When I was younger one of my favorite activities was playing a Nintendo game called Tecmo Super Bowl. Now it is ok the feeling you are having right now is just that spark of nostalgia. It was the early 90's and my friends and I would play that game for days on end. I mean daaaaaaaays on end. You would play it at home hour after hour and like most games you would get really good at it and need to changes things to make it more challenging.
One of the ways I would give myself a different experience was to replace all the starting quarterbacks with back-up quarterbacks. For example, I would bench Troy Aikman in place of Babe Laufenburg. Or I would bench Joe Montana for Steve Young. Or I would bench Warren Moon for Cody Carlson.
At this point you get the idea.
The changes made would give me a much harder road to hoe in order to win games and ultimately win the Super Bowl. The differences for each back-up quarterback was extremely visible. Their ability to scramble and be fleet of foot was much slower. The zip on their passes were "lobbed" more than like a frozen rope.
The defenses were able to react quicker and the likelihood of throwing a touchdown was less and the likelihood of throwing an interception was much greater.
It made playing the game harder and much more stressful. It changed the entire ability of what you were used to and made you adjust to their strengths. Some teams had other skill players to compensate for this weakness and others didn't.
It was not much different than what is going on in the NFL right now.
I am not sure what team, you the reader, are a fan of but chances are you have sat through either a half, full game, or stretch of games with your starting quarterback holding the clipboard while the back up took the snaps on the field.
The problem with this is there really is only a few "elite" level quarterbacks in the league right now.
You can count them easily and they are Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Ben Rothlisberger. There are large group of good quarterbacks such as Philip Rivers, Joe Flacco, Andrew Luck, Matthew Stafford, Jay Cutler, Cam Newton, Russell Westbrook, Matt Ryan, Tony Romo, and Eli Manning.
The rest of the bunch are a group of quarterbacks that you can win with or lose badly with. Some of them you probably couldn't pick out of a line up. The Tecmo Super Bowl game had naming issue with some quarterbacks to not use their names such as QB Bills, QB Eagles, and QB Browns.
There are some teams that might as well use this same terminology to describe their QB. Because you might ask someone who is quarterbacking the Oakland Raiders these days and they would probably say, "I don't know somebody named McLovin?"
He is not "McLovin".
He is Matt McGloin!
Unfortunately not much different in their ability. He is just lucky he plays for a terrible Raidaz team and is able to see the field.
There is a plethora of below level talent that is roaming the sidelines these days which is an even bigger endorsement for how bad of a QB Tim Tebow was. Did anyone watch the Packers vs. Lions match up Thanksgiving Day? The Packers offense is abysmal without Aaron Rodgers. What patchwork/smoke and mirrors they have gotten away with by having an elite QB running the show.
With Aaron Rodgers out they have gone through Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien, and now bringing back Matt Flynn.
Yes that Matt Flynn. The Matt Flynn that cashed in on his couple game success a few years ago and Seattle thought he was the next coming of Aaron Rodgers and paid him bank.
Teams need to stop evaluating back-up quarterbacks by a couple of games of experience and remember what they were doing all the other weeks that made them not good enough to take the job outright without an injury to the starter.
It is nice to have a back-up that is capable of weathering the storm and then when the starter is fully healthy give the reigns back and let him do his thing.
The Chicago Bears are having that experience right now. Josh McCown is handling the situation very well and has stated to everyone he can come in contact with he is the back-up and Jay is the starter. He knows his role.
When there starts to be confusion with the starter and back-up or even in some cases the back-up's back-up then you ave what everyone seems to want a good old fashioned quarterback controversy. This does nothing but destroy teams and sends them quickly to "on the clock" status for the next NFL Draft.
This is a quarterbacks league.
There is a direct correlation between having an elite/good quarterback and having success in the NFL. If you look at the teams vying for playoff spots and that have a realistic chance to win a Super Bowl this season in the AFC they are as follows: New England Patriots (Tom Brady), Denver Broncos (Peyton Manning), Indianapolis Colts (Andrew Luck), Kansas City Chiefs (Alex Smith), and Cincinnati Bengals (Andy Dalton). In the NFC it goes as follows: Seattle Seahawks (Russell Wilson), New Orleans Saints (Drew Brees), Carolina Panthers (Cam Newton), Dallas Cowboys (Tony Romo), and Detroit Lions (Matthew Stafford).
The teams listed above have a select group of elite QB's and the rest are all good to very serviceable. If you have a quarterback that has elite to good ability then you will put yourself in position to have a very successful season and potentially win the Super Bowl.
Teams don't want to be in the discussion for WHO is going to be our quarterback. They all want to have someone in place with ability and confidence to lead their team to the promised land.
If they don't they all hope to have a back-up in place that can manage the game and not send them and their season spiraling out of control.
This was evident last season as the Washington Redskins did this when they drafted Robert Griffin III. That very same year they drafted Kirk Cousins as their back-up. They liked them both and felt they needed an upgrade at the quarterback position not only at starter but at back-up. It paid off as RGIII was injured during last season and Cousins managed the team in his stint and they ultimately made the playoffs.
So as I am writing this I am watching the Baltimore Ravens play the Pittsburgh Steelers. Flacco is leading the Ravens and Rothlisberger is leading the Steelers. The game is entertaining and business as usual but in the back of my mind I still think of my days playing Tecmo and what it would be like with the back-ups playing instead.
Imagine for a second if it was Baltimore led by Tyrod Taylor and Pittsburgh led by Bruce Gradkowski.
Doesn't sound as good in real life now does it?
So the next time your quarterback goes back to pass just pray he gets it off successfully and doesn't pull a hammy or get concussed by the defense because the alternative is a much lesser product than the original.
Teams have back-up plans for when things go south but unfortunately for some teams that plan doesn't bring them back from the dead it usually leaves them way back of the pack.
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