Wednesday Morning QB (NFL Week 5)
There were plenty of offence this week in the NFL as the defence continued to struggle to keep up with the high-powered offence. Leading the way once again was Peyton Manning who went back and forth with Tony room all game for a 51-48 win. It was the latest in the explosive offences that have emerged this year with many being led by some great QB play. As Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Matthew Stafford continue to make their mark there are a number of QBs that have fallen fast. The last few years the NFL has seen a number QBs take the limelight and bring about plenty of debate in the offseason. This group of QBs is the backups of the NFL that have been crowned the next best QB in the league. A number of backup QBs have had their opportunity to show the league what they have. A few of them have impressed and have entered the offseason as the top backup QB in the offseason. They are then picked up by trade or through free agency by teams that are in need of a QB and are looked to as the savior of a team. Yet a trend has started to emerge with these backups as three of the biggest backups in the last few years have fizzled out. It would start with Matt Cassel who would get his chance to impress in 2008 when Tom Brady went out with a torn ACL and MCL. Cassel would lead the Pats to an 11-5 record but just out of the playoffs. With the performance Cassel would be considered the best option in free agency for teams that needed a QB. Kansas City would win the bidding war as Cassel would sign and move to Kansas as the saviour to the franchise. In four seasons with the Chiefs, Cassel would be a good QB but he would not be able to sustain any success. Throwing for an average of just over 2,000 yards per season would not be enough in the era of 4,000 yard passers and Cassel would become a free agent again signing with the Minnesota Vikings this year. Trying to improve on what Cassel would had done, Kevin Kolb would make his own mark in 2009. Kolb would come into the starting role for the Eagles after Donovan McNabb went down with an injury. In his first two starts Kolb would throw for over 600 yards immediately making people pay attention. In the 2010 season Kolb would fight with Michael Vick to become the starting QB and would win until injuries took him out of the lineup. Kolb had already made his impression though and would be one of the most popular targets after the 2010 season. The Eagles would trade Kolb away after 2010 with Michael Vick ready to take over and the Arizona Cardinals looked to find their replacement for Kurt Warner. Kolb would not be able to complete an entire season while in Arizona only playing in 15 games in his two years there. With 17 TDs and 11 INTs in his two years Kolb would be the latest disappointment and would find himself in Buffalo this year backing up EJ Manuel in the preseason before a concussion would end his season and possibly his career. The latest QB to make an impression as a backup was Matt Flynn who would come in multiple times for Aaron Rodgers from 2010 until 2011. It wasn’t until the last game of 2011 that Flynn would make his impression though when he threw for almost 500 yards and 6 TDs against the Detroit Lions while Aaron Rodgers took the night off before the playoffs. The performance would make Flynn the latest great backup and in the offseason he would sign a deal with the Seattle Seahawks. Then the Seahawks would sign Russell Wilson who would beat Flynn in 2012 Training Camp and would take over the league as one of the best rookies of the year. Without a starting job Flynn would be traded to the Oakland Raiders to be their starting QB that they had been waiting for. Then he would be beat once again in training camp by Terrell Pryor forcing him to sit on the bench once again this year. This past week Flynn would be released by the Raiders in what is the latest in his quest to be a starter. The backups in the NFL have impressed over the last few years but all have failed to keep that stature when they got their chance. The release of Flynn this week was just the latest in the saga of backup QBs over the last few years. The time of the great backups seems to be over as the young QBs begin to take over and these three QBs make every team think twice about signing the next impressive backup QB.
Fifth Quarter:
(Four Quick Thoughts on Week 5)
One Streak Over
Tom Brady had one of the most impressive streaks in football as he had a TD pass in 52 straight games but the Bengals would end that streak and would end the undefeated season as the Pats struggles finally came to a head this week
Gonzalez’s Last Ride
Tony Gonzalez has had a long and illustrious career becoming one of the best Tight Ends to ever play in the NFL changing the position forever and this week he would announce that this season would be his last in the NFL
Freeman Finds a Home
The saga of Josh Freeman continued as he would not take long to find a new home after being released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season signing with the Vikings this week and created a controversy in Minnesota
3rd Game for 2014
The NFL would announce that in 2014 they will step up their international presence with a third game in London as the move to try to test a new market continues with the NFL continuing to test the waters in London
NFL Standings
American Football Conference
AFC East:
1. New England Patriots (.800)
2. Miami Dolphins (.600)
3. New York Jets (.600)
4. Buffalo Bills (.400)
AFC North:
1. Baltimore Ravens (.600)
2. Cleveland Browns (.600)
3. Cincinnati Bengals (.600)
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (.000)
AFC South:
1. Indianapolis Colts (.800)
2. Tennessee Titans (.600)
3. Houston Texans (.400)
4. Jacksonville Jaguars (.000)
AFC West:
1. Denver Broncos (1.00)
2. Kansas City Chiefs (1.00)
3. Oakland Raiders (.400)
4. San Diego Chargers (.400)
National Football Conference:
NFC East:
1. Philadelphia Eagles (.400)
2. Dallas Cowboys (.400)
3. Washington Redskins (.250)
4. New York Giants (.000)
NFC North:
1. Detroit Lions (.600)
2. Chicago Bears (.600)
3. Green Bay Packers (.500)
4. Minnesota Vikings (.250)
NFC South:
1. New Orleans Saints (1.00)
2. Carolina Panthers (.250)
3. Atlanta Falcons (.200)
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (.000)
NFC West:
1. Seattle Seahawks (.800)
2. San Francisco 49ers (.600)
3. Arizona Cardinals (.600)
4. St. Louis Rams (.400)
Key Scores:
Cleveland Browns 37 – 24 Buffalo Bills
– Two teams coming off of big wins would face off in an unfamiliar light as the Bills and Browns are not used to the limelight but both would relish it with the Browns coming out on top although not without sacrifice as Brian Hoyer would suffer a season ending injury in the win
Indianapolis Colts 34 – 28 Seattle Seahawks
– The Seattle Seahawks looked like a great team this year as they would amass a 4-0 record in their first four games of the season but the Indianapolis Colts would be the end to that streak as they would end the undefeated season
Cincinnati Bengals 13 – 6 New England Patriots
– The New England Patriots continued to win despite not having the best performances over the past four weeks but they would finally get caught as the Cincinnati Bengals would shut down the Patriots offence and hand them their first loss
Denver Broncos 51 – 48 Dallas Cowboys
– The Broncos are on fire this year behind the arm of Peyton Manning but Tony Romo was up to the task in matching the Broncos going shot for shot with Manning until Romo threw an interception in the 4th quarter that led the Broncos to the last second win
Next Week:
Detroit Lions vs. Cleveland Browns (Sunday October 13th; 1:00 pm ET)
– The Browns would look good in week 5 but now they will have to move on without Brian Hoyer as Brandon Weeden takes over once again and looks to keep the win streak going while the Lions are hoping that their offence can recover from an off week
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Denver Broncos (Sunday October 13th; 4:25 pm ET)
– The Denver Broncos are the best offence in football right now while the Jaguars are struggling to get a win and all put together means that this game seems in hand for the Broncos who are favoured by 28 points, the highest differential in the history of the NFL
New Orleans Saints vs. New England Patriots (Sunday October 13th; 4:25 pm ET)
– The Saints remain undefeated this year as they look like a different team with Sean Payton at the helm and they will look to continue their winning streak while the Patriots look to end their winning streak like their streak was ended in week 5
Washington Redskins vs. Dallas Cowboys (Sunday October 13th; 8:30 pm ET)
– The Cowboys are reeling from their tough loss in week 5 where Tony Romo looked amazing until the fourth quarter where he threw a game ending interception and they will look to recover against longtime rivals in the Redskins who are trying to get back to winning
The Sport Addiction 