FanHouse Quarterbackcontroversy

I'll have a lot more to say about this weekend's Iowa-Iowa State game Thursday morning in Pickin' On the Big Ten, but you, faithful college football fan, need to be aware of a rare occurrence involving that game, as both the Hawkeyes and Cyclones find themselves in possession of the unfortunately not-so-rare Two-Headed Quarterbeast. Iowa's goes by the names of Ricky Stanzi and Jake Christensen, while Iowa State's is known as Austen Arnaud and Phillip Bates.

Now, normally, when a coach has to unleash the Two-Headed Quarterbeast, it's a sign that neither quarterback can be trusted to handle an entire game himself. That may or may not be the case here. For the Hawkeyes, though Kirk Ferentz insisted Christensen was his guy after the Maine game, this will be the second week Stanzi gets the start. Both quarterbacks have played well against complete nobodies this season, though Stanzi has shown more poise, while Christensen is still a threat to wound any ducks in the vicinity of Kinnick Stadium. Stanzi hasn't faced a real pass rush or a decent secondary yet, however, so don't be surprised if Christensen sees more than just spot duty this weekend.

And for the Clones? That's another story. In Ames, it's definitely not the case that one quarterback seems to be better than the other. They're both pretty darn solid. Arnaud is a greater deep threat, but Bates is slippery, fast, and confident. Just like the Hawkeyes, however, the Cyclones really haven't played anybody yet, so the early returns on their quarterbacks may not be accurate either.

Look, I know nobody outside the state of Iowa gives a rat's bonkus about this game unless they're from there, but how often do you get to see a two-quarterback system that seems to work well for both teams? Answer: not very.

The quarterback controversy in Baltimore is a little different than the ones in Arizona and Chicago, but make no mistake: There's a real question of whether Ravens coach Brian Billick should pick Kyle Boller or Steve McNair as his starter.

McNair was pulled for Boller in yesterday's win over the Cardinals, and although the reason was, ostensibly, McNair's groin injury, McNair said afterward that he could have played.

McNair then added: "It was the smart thing to do. We were up, and I think we wanted it to rest and heal. In this league, it takes two good quarterbacks to go where you want to go."

I'm not really sure why you need two good quarterbacks -- I guess McNair thinks the Colts won the Super Bowl last year because they had both Peyton Manning and Jim Sorgi? -- but Billick seems to have a lot of faith in Boller. I think McNair is the better quarterback of the two, but I also think there's a good chance that Boller will keep getting playing time, even if McNair is 100 percent healthy.

Phil and I have discussed the Trent Green vs. Damon Huard debate at length. Phil has generally sided toward Trent Green. I have my doubts about Green. Both for this season and next season.

It's really not worth arguing about. Trent Green is the Chiefs' man for Saturday and there's nothing that you or I or John Madden can do about it. Still, we hear interesting reports that Green will be held on a short leash. At least, that's what Herm says. I'll believe it when I see it.
Green has done little to prove that he is capable of pulling the Chiefs through the playoffs. If we can ever get the 2002 or 2003 Trent Green back, then maybe it's possible. I happen to believe that these versions of Trent Green are far better than the 2006 Damon Huard, but how much longer do I have to wait? Is that wait as worthless as waiting all night for the real Easter Bunny to show up at my door?

Granted, I will surround this discussion with a little perspective. I like Damon Huard, but I also think his accomplishment has been overrated.

Is there a quarterback controversy looming, three days before the biggest game of the Chiefs' 2007 season? Just days after stating in no uncertain terms that Trent Green is wonderful and Damon Huard basically is not, Herm Edwards hinted, in response to a question about the quarterback situation, that maybe Trent Green isn't so wonderful:

"You have to win the game," Edwards said. "There's no tomorrow. And you have to do whatever is best for the football team at that point. I'll do whatever I have to do. When you're in the playoffs, you're desperate."

Good news for a lot of Chiefs' fans. But really, it is the most logical move, and I actually had no doubt that Edwards would go this route. Although I still believe that starting Green was the right decision, it is obvious that Green has been way off since the Cleveland game. He has thrown interceptions he normally does not throw, and has not taken care of the ball. Every Chiefs' fan probably remembers that the last matchup against the Colts resulted in a loss primarily because of two things: a fumble by Priest Holmes and a missed chip-shot field goal. This game also promises to be a shootout, so the Chiefs cannot afford more than one Trent Green turnover.

Surprise move? Maybe, but Edwards had been hounded with the question so much, you kind of figured that he would succumb at some point. Besides, it may not matter, because the Chiefs may not throw more than five passes the whole game.

With the Chiefs gasping for playoff breath, the hot topic in Kansas City is now whether Trent Green should be the starting quarterback in '07. Herm Edwards is adamant that he will be. Not everyone else is convinced he should be, though. Even Jon is wondering if Brodie Croyle should be prepared to start next year.

The reasons there are doubters are many. Aside from the game in Cleveland, the Chiefs' offense has not been particularly impressive since Green returned. He has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns, he has fumbled several times under pressure, and he has been badly inaccurate on some wide open throws. Green will also be 37 next season.

But here is why I wouldn't necessarily write Green off just yet. First, a lot of his problems may be simply mechanical. Remember, Green had a long, long layoff, and he could be feeling like he is just coming out of training camp. During the NFL Network's broadcast of the Chiefs-Raiders game, Green's old coach, Dick Vermeil, made what I felt was an outstanding observation. The NFL Network freeze-framed a shot of Green just as he was about to release what turned out to be a pass that fell short of the receiver. Vermeil pointed out that Green has been throwing the ball at a bad angle, causing him to throw passes short of his receivers. Reports have indicated that Green has looked great and been accurate in practice, so you have to wonder if, because of the concussion, Green is still a little slow to react to the pace of the game and doesn't quite think clearly about his mechanics. In fact, Green has been pretty accurate on intermediate passes to the middle of the field, but badly inaccurate on short throws or sideline throws, indicating that maybe Green is hurrying his throws. This would not be unlike a pitcher coming off of major surgery who looks great in bullpen sessions, but once runners get on base, he loses his mechanics.

Now that Trent Green is back in the huddle, talk has simmered a bit about the Chiefs' supposed quarterback controversy a few weeks ago. The question remains: is there still a controversy?

I think much of the talk has dissolved because Chiefs' fans understand that there's no use fighting the fact that Trent Green will be the quarterback the rest of the way. Then again, Green is also 2-0 since his return. Will controversy spark again if he loses?

Let me first say this much: I am behind Green all the way from here on out. Even if Trent Green fails miserably and leads the Chiefs to an 0-5 finish, I still will contend that he was the right quarterback for the job.

I don't think other Chiefs' fans will be quite as forgiving. I think that they will turn on Green at the first hint of failure.

Now it's official. Jay Cutler is the Broncos' starter for the rest of the season. I know we've had a lot of coverage of Cutler recently, but this is stuff that just came out today and it's straight from Mike Shanahan's lips: Jay Cutler will be the starting quarterback for the remainder of this season. But Shanahan also said something interesting. The coach said in a press conference today that he believes that "[Cutler] gives us the best chance to win."

This is the statement that a lot of us have been waiting to hear. If you read the blog regularly, you know that yesterday I asked whether Shanahan had given up on the season, or whether he believed that Cutler was the best choice for the team's playoff hopes this year. At least publicly, Shanahan is now saying that he is making the move because Cutler represents the team's best chance to win.

I guess you could make the argument that Shanahan may not actually believe that Cutler is the best chance to win, and is only saying that so as not to completely demoralize a team that's gone from the top of the league to the bottom in just a few weeks. But on the other side, as Sam pointed in our recent podcast, the more pressure you put on Cutler, the more chance you have of doing permanent damage to his psyche. And my guess is that Shanahan wouldn't be taking that risk unless he thought that Cutler could handle it, and he actually believed that Cutler is the better bet in terms of winning games. And from what everyone has been saying, Cutler can deal with the pressure. All we've been hearing is that he's the most mature rookies the Broncos have ever seen, and also one of the best. I guess we'll find out on Sunday.

Mike Shanahan's offense sucked tonight. When was the last time you heard or read that? But it's the awful truth. The offense played horribly. They cost the Broncos the game. They were never able to move the ball, and despite Mike Shanahan's best efforts, they could only put up 10 points in a game that was winnable. For the second game in a row, the defense didn't play great - but they played well enough to give the offense a chance to win the game. And once again, it was Jake Plummer who couldn't come through.

What's so difficult about this team is that finally - finally, they have a defense that, while certainly not world-class, is good enough that if the Broncos had anything resembling a good offense, Denver would be a great team. But Jake Plummer just flat out couldn't execute tonight. Yes, he put up 216 yards - but only because Kansas City basically forced him to throw every down by stacking eight or nine in the box and cutting their ends across to stop the running game. The idiot commentators on NFL tonight (they were just awful - how many mistakes did they make, how many stupid things did they say?) kept saying that the Broncos no longer have a running game. But you and I are smart enough to realize that offenses aren't a one-way street. A good passing game makes running the ball easier, and vice versa - so when a team like the Broncos are known for their great running game, and equally known to have a quarterback who doesn't play well in the pocket, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what to do. You cram the run, blitz a lot, and force Jake to beat you.

That's exactly what the Chiefs did. So much so that even Jake managed 216 yards. But he didn't manage to make any big plays when it counted - and that's why Mike Shanahan has literally no choice but to go to rookie Jay Cutler next week. When a team can sell out to the run that badly, and still your quarterback can do nothing - even with a virtually empty secondary - to open the running game back up, you're never going to win another game. Other coaches are going to notice what the Chiefs and Chargers have done, and copy it, and so far Jake's shown no ability to beat that gameplan.

The Chiefs decided to start Trent Green on Sunday. That makes Phil correct and me, well... not correct.

I was formerly pretty adamant in my support for Damon Huard. I might start to renege on that support. I've been wrong many times before. I see you all nodding your head. On with the insults: bandwagon-jumper, homer, hypocrite. Though, I haven't really changed my tune too much. As I said before, Huard should be the starter until he gets cold. Well, Damon Huard was about as cold as you could get against the Dolphins last Sunday.

Of course, none of this conversation is important. Trent Green has officially been made the starter for this football team. But we know that the quarterback controversy won't go away, unless Green plays "lights out" for the rest of the season. Every incomplete pass will be scrutinized, every interception will be criticized. Amazingly, Trent Green, practically KC's native son, will need to prove himself to Kansas City fans once again.

Herm Edwards must be the worst keeper of secrets in the world. He is also attempting to be not very smart. After stating yesterday, "Why would I let the Raiders know what I'm going to do? That's not very smart," Edwards has apparently revealed that Trent Green will start.

Score: Phil 1, Jon 0.

Last week, Jon argued that Damon Huard should remain the quarterback even after Green receives clearance. I disagreed because I thought Green is just as safe, but with more big-play ability. Edwards apparently agrees with me, because the moment Green got clearance from his doctors, he took over first-team duties in practice.

Did Huard's poor performance in Miami have anything to do with it? Certainly it must have been a factor, but my feeling is that Edwards knew all along that Green would be the starter if he could get clearance before the Raiders' game. As I outlined before, the Raiders present a nice opportunity to test Green, because their defense is good enough to test Green's decision-making accurately, but their offense is virtually no threat to risk falling behind quickly if Green cannot move the ball down the field. Green needs only to avoid being Big Trent (Kansas City's version of Big Ben) by not turning the ball over.

It will be awfully exciting when Green emerges from the tunnel and onto the field at Arrowhead. He is one of the most likable people in the NFL, and despite the QB controversy the last couple of weeks, Kansas City fans are extremely happy to see him lead this offense again. After next week, we will see if I have definitively won the argument against Jon.