins. With Tebow under centre the Broncos are 3-1 which shows something different that people have overlooked. Tebow is not a great mechanical QB and he may be one of the worst QBs at reading defence in the NFL but he does have things that cannot be taught. Tebow has the intangibles that make QBs true NFL impact players as he has an ability to lead and an ability to win. It may not be pretty, like in week 10 when Tebow threw a total of 8 times in the game, but he finds a way to win. Tebow is nowhere near the top-tier of NFL QBs but the things that he has problems with will come with some teaching. Of course the throwing mechanics cannot be taught as he already tried to change them and it did not work but if it works for him it does not have to be pretty. As for reading defences it takes some time for QBs to learn that in the NFL and with some teaching by Elway and Fox there is nothing to say that Tebow can’t learn to read defences and pick them apart. The intangibles that he has cannot be taught as they simply need to be there and his issues are with teachable things. There is no need to crown Tebow yet but if he can prove that he deserves a shot in Denver who knows how good he can be. The issue is whether or not Elway and Fox are patient enough to help Tebow out for the next few years. At the end of the day there is one stat that is more important than any other as Tebow may not have knockout passing numbers but he is currently 3-1 and if you win as a QB in the NFL there is a place for you. He will face his toughest competition next week though as he will need to face the Rex Ryan Defence of the New York Jets and how he performs against them could be the biggest clue to whether or not Tebow is good enough for the NFL.
As the eyes in Denver focus on Tim Tebow there is another situation involving a QB that is developing in Houston. The Houston Texans have never made the playoffs in their 9 years of being a franchise. They have been slowly but surely coming closer as they just missed out last year on a wild card spot. They have also been cursed by having Peyton Manning in their division who has led the Colts to multiple division championships and multiple playoff berths. This year has been Houston’s year as Peyton Manning has been hurt all season and given an opening for the AFC South division as the Colts have proven that they are nothing without him. With the opening Houston seemed to be on their way to a division title. Then the injuries started as Arian Foster was taken out of the first few games after a preseason injury. Luckily for them Ben Tate filled in great allowing for a two-headed attack now. Then the best WR in the NFL was injured as they lost Andre Johnson in week 4 who has yet to play again. Yet another one of their key players fell in week 5 when outside linebacker Mario Williams went down with a pectoral injury and has just had surgery on it. The biggest blow could have come this past week when QB Matt Schaub who suffered what his team is calling a “Significant” right foot injury. Schaub has not been ruled out for the season but could very well miss the rest of the season. With all of these injuries the likeliness of the Texans making the playoffs keeps shrinking with the Tennessee Titans on their heels. The Texans will go on to play possibly the rest of the season with Matt Leinart under centre as they hope to make their first playoff appearance. The Texans will be an interesting team to watch as they will try to overcome the injuries and make a good run but it will be up to their backups to get the job done which makes an interesting end to the season.
Standings
American Football Conference:
AFC East:
1. New England Patriots (.667)
2. New York Jets (.556)
3. Buffalo Bills (.556)
4. Miami Dolphins (.222)
AFC North:
1. Pittsburgh Steelers (.700)
2. Baltimore Ravens (.667)
3. Cincinnati Bengals (.667)
4. Cleveland Browns (.333)
AFC South:
1. Houston Texans (.700)
2. Tennessee Titans (.556)
3. Jacksonville Jaguars (.333)
4. Indianapolis Colts (.000)
AFC West:
1. Oakland Raiders (.556)
2. San Diego Chargers (.444)
3. Denver Broncos (.444)
4. Kansas City Chiefs (.444)
National Football Conference
NFC East:
1. New York Giants (.667)
2. Dallas Cowboys (.556)
3. Philadelphia Eagles (.333)
4. Washington Redskins (.333)
NFC North:
1. Green Bay Packers (1.00)
2. Detroit Lions (.667)
3. Chicago Bears (.667)
4. Minnesota Vikings (.222)
NFC South:
1. New Orleans Saints (.700)
2. Atlanta Falcons (.556)
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (.444)
4. Carolina Panthers (.222)
NFC West:
1. San Francisco 49ers (.889)
2. Seattle Seahawks (.333)
3. Arizona Cardinals (.333)
4. St. Louis Rams (.222)
POW Awards
American Football Conference:
Michael Bush, RB (AFC Offensive POW)
30 rsh
157 yds
5.2 avg
1 TD
Andre Carter, DE (AFC Defensive POW)
6 tkl
4.5 sck
0 PDef
0 FF
Marc Mariani, PR (AFC Special Teams POW)
6 PR
17 avg
1 TD
79 lng
National Football Conference:
Larry Fitzgerald, WR (NFC Offensive POW)
7 rec
146 yds
20.9 avg
2 TD
Roman Harper, SS (NFC Defensive POW)
13 tkl
1.0 sck
1 PDef
0 FF
Devin Hester, PR (NFC Special Teams POW)
3 PR
40 avg
1 TD
82 lng
Key Scores:
Oakland Raiders 24 – 17 San Diego Chargers
– The first Thursday Night football game kicked off with a bang as Carson Palmer guided the Raiders past the Chargers in an AFC West matchup
New Orleans Saints 26 – 23 Atlanta Falcons
– In a key matchup for a chance to make some headway in the NFC South and after a questionable call by Mike Smith in the dying seconds the Saints took the win
New England Patriots 37 – 16 New York Jets
– The Rivalry continued as Tom Brady carved up the Jets defence and Mark Sanchez could not keep up with New England taking the AFC East matchup
Green Bay Packers 45 – 7 Minnesota Vikings
– The NFC north Rivalry was more of a display of just how good Aaron Rodgers is as he guided his Packers their 9th win in a row
Key Matchups Next Week:
Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins (Nov. 20th; 1:00 pm)
– The classic rivalry between the Cowboys and the Redskins comes to a head again with both teams looking to make a last ditch effort at the NFC East
Seattle Seahawks vs. St. Louis Rams (Nov. 20th; 4:05 pm)
– This NFC West matchup meant so much last year but this year it will just be for pride and a possibility for a chance at a wild card spot
Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants (Nov. 20th; 8:20 pm)
– With the other two NFC East teams playing earlier this matchup could help the Giants in taking control of the division or launch them into another late season collapse
Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots (Nov. 21st; 8:30 pm)
– The Patriots are not looking very strong but against the Chiefs they will be able to work out some kinks as the Chiefs are not looking to be much of a challenge
The Sport Addiction 