Column about the NFL QUARTERBACK REVIEW - CLICK below and see the top 100 NFL QBS of all-time - Videos for all! Created and published on September 13 2011
When reading Vince Lombardi's biography a few years back, he was quoted as saying the the quarterback is by far the most important player in a football team. In fact, he said, it actually makes the game not entirely a even team sport because that position is so vital to the success or failure to a team. When even Mr. Smash Mouth Football Coach says that in the 1960s era of 70% run, 30% pass, then you know it must be true.
Writing this after the first weekend of the 2011 football season, it's pretty obvious that the quarterback is even more important than he was in the Lombardi era. The NFL is actually pretty easy to determine these days - Have good quarterback, will travel a bit. Have great quarterback, will travel far. Have elite quarterback, get ready for playoff season after playoff season. Have not so good quarterback, get ready for failure after failure. It's all about the QB.
This weekend's games showcased what happens when your first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback goes on the DL in Peyton Manning. Vegas gave the Colts a 2 point favorite over the Texans when they thought he was playing. As soon as they heard he was out, within 10 minutes they made the Texans a 9 point favorite. A 11 point swing within minutes, something I've never seen before and probably will never see again. That's how important this guy is, and it showed when the Colts were drubbed 34-7 in a game that easily could of been 63-7 if the Texans didn't go into the prevent defense, and let's run every play and kill the clock mode offense. They were easy on them. Now the Colts are done. 13 straight playoff appearances gone after one player on their 53 man roster goes out. There's 52 other healthy guys! But really only one man counts.
Growing up as a kid in Buffalo Bills land, I didn't know what to make of our quarterback Jim Kelly. He was definitely a polarizing figure in the land of Western New York. He was talented, but had 3 out of 4 terrible games in the Super Bowl, which they all lost. And his backup, Frank Reich, always seemed to step up whenever Kelly was hurt. Jim Kelly was the case of the many cases we all learn in our lives that you only know how good you have it when it's gone. And when Kelly retired, it was then that we all realized how great he really was.
Frank Reich was a great backup, but there was no way he could of played 16 games a year at an elite level. To use a baseball analogy, Reich had a great fastball and a decent changeup, but no other pitches in his arsenal. He was a great bullpen guy, but couldn't be a starting pitcher. So whenever he came off the bench, he was a great change of pace vs Kelly and could really hold his own against solid defences for 6 to 8 quarters. But after that, he was limited and the defenses could really load up on just one or two things because he had nothing else. In Jim Kelly, you had a guy who could make every throw and wasn't that scared of those 300lb linemen. He was a solid quarterback, which was reason #1 why the Bills went on a terrific 12 year run of excellence. As soon as he was gone, the team was a shell of itself and we've never been the same since. In fact, we haven't won a single playoff game since he retired.
Great quarterbacks are like great girlfriends. They are consistent, always get the job done, and you never need to worry about them. So you tend to assume that this will always be the case. Then what happens is that you get lazy and selfish in your appreciation for them. You start to nitpick whenever a perfect throw isn't made or if they hang onto the ball for too long and get sacked. You get spoiled. Then they go away and you are left feeling sad and desperately seeking them to come back. We men and we fans aren't that evolved yet. We can't imagine what life would be without them and we need to experience the real thing in order to really feel it. And we always need a good quarterback and a good woman for that matter in order for us to compete in the world. And if we don't have them, we get depressed and depression is always a hard thing to get out of.
Observe the Indianapolis Colts in the next 3-5 years. See where they'll be post-Manning. It's not going to be pretty.
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