QB competitions play out in week 1

By Marcus Perry

Refer back to http://highheatnet.blogspot.com/2012/08/quarterback-competitions.html

The most compelling story was how Russell Wilson did as the Seahawks starting quarterback this week. It is fair to say that he was not terrible this weekend but he definitely struggled. He completed only 18 of 34 passes with 185 yards and a touchdown. Pretty average day, but it was his two turnovers that truly hurt Seattle. His interception at the end of the second quarter, when it seemed Seattle was going to be in position to score before the half, may have been one of the most crucial moments in the game. However, Wilson did show promising poise in the fourth quarter when he drove Seattle down the field for a last second drive that came up short due to a Braylon Edwards drop on a quick slant in the endzone.  Wilson would have never had the chance to make that throw if Seattle wasn’t mistakenly granted a fourth timeout.

It is not believed that Wilson’s play in that game should warrant a loss of his job, but it is a safe assumption to say that Matt Flynn is a few steps closer to that spot. Seattle did come out and say that Wilson is still their starting quarter back.

In that very same game we saw both the quarterbacks from the Arizona Cardinals. As Skelton did win the job during the preseason, he did not play well in this game and would leave in the 4^th quarter with a high ankle sprain. Before his departure Skelton completed only 50% of his passes and threw a pick. Accuracy has been something that Skelton is said to struggle with and it showed.

Skelton’s injury gave Kevin Kolb a chance to be the hero as he led the Cards down the field in a no huddle offense completing 6 of 8 passes for 66 yards and what was essentially the game winning touchdown. It is said Skelton will be out 2 to 6 weeks and this could open the door for Kolb to prove to the organizations that he should be their quarterback moving forward.

Jake  Locker was relatively impressive as he completed 72% of his passes, threw for over 225 yards and had a touchdown pass.  The one interception Locker threw was a jump ball to Nate Washington that was actually pretty well thrown but even better played by Patriots safety Tyvon Wilson. However Locker’s poor ball handling near his own endzone led to a Donta Hightower fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Locker did leave the game after tackling Pat Chung and injuring his left arm. Matt Hasselbeck did get to play a drive and was not overly impressive. Locker is said to be fine and will be the starter week 2 as he is the future of this Titan’s franchise and this game was a solid start even though it ended in loss.

The least impressive of those who won a starting job was Ryan Tannenhill, the rookie quarterback in Miami. Tannenhill faced by far the toughest defense out of any of the other quarterbacks I’ve mentioned. Houston was top 5 in all three major team defensive stats last season. The most outstanding of which is the fact they were second only to the Steelers in Yard Per Game averaging only 285.7.

Tannenhill had his hands full as he was constantly under pressure and forced a lot of his throw down field. He completed 56% of his passes but could not find the end zone and threw three interceptions. This is Tannenhill’s first game and he was playing one of the NFL’s top defenses so, just like Wilson he gets a pass and this shouldn’t change his status as the starter. Miami is not expected to compete much this year so this could potentially be a tough learning year for Tannenhill.

Blaine Gabbert was in my mind the most impressive of the few Quaterbacks fighting for a position. During camp Jags always stated that this was Gabbert’s job but with a veteran guy like Chad Henne around one had to wonder. Gabbert completed 59% of his passes for 260 yards and two big touchdowns for the Jags. Unfortunately he did lose a fumble and the Jags ended up falling to the Vikings in overtime. With that being said any Jags fan has to be encouraged by the fact that Gabbert did not throw any picks and completed a fairly high percent of his passes. Also the fact that all of their offensive scoring came through the passing game is a breath of fresh air considering that a majority of the Jags scoring is based around Maurice Jones Drew.

 This weekend games gave us some insight to how the season will play out for these quarterbacks but does not tell the whole story. We will have to continue to watch and see how the season plays out for each team and each quarterback.