| |
 Hey, let's change quarterbacks
Posted: Friday October 08, 1999 11:08 AM
We're one-quarter into the NFL season now, and you can just feel the panic in the teams not doing well. One manifestation of that is the change of quarterbacks. You see it with the New York Giants and Cincinnati Bengals. You'll probably see it with the Philadelphia Eagles, and, of course, we're seeing it with the Denver Broncos, who are 0-4. Going with Bubby Brister instead of Brian Griese is not going to make that much difference in the Broncos' performance. Having lost Terrell Davis to the season-ending injury really complicates things and makes their task that much harder. Losing tests the fiber of every single individual in the organization, from the owner on down. And Shanahan certainly has his hands full, trying to right the ship with an injured crew. It's a situation I can relate to. In 1990, when I was coaching the Indianapolis Colts, we went through four quarterbacks. We even had to start Joe Ferguson, who was 41-years-old and had been in street clothes until midway through the season. Yet people couldn't understand why we had trouble winning games. When fans look at their team, they just look at their side of the line of scrimmage. They don't look at the opponent. As for Denver, both Trev Alberts (CNN/SI college football analyst) and I said in August that they would have a tough time this season without John Elway. But we couldn't foresee the injury to Davis. Frankly, I think Griese is the better quarterback. Brister was out of football for a year, and, yes, he won some games last season when they were on a roll. But I think it's kind of a knee-jerk reaction by Shanahan to pull the plug. He's probably felt the pressure of the veterans, the press and the owner. It's hard for a coach to stand up to all those elements, even a coach who is as secure as Shanahan. Denver is just not the football team they were in the past. As I said earlier this season, they miss John Elway and all the intangibles he brought to the field. Miami needs to shake out the cobwebsIf the Miami Dolphins (2-1) aren't careful, they could end up losing two games in one week. They travel to a vastly improved Indianapolis Colts (2-1) team that's capable of beating them on Sunday -- especially if they don't shake off their Monday night hangover. Like a lot of people, I had picked the Dolphins to beat the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. But their running-back-by-committee was held in check by a tremendous Bills' defensive effort. I was very impressed by the front three -- Bruce Smith, Ted Washington and Phil Hansen. The defensive secondary was just as impressive. The backs closed on the receivers all night long, batting down balls and making tackles immediately after the catches. When you look at the Miami Dolphins offensive game plan, they just didn't show enough diversity. They used predictable, standard formations that the Bills were thoroughly prepared for and able to shut down. Ron Meyer, a former NFL head coach, is a pro football analyst with CNN/SI and appears weekly on CNN's NFL Preview.
| |||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||
