QB Play MATTers

Not sure if anyone else has wondered this, but when was the last time so much we talked about quarterbacks so much in an NFL season? Sure, QB will always be in the spotlight, but you could seriously have a reality series on just about every starter in the league. Some guys are getting attention because they’re playing great: Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees. Some are getting attention for their inconsistent, oft-erratic play: Tony Romo, Mark Sanchez, Michael Vick, Joe Flacco. Some are just downright terrible: Philip Rivers. Some guys are doing a good job of not screwing up and allowing their team to win games: Alex Smith, Jay Cutler. There’s even a couple of rookie QBs who are getting plenty of attention: Cam Newton, Andy Dalton. And then of course, on a whole nother level, there’s Tim Tebow, who appears to not even be a quarterback anymore.

But you know what all this has made me notice? There are a lot of quarterbacks named Matt in the league. I rattled off like 10 or 11 in my head, but somehow, when I scoured the NFL rosters, I only came up with 8. Two of them are backups. The list reads Stafford, Ryan, Schaub, Cassel, Moore, Hasselbeck, Leinart, and Flynn. I kicked around the idea of posting this, but ultimately decided it would be unappealing to the 99% of the world that isn’t named Matthew. Apparently I unearthed some sort of curse, as the next day saw not one, but two Matts ruled out for the remainder of the year. Matt Schaub evidently came too close to the cancerous cloud that is Albert Haynesworth and now his foot is “the size of a cinder block.” At least it clears way for another Matt, Leinart that is, to move into a starting role. That’s hardly a consolation for the 99% of Texans fans not named Matthew. Matt Cassel, on the other hand, is a little more optimistic about playing again later this season, but he just had surgery on his throwing hand, so we’ll see how that goes. Even if he can come back, it’s not like he was playing great to begin with. He’s touting a 76.6 QB rating, and if you throw out the game against the 0-10 Colts, he’d surely dip into the 60s. Only the likes of Blaine Gabbert, Rex Grossman, and Curtis Painter live in that world. Beyond all that, Cassel will always be the quarterback, to me, that lost to the guy who completed TWO PASSES ALL GAME.