Enough Complaining About Quarterbacks

It's amazing how the media and fans are so quick to criticizing quarterbacks in the league and suggesting that the coach go to the backup. They also have quite the short-term memory, because they're not afraid to jump back and forth with their commentary. Enough! The coaches know better than we do. They'll make the proper decision for their team.

In the past two weeks, I've heard complaints about the following quarterbacks and that they should be replaced with the back-up:

Drew Bledsoe (Tony Romo) of Dallas
Mark Brunell (Jason Campbell) of Washington
Brett Favre (Aaron Rodgers) of Green Bay
Chris Simms (Tim Rattay) of Tampa Bay
Kurt Warner (Matt Leinart) of Arizona
Daunte Culpepper (Joey Harrington) of Miami
Aaron Brooks (Andrew Walter) of Oakland
Jake Plummer (Jay Cutler) of Denver
Kerry Collins (Vince Young) of Tennessee

That's nine quarterbacks right there. The funny thing is after Dallas beat Washington this past weekend fairly handily, the media backed away from Drew Bledsoe a bit.

Matt Leinart, Vince Young, and Jay Cutler are all rookies. The only rookie I can remember starting from the first regular season game onward was Houston's David Carr. Eli Manning was brought on to start at about the midway point of the first season. Both quarterbacks struggled in their first season. Carr has done allright, but has been limited with the talent around him, the defense, the line, and the coaching. Eli Manning walked into a great predicament with receivers Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, tight end Jeremy Shockey, and halfbacks Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs. Tennessee has the least amount of talent offensively of the three rookie's teams, so I think it'd be very unwise to rush him into the starting role. On the other side of things, Matt Leinart is walking into a situation in Arizona much like Eli Manning did in New York. He's surrounded by talent, with receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, along with tailback Edgerrin James.

Drew Bledsoe and Brett Favre are both veterans and give their teams the best chance at victory. Daunte Culpepper is coming back from knee surgery. Miami's biggest problem is the running game. If Ronnie Brown can become more productive and consistent, that'll make things a whole lot easier on Culpepper. Should Tampa bench Chris Simms? Who else do they have? Rattay? Gradkowski? Give me a break. Like I mentioned with Miami, Tampa's tailback, another ex-Auburn star in Carnell "Cadillac" Williams must become more productive and consistent. Also, this one goes on the coaching staff. They can't expect Chris Simms to throw the ball 40-50 times a game and win the game for the Bucs. Chris Simms managed the games effectively last year, because the Bucs ran the football and played solid defense. Put the game in the hands of the running game and allow the young Simms to play off of that.

The only change I can see as being intelligent and potentially improving a club is in Washington. The offense can't get much worse, can it? The running game hasn't been effective and Mark Brunell has not gotten the ball to star receiver Santana Moss. It's appeared as if Brunell fears getting hit by the defense. Former Auburn star quarterback Jason Campbell got to spend his redshirt freshman season at the NFL level on the sidelines studying. It could give Washington an extra spark on offense. What they need offensively is: 1) Get Santana Moss the ball and 2) Get Clinton Portis healthy and running. With Portis out, they need to at least get Moss the football. If they do neither, then they might as well be called the Deadskins.

Besides Brunell, though, enough complaining! We're two games through the season. Tom Brady hasn't gotten off to a great start this year. What, are people going to start wanting him to be replaced? Same with Matt Hasselbeck. Quarterbacks have their on and their off days. They seem to receive far too much blame when the team loses. Yeah, they may play a role, but do does everyone else on that team! I don't hear too many nationally televised debates on if a starting center or free safety should be replaced. Nope, it's usually all about the quarterback.