Armchair Quarterback: Injuries taking their toll
Preseason is over and it’s time for the real stuff to begin as the road to Houston gets underway next Sunday.
As we’ve seen in years past, there are many stumbling blocks on the way to the Super Bowl. Just ask the Eagles and a hobbled Donovan McNabb who stumbled last year against the Bucs, just one win away from the big game. Just ask the Dolphins, arguably the best team in the league following their huge Monday Night win against the Broncos last year, who went into their regular late season swoon after Fiedler was hurt. Or, even ask the Atlanta Falcons, who were already booking their flights to Houston, who are now looking at a dismal start given the injury to Michael Vick.
Sure, it takes talent to make it to the Super Bowl, but it also takes a little luck. Injuries can happen to even the best athletes. And, make no mistake, football is a contact sport and every team will be bitten by the injury bug this season, whether it be an interior lineman or a star quarterback. It’s how a team adjusts to these injuries that separates the good teams from the great.
Just look at the Patriots the year before last. They lose Drew Bledsoe early, and then turn it around behind some unknown quarterback named Tom Brady to go on and win the Super Bowl. Before that, look at the Rams, who lost Trent Green in preseason, only to have some arena league guy named Kurt Warner lead them to a title.
As we go into the season, two teams obviously are hampered by the injury bug. You can pretty well depend on the league losing two or three major players in any given preseason. This year it is the Falcon’s Vick and the Jets’ Chad Pennington, the quarterbacks of two teams who looked to be on their way up.
Unfortunately for both, it appears these injuries will be killers early on. Barring a rise to stardom by the backups, these teams will be in an early hole which, given the depth of competition in the league, they will likely not dig out of by playoff time.
In Atlantawe have Doug Johnson, who is heading an offense geared toward a mobile quarterback. Sure, Johnson has Peerless Price, but his lack of mobility compared to Vick, leaves a big hole. The key when it came to Vick was that other teams had to game plan on how not only to control his arm, but control his feet. Having Vick in the backfield was like having another running back, a running back with 4.2-40 speed. Forgetting to cheat on Vick basically meant giving up a 20-yard run from scrimmage.
In New York, a 40-year-old veteran will be filling in for at least 12 weeks. The Jets are looking to import a quarterback, seeing the year is all but over for Pennington with his arm injury. Folks like Elvis Grbac have already turn down their offers, so it is questionable if they will be able to bring in a decent replacement this season. Plus, even if they do, getting the person used to the system will take too long. It’s doubtful Vinny Testaverde will be able to fill the hole left for Pennington, seeing Vinny looked to be about out of gas last year when he was replaced by Pennington during the season.
The one way a team can overcome the injury bug foiling their season — aside from having a deep bench which is somewhat salary cap preventative — is having an overpowering defense that stays healthy. However, neither Atlanta nor New York has this luxury since their strengths were putting up points.
Of course, the bug is still lurking out there and there isn’t any vaccination to protect a player from its bite. Almost every year, another big-time player goes down for the season in week one. Just hope it isn’t the star on your favorite team.