The Football Fan Spot

NFL Week 8 is this week if you can believe it. The season is close to half way done so we can just take a big step back and look and the major storylines of what has been an interesting and amazing season thus far. When we do that, one of the prevailing storylines we see is the disparity between good teams and bad teams and more specifically how many really bad teams there have been. 8 teams have winning percentages lower than 30%, which means 2-5 or worse, Oakland, Kansas City, St. Louis, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Cleveland, and Washington. All of these 8 teams have something in common as most awful teams do, bad quarterback play. Let's take a look.

Oakland

JaMarcus Russell- 7 starts, 74-160, 891 yards, 2 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 47.2 QB rating

Russell has been one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league statistically, but he has two wins somehow and Al Davis spent a lot of money on him so he's forcing coach Tom Cable to keep Russell out there. Cable appeared to have lost his patience with Russell, who is out of shape and does not appear to care, last week during their game versus the Jets, benching Russell for journeyman backup Bruce Gradowski, but it has already been announced that Russell will start week 8.

Kansas City

Matt Cassel- 6 starts, 102-186, 994 yards, 8 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 73.2 QB rating

Brodie Croyle- 1 start, 16-24, 177 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 116.1 QB rating

Matt Cassel is their big money investment, but he was hurt to start the season. Backup Brodie Croyle had a good game in a losing effort, but Cassel returned to action week 2. He's been decent, but unspectacular and doesn't have the help around him to win games. Some fans are wondering if they made a mistake paying Cassel 63 million rather than simply starting Croyle.

St. Louis

Marc Bulger- 5 starts, 78-135, 780 yards, 3 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 72.5 QB rating

Kyle Boller- 2 starts, 49-86, 481 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 66.1 QB rating

Same old same old. Marc Bulger has either been bad or hurt every week this season. Kyle Boller, a former 1st round pick of the Baltimore Ravens, has been even worse in relief of Bulger.

Detroit

Matthew Stafford- 4 starts, 79-139, 894 yards, 3 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 65.5 QB rating

Daunte Culpepper- 2 starts, 35-62, 384 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions, 66.9 QB rating

Stafford is the future clearly, after the Lions took him #1 overall last year and paid him a fortune, but he's clearly not the present. Former Pro Bowler Daunte Culpepper has out played Stafford during the 2 weeks Stafford his missed with injury.

Tampa Bay

Byron Leftwich- 3 starts, 58-107, 594 yards, 4 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 71.2 QB rating

Josh Johnson- 4 starts, 63-125, 685 yards, 4 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 50.9 QB rating

Byron Leftwich was signed as a 2 year stopgap in the offseason, but only lasted 3 games before he was benched following a 22 yard output week 3. Josh Johnson toook over and has shown flashes of brilliance, but also long periods of being awful. He was replaced by 2009 1st round pick Josh Freeman last week in the 2nd half of a losing battle against the Patriots. Its unclear whether Freeman, 2-4 for 16 yards against the Patriots, is ready for action, but they may have no other choice.

Tennessee

Kerry Collins, 6 starts, 108-197, 1071 yards, 5 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 62.0 QB rating

Collins was a Pro Bowler last season, but has struggled mightily without a strong defense to support him this season. Vince Young, the 2006 3rd overall pick waits in the wings, but has not completed a pass this season in 5 attempts. He does, however, have an interception.

Cleveland

Brady Quinn, 3 starts, 45-74, 400 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 interceptions, 62.9 QB rating

Derek Anderson, 4 starts, 60-137, 605 yards, 2 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 40.6 QB rating

This was supposed to be a position of strength with 2007 1st round pick Brady Quinn starting and 2008 Pro Bowler Derek Anderson as his backup. Quinn was unspectacular in 3 starts and benched week 3 and replaced with Anderson. Anderson has been downright awful in 4 starts, but head coach Eric Mangini refuses, for whatever reason, to go back to Quinn. Maybe its the fact that Quinn's bonus doesn't kick in if he's on the bench, maybe its the fact that Anderson is responsible for the team's only win, albeit in a game in which he completed only two passes, but whatever the reason, Anderson is the starter for now. Their 3rd quarterback is Brett Ratliff who Mangini specifically requested as a throw in in the deal that sent Mark Sanchez to New York so we could see him soon.

Washington

Jason Campbell- 7 starts, 136-206, 1481 yards, 8 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 85.8 QB rating

Campbell, who is in his contract year, has been the most impressive of all the quarterbacks in this miserable group. I would definitely give him a shot at a reduced rate this offseason if I needed quarterback help, which a lot of teams do. He is playing in an offense that clearly doesn't fit his strengths, but he has been average. I like his upside in the right offseason, remember, he, like many of the quarterbacks on his list, is a former 1st round pick. However, he isn't winning games for the Redskins, who benched Campbell during a week 6 loss to Matt Cassel and the Chiefs in favor of veteran backup Todd Collins. We may not have seen the last of Collins, who led the Redskins to the playoffs in 2007 after Campbell got hurt.

Obviously, identifying the problem is not that hard. The hard part is fixing it. Let's take a look at what these teams can do to improve their situation.

Oakland

JaMarcus Russell is their big money investment, but they may have to give up on him after 3 years. He's not getting the job done. There is likely going to be no salary cap next season so they can get away with drafting a quarterback and also keeping Russell on the roster. As for right now, they should try Bruce Gradowski. They aren't going anywhere this season, but the last time this team was any good they had a veteran journeyman named Rich Gannon at quarterback. Just saying.

Kansas City

Not much they can do. They signed Cassel for 63 million over 6 years last offseason and he hasn't been bad. They just need to give him a better supporting cast and see what happens. He's only one year removed from a great season with a great supporting cast in New England.

St. Louis

Marc Bulger is done, Kyle Boller never started. They need a new quarterback now. They'll likely have a high pick in 2010 to draft one with, the trick is finding the right one.

Detroit

Patience is a virtue. Stafford is the quarterback of the future, but he needs time to ease into the system. They should start Culpepper for the rest of the season and draft a franchise left tackle to protect Stafford in 2010.

Tampa Bay

Patience is required here. No need to throw 2009 1st round pick Josh Freeman out into the mess this season, especially if he's not ready. Freeman is their quarterback of the future, but the future is clearly not now.

Tennessee

Regardless of whether or not they can return Collins to Pro Bowl form this season, this season is dead and Collins' career is almost over. They need to try other options. They should try Vince Young to see, once and for all, if they actually have anything with him. If not, they can release him this offseason without much financial damage and draft another quarterback. They should considering going to a wildcat offense with Young and Chris Johnson.

Cleveland

They're in a tough situation. Both Anderson and Quinn are owed major bucks for 2010 so unless they can find a suitor for one of them, good luck with that, they won't have the financial freedom to draft another quarterback, even without a salary cap. They need to search for answers on their team. They haven't tried Brett Ratliff yet, so they should try him and see if he's anything; If not, they should try Quinn again in 2010 with a better supporting cast. Maybe his career could be turned around with the help of a big time receiver or a big time running back.

Washington

Jason Campbell and the west coast offense are not a good match. One has to go. Campbell is a free agent this offseason so it appears it will be him. If he leaves, they should draft a quarterback and sit him for a year behind Todd Collins who fits the west coast offense very well.