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Don't Panic About Struggling QBs

	Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

All you Jets, Packers and Vikings fans can come on in off the ledge. Chad Pennington, Brett Favre and Daunte Culpepper are going to be fine.

Before going into specific reasons why each quarterback will rebound quickly, keep in mind, we're coming off of Week 1. The early-season hype is out of control this year. Don't judge anything on a season opener, especially if it was on the road. Don't forget the Patriots' 31-0 loss at Buffalo that kicked off their 2003 championship season.

In the case of this trio of touchdown-less signal-callers, there were mitigating factors that resulted in their Week 1 disasters. Each team does have legitimate problems, but if you look at these QBs' histories, there's no reason to believe they can't overcome them.

Daunte Culpepper

Just throw out Culpepper's three-pick, zero-TD performance against Tampa Bay. Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin owns the Vikings QB. In six starts against Kiffin's D, Culpepper is 2-4 with five touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Last season, Culpepper struggled against good pass defenses and torched bad ones. That pattern was particularly true in the five games Randy Moss sat out with a hamstring injury. As long as he was facing a unit ranked in the league's lower third in passing defense, Culpepper came up with huge numbers without Moss. Tampa Bay ranked first in pass defense in '04, so it's not a surprise Minnesota couldn't move the ball through the air. This week's opponent, the Bengals, ranked 13th against the pass last year, so Culpepper should improve in Week 2, and then really start to put up big numbers against more vulnerable NFC North defenses later in the season.

Chad Pennington

As you might expect, the hype around the Jets' loss to the Chiefs is completely out of control in New York. Opening day at Arrowhead is no place to start a season and Pennington's struggles are being taken out of proportion. Yes, his six fumbles were inexcusable. If he ever has half that many in a game again, coach Herman Edwards should bench him for the entire season. But hey, quarterbacks were fumbling left and right around the league. How many times did Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick put the ball on the ground on Monday night? At least part of Pennington's fumble-itis has to be attributed to rust -- the same reason so many other QBs coughed up the ball last weekend. Pennington got very little work in new coordinator Mike Heimerdinger's offense during the offseason and is going to need time to get his sea legs back.

Even with all his problems, Pennington was 21 for 34 for 264 yards with only one interception. And his numbers were hurt significantly by dropped passes, including one by Laveranues Coles in the end zone that the average drunk fan could have pulled in. Pennington did complete his first nine passes and his 73.7 passer rating could have easily been close to 90. Pennington was definitely better than Kansas City QB Trent Green, who had a 66.2 rating on Sunday.

The concerns about Pennington's shoulder are legit, but the Jets' offense can adjust to that and not put him into position to make throws that cause him trouble. Even though he can't zip the ball to the sideline, Pennington seems OK when he's throwing straight downfield and has room to put arc on the ball. The Jets also need to get the running game going and prove they made the right choice by keeping Curtis Martin instead of Lamont Jordan. This is definitely a team that needs to keep defenses thinking run to get the passing game going.

Brett Favre

The idea that the Packers are sunk without Javon Walker is comical. Favre has been turning receivers into stars for 13 years and all of a sudden Green Bay's success hinges on Walker? Can you imagine saying the same thing before the 2004 season, when Walker was just an underachieving second/third receiver? Favre is the constant. Someone always seems to emerge out of nowhere to catch the ball for this team, and the same thing will happen this year.

Favre has recovered from bad games many times in his career. He opened the '03 season with a four-interception outing against the Vikings and everyone said he wouldn't make it through the year. He ended up with 32 touchdowns and led the Pack to another NFC North title. Things will pick up for Favre as the new offensive line gels and the running game gets uncorked. Look for that to happen in Week 2 against a Browns defense that has major problems.



-- Andrew Perloff (1:45 p.m.)

I concur with you about Dante and Chad, but good ole boy Brett may be in for his worst season yet. BEFORE Walker went down, they were facing serious O-line and Defense issues. Now, not only will they be playing from behind, but they won't have that extra All-Pro WR to help take the heat off the never-ending stream of blitzes GB is sure to see.
-- J.P., Toronto (2:24 p.m.)

Favre isn't the same QB as he was in the past. He isn't MVP material anymore and he needs a lot of help from his team to win. I doubt Green Bay (with a bad defense) and now without Walker to make it the playoffs or even finish ahead of the Bears.
-- Santosh Joseph, Chicago (2:27 p.m.)

Typical New York media making excuses for a New York quarterback. At least Trent Green can hang on to the ball!
-- Brad, Kansas City, Mo. (2:31 p.m.)

The QB most likely to continue his Week 1 demise has got to be Pennington. I'm not sure I like your "everybody else is doing it, so why can't I" logic regarding his six ... count 'em SIX, fumbles. No QB fumbled half as much. His arm strength looks depleted too. Sure, there were some dropped balls that most certainly should have been caught, but there were also a fair share of balls that were totally off target. I'm not convinced that Pennington's season will get much better.
-- Mason, Malden, Mass. (2:34 p.m.)

I think a lot of people are confusing Fantasy league with reality, thus the hysterics. You're right on the money with this. I'm thinking Washington and Chicago have more serious QB issues to deal with.
-- Ed Gilmore, New York (2:43 p.m.)

I agree with Andrew on the struggling QB issues: it was only one game! How can you make a judgement after only one game when there are 15 more to go? If we were at the mid-way point and these three guys were still struggling -- then there would be issues. Relax, people! They call it a "season" for a reason.
-- Brad King, San Angelo, Texas (2:48 p.m.)

I am a Jets fan (in Kansas City no less) and I believe that Pennington's injury is a LOT worse than what the Jets are letting on. True, Coles dropped 2 potential TDs (and a couple of drive-killing first downs as well), but all this secrecy concerning the offseason private practices where Pennington threw X number of balls to prove how healthy he was seemed like a sham. True, it will take time to get used to the new offense but you can't get acclimated to it when you're playing hurt (while giving teams the defensive blueprint on how to beat you for the rest of the year). The Jets better hope either Pennington get healthy real fast of get used to seeing Jay Fiedler (ouch!) or Brooks Bollinger (yikes!) under center some time this season.
-- Brian Jones, Kansas City (2:53 p.m.)

I couldn't agree with you more about Favre. As a Packer fan it is becoming ridiculous how people keep insinuating that Favre is done and his skills have diminished. Even writers at SI have hopped on the Favre-bashing bandwagon (Dr. Z). But, every year Favre lights it up and the Packers continue to win. Great column and I'm glad to see a fellow Favre supporter.
-- Adam, Winnipeg, Manitoba (2:58 p.m.)

I like Daunte but don't really have a lot of faith in him under pressure in big games. As Mike Tice says "to be the the champion you have to beat the champion." As you pointed out Daunte isn't good against good defenses. Personally I think Favre isn't the close to the same player he was, and despite his best efforts Green Bay will struggle to win 5 games.
-- Nate, Minneapolis (3:02 p.m.)

Thanks for the sanity, Andrew. As a Packers fan I also couldn't agree more with your take on Favre. All this talk of his diminished skills -- wait until after the season and we'll see if his skills are diminished or not. Last year he threw for 30 TDs and 4,000 yards. Think of the awful defense the packers had last year -- what other QB in the league could have led a team with that poor a D to a 10-6 record. Not many. Doesn't sound like diminished skills to me. He's had one bad game so far this year, but if you followed him in the preseason he looked VERY sharp. And you forget, he's NEVER played well in domes. See how he does this season, then talk about his diminished skills. Rich, New Jersey
-- Rich, New Jersey (3:21 p.m.)

Jeremy Mower Keene, New Hampshire Question To be sure, none of these quarterbacks looked good in the first week, but only one has serious reason for concern -- Chad Pennington. Why only him? Both Daunte Culpepper and Brett Farve are in the NFC North, where their only competition is to beat up on A) The Bears, B) The Lions (Who, by the way, will quickly deflate from sheer pressure), and C) Each other. They'll have plenty of time to adjust, even though this could result in one of the worst divisions in recent history unless these quarterbacks readjust quickly.
-- Jeremy Mower, Keene, N.H. (3:26 p.m.)

In a make-or-break year, I'm more concerned about the Vikings' coaching staff and game plans than I am about Daunte Culpepper. As good as Tampa's defense seem to be, the Vikings had more than eight months to prepare for this team at home on opening day. Nothing was working.
-- Brandon, Salt Lake City (3:34 p.m.)

I think Chad Pennington has been on the demise since last year, and this past week was just more evidence to that extent, Daunte Culpepper has yet to prove he can win the "Big One", and is, in my opinion, a little overrated. Brett Favre may want to concentrate more on winning then padding his stats (heaving the ball down field, and hoping for the best) ... not good!
-- Robert Quarles , Woodbridge, Va. (3:42 p.m.)

By omitting Jake Plummer from this list, are you implying that the Broncos are screwed? From where I am sitting (in Denver) it looks pretty bleak. Shanahan keeps giving us the same old line of crap about how this is a tough game and they had a bad game, blah, blah, blah. What will the Broncos record be before Shanahan gets his pink slip?
-- Taylor, Denver (4:06 p.m.)

Javon was what made this passing game click. Driver is a solid No. 2 and Robert Ferguson is a solid special teams player and that is it. If you would have said Javon was going to miss the year last year, I would have said the same thing I am saying this year. They are done. Donald can't do it alone and the running game without the guards is non-existent. As for Javon underachieving in previous years, that simply comes from a case of our idiot coach not being able to spot talent. Example: Ahmad Carroll Starts this year, Joey Thomas sits. Just wait, Thomas is light years better than Carroll, and coach Mike Sherman can't see it. Take a look at the corner they started for the first five games last year. We took him out then, suddenly every pass play wasn't a TD against us. Pack is dead with out Javon, and gone as long as Sherman is still the head man.
-- Greg, Milwaukee (4:25 p.m.)

Chad's not hurt, but his arm strength hasn't returned yet. It'll get there, and as he learns the offense he'll get back to being a good QB by mid-season. Favre will be ok too, he's a competitor, he'll adjust to not having Javon there. I think Daunte will just be average by year end. They have no running game and no true No. 1 WR at this point.
-- Greg, San Antonio(4:44 p.m.)

Favre is done, and finally. The media overhypes this guy, because while he may win you a couple, he will lose you a couple, and no one ever gives him grief about all the picks he throws!!!!
-- Donnell, Fayetteville, N.C. (4:53 p.m.)