The Top 5 QBs of the Decade

I can’t believe we’re almost done with yet another decade. In just several weeks, the end of the 00s will be behind us, and I’d like to take the time to look back at the decade that was, showcasing the best five NFL quarterbacks to have played football during these ten years.

My rankings factor in the overall performance over the last 10 years, rather than who may be better than who at present. Based on this, we’re going to remember what’s transpired in seasons past in determining who finished where on this list.

These are all a matter of opinion, and yours might be different from mine. If you feel that I’ve gotten this order wrong, I’d love to hear your reasoning.

Coming in at number five on my list is Kurt Warner, the veteran quarterback who is still going strong to this day. As the current leader of the Arizona Cardinals, he added a second Super Bowl appearance to his resume last season. Warner shows no signs of slowing down at this point.

Brett Favre. A better career QB than at least one of the guys (and arguably more) below him here, Favre’s still going strong to close out the decade.

Donovan McNabb. This QB took his team to the NFC conference championships 5 times during the decade. Enough said.

Tom Brady has been at the forefront of a Patriots dynasty during this decade, and his team has arguably been the most successful franchise of the last 20 years. His numbers have been exceptional and some more of his best days may still be ahead.

Peyton Manning. It was hard to justify putting Manning above Brady since Brady has more Super Bowls, but I think that Peyton’s been more consistent through the course of his career, albeit marginally. He’s truly one of the best to ever play, and just beats out Brady here.

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Super Bowl Contenders in Football This Year

While many differ in their opinions as to who the best NFL team in each conference may be, just about everyone can agree that there are a few teams that seem to stand above the rest. Football has been exciting so far, and the rest of the season will be very interesting.

This article will break down some of the top teams in each conference, followed by a prediction as to who ends up emerging in each of the two conferences.

In the AFC, it would appear that there are a few clear contenders. First of all, the Pittsburgh Steelers have bounced back from a disappointing start, winners of 4 straight and now 5-2. They have Troy Polamalu back and the fact that they beat the Vikings shows that this team is strong.

Next on the list would be the New England Patriots. Tom Brady has shaken off some rust and is beginning to look like his old self, making the sky the limit in New England. Additionally, the Broncos can’t be forgotten about with just one loss thus far.

While all of these teams have been great, no AFC team has been as strong as the Colts. An incredibly efficient offense has dominated its opponents, thanks to the steady hand of Peyton Manning. Until the Colts lose, they’re tops in the conference.

As far as the NFC is concerned, the major story in this conference is the New Orleans Saints. This team has what may be the best offense in all of football.

Riding the success of QB Drew Brees, the offense is unstoppable and strong enough to win just about every time they play, thanks to Brees. They beat the Giants at home pretty handily, making a bold statement in the process.

Contenders to the Saints would be the Eagles, playing some great football themselves, and the Arizona Cardinals, coming off a big win in New York and winners of three straight games. The Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants are also obvious contenders as well, though their recent losses make the Saints the clear favorite thus far.

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A New Look For The Tennessee Titans

What has become of the mighty Tennessee Titans. This is a team that opened up the season undefeated through the first two months of the NFL season in 2008.

The Titans dominated their competition during the 2008 regular season. If my memory serves me right, I think they won their first 10 games before losing one in November. This is the kind of Tennessee Titans football that I’m used to seeing, and I’m stunned to see that they’ve dropped their first two to open the season.

Many thought this was a Super Bowl team last season. I think I thought so myself. They made a few changes during the off-season that seemed positive.

The acquisition of Nate Washington at wide receiver and a few other players made it seem like this team would be just fine, despite the fact that they lost their best defender in Albert Haynseworth.

In week 1, the Titans faced a difficult challenge in visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh. Having to play the defending champions at their own field on opening night is a huge challenge in and of itself, but the Titans handled the challenge well, nearly coming away with a win against the Steelers.

With the loss of DT Albert Haynesworth, the Titans defense may not be as strong as it once was but they still have defensive skill players such as Cortland Finnegan, Chris Hope, Keith Bulluck, and Nick Harper.

I do remember the Texans generally playing competitive football against the Titans. For some reason, it seems like they have their number on offense and end up putting a lot more points on the board than most teams do. They’ll still pull out wins though. Not this time.

The Titans now have an 0-2 record to begin the 2009 NFL season and sit at the bottom of their division. Things aren’t looking so good in Nashville now.

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Will The Washington Redskins Bounce Back?

The Washington Redskins haven’t started out their 09′ exactly how they anticipated. In fact, they are probably the most under achieving team in the NFL so far.

This loss might not have been the worst loss in franchise history, but it’s definitely right up there. There is no excuse in losing to the Lions really, the Washington Redskins have by far the more talented team — the most talented teams don’t always win — sometimes the team more prepared wins.

Anymore defeats by inadequate teams and the Redskins fans, front office, and head coach Jim Zorn will see their Redskins be in last place in the NFC East.

The Washington Redskins have a very tough schedule when you consider they must play the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles twice a season.

The defensive unit for Washington seemed solid on paper, but hasn’t been showing up (I don’t count the Rams game). The defenses in New York, Philadelphia, and Dallas are all stronger than that in Washington.

Their receivers (Santana Moss, Chris Cooley, etc.) are good, but not great. Maybe with a better QB, they would look great.

Their running game hasn’t been looking like it has in the past. Clinton Portis is no doubt one of the best running backs of the decade; he’s aging a bit, and seems to have lost a step.

Head Coach Jim Zorn is on the hot seat if he can’t create some spark with his offense. The Redskins are a proud franchise with a rich history, if Zorn can’t produce for the Redskins fans and ownership by motivating his players he won’t last the season. The players must come ready to play and not play the blame game either as well. .

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San Diego Chargers Defensive Struggles

There’s been a lot of hype surrounding the San Diego Chargers entering this new year of football. I’ve heard about Super Bowls in addition to the fact that they’re obvious NFC West favorites. After all, the Chiefs and Raiders have been consistently weak in recent years, not to mention the fact that the Broncos are a shell of what they were last year.

This is a team that has seen multiple playoff berths over the past few years, and a core of players that continues to improve. With the exception of LT, they’re a really young team on the rise.

They have everything a team needs to be a contender, QB Philip Rivers is among the best in the league, an explosive running game with Darren Sproles, Michael Bennett, and LaDaninian Tomlinson, wide receivers Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson, and a stellar defense with Shawne Merriman, Quentin Jammer, Antonio Cromarti, and Stephen Cooper.

The running game is top notch, as LaDanian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles are one of the most lethal one-two combos in pro football today.

Come week 2, with a more challenging game against a visiting Ravens team. The fact that the Chargers were at home in front of an extremely passionate fan base gives the team the edge, but they somehow lost this game to Baltimore, despite two great opportunities to score a touchdown late in the 4th quarter, either which would have given the team the win.

Turner’s career record is under .500 and if he can’t lead the Chargers to a strong playoff run with the talent the Chargers have, he might be looking at the wanted ads at the end of the season.

The AFC is extremely difficult to win this year – Baltimore Ravens have an offense for the first time, the Indianapolis Colts have Peyton Manning and always a threat, the New York Jets are improved with a top-notch defense, the New England Patriots have a healthy Tom Brady again, and the Pittsburgh Steelers should be a contender.

I do believe their offense is powerful, but not enough to make up for the weak defense. For this team to compete and live up to their expectations, the defense needs to improve immediately.

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Chad Henne Steps Up for the Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins were the feel good story of the 2008 NFL season. The team finished with a 1-15 regular season record in 2007, and was written off as quite possibly the worst football team of the decade.

Things didn’t look too much brighter entering the 2008 season, nor did they look much better for Chad Pennington. Regardless, the Dolphins somehow pulled it together and became the Cinderella football team of 2008.

The duo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams really came together. This opened up a ton of room for Chad Pennington as well. Anthony Fasano also stepped up as one of the top TE’s in the league. What a year it was!

The Dolphins rode the wave of enthusiasm into the 2009 season and expected big things out of an improved offense that would look to enjoy another successful football season.

After controlling the ball for 45 minutes against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football, the Dolphins could not secure the win, heartbreaking no doubt. I really thought they would get the W.

Seven points scored in a game against an average Falcons defense raised questions about the Dolphins’ offense and their effectiveness. It’s going to be a long season if they don’t get it right.

After week 3, the Dolphins looked like a hopeless team with an 0-3 record, having been 3 games behind the first place Jets. Suddenly, the Dolphins are now 2-3 and the Jets are 3-2, with the Dolphins only one game behind the Jets now.

They performed a miraculous turn around in one year; hopefully that type of magic exists with the Dolphins again. If the Dolphins somehow manage a 8-8 season, that would be considered a successful season.

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The Indianapolis Colts; The Favorite of the AFC South

The Indianapolis Colts 2009 season started off with a close win against the Jacksonville Jaguars and a remarkable win on Monday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins, with a score of—12.

The team ended up narrowly defeating the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars in week one. They barely got away with the victory against the Jags, winning it—12. In week 2, they have a much more difficult match up.

The Colts are favored to win this game by about 3 points, but odds aside, there are some minor concerns about the state of the Colts team entering this game.

While Peyton Manning looked to show his best stuff and Reggie Wayne received for over 160 yards in game 1, the bigger issue at stake is the absence of Anthony Gonzalez. With Marvin Harrison no longer an option for Peyton, the Colts will hurt out wide with Gonzalez injured on the sideline.

Peyton Manning looked great during the first week of the NFL season, there’s no doubt about that. He connected with Reggie Wayne like they did in 2007, and made use of the rest of his receivers too. However, Anthony Gonzalez, the team’s number two wide receiver, was forced out of the game with injury and will probably miss the remainder of the year as a result. Since the team no longer has Marvin Harrison, this is ample cause for concern.

This is a tough loss for a Colts team that is suddenly not too deep at the wide receiver position for the first time in several years.

Keeping NFL teams from scoring, on average, less then 20 points per game gives the Colts the opportunity to win every single game with Manning leading the way.

The Colts are a model of consistency and this 09′ season has proven to be no different so far. The loss of Tony Dungy was a cause for a concern somewhat, but as of now it doesn’t seem it matters who the head coach is as long as Peyton Manning is taking the snaps under center.

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When Will Things Turn For The Kansas City Chiefs?

The Kansas City Chiefs entered the season with new hope, and with good reason. While the team shouldn’t reasonably expect to make the playoffs in 2009, an improved set of players offensively and defensively should give the Chiefs a little more to strive for than in recent years.

The Chiefs were stacked with Larry Johnson, Tony Gonzalez, Eddie Kennison, and Trent Green, and saw a few winning seasons of solid football. After losing Tony Gonzalez during the off season, things looked grim for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Enter Matt Cassel, potential savior. Cassel did a tremendous job filling the void left by an injured Tom Brady in New England last season, and led the team to a 10-6 finish that, by all standards, should have brought them to the playoffs.

RB Larry Johnson is a fine player but is getting older and can’t shoulder the load like he use to. Running backs that turn 30 typically see a decline in their abilities, which is understandable. Larry Johnson peaked in 06′, with over 1,700 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns.

The Chiefs’ defense ranks in the bottom of the league in every major statistical category. When you have QB Philip Rivers, RB Darren Sproles, RB LaDainian Tomlinson, TE Antonio Gates, and WR Vincent Jackson in your own division, it can make for a long season.

Matt Cassel suited up for the team’s week 2 game, opting to play through his injury. While he wasn’t 100%, he was an obvious improvement at the quarterback position and the team looked more efficient on offense. Still, they were unable to score enough points to overcome the Oakland Raiders, traditionally a weak team if recent history is any kind of indicator.

Matt Cassel showed some signs of greatness in New England – was that the product of the Patriots organization? Matt Cassel’s ability? Or Both? I think a combination of both and unfortunately, Cassel probably won’t have the same kind of success in KC for a while.

If they can find a win over the next three weeks against the Eagles, Cowboys or Giants, it will set a new standard and give some confidence to the Chiefs. I think under Matt Cassel, they’ll definitely have a better year than last.

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Clear Improvements by the Detroit Lions

Many people thought it couldn’t be done — that is the dreaded 0-16 record the Lions suffered in 08′. Accumulating an 0-16 record was less likely than going 16-0, which the New England Patriots accomplished in 07′ just a year prior.

The Detroit Lions from 99′ — 08′ compiled an astonishing record of 48-112. If the Detroit Lions were in a European soccer league they would have been demoted to another level — or even disbanded the team and redistribute the players perhaps.

The most important position in football is the quarterback, the Lions are hoping QB Matthew Stafford will help the Lions reach a 8-8 or 7-9 record — which by Lions standards that would be a great season.

Entering week 2, the Lions found themselves at home in Detroit, against division favorites (and last year’s NFC North winners), the Minnesota Vikings. This, too, was a game they were expected to lose, but a team that goes 0-16 the prior year should be expected to lose just about every game it plays.

The Lions offense must not give away games and hand the opposing teams many turnovers. Rookie QB’s turn the ball over often throwing interceptions, Matthew Stafford must stay calm and make smart decisions, easier said the done obviously.

Hopefully in 09′ the Lions can reach the .500 mark and maybe make the playoffs one year. If any city deserves a winning football team for once its Detroit, they have been beyond patient with their team.

The team continues on in its quest for a victory with a game against the Redskins next Sunday. Maybe they’ll finally get that win.

The Detroit Lions might not win many games but better days surely lay ahead. It can’t get any worse!

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An Outlook on the 2009 Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals had a very odd 08′ season. The Cardinals barely made the playoffs and many said they were the worst team to make the playoffs in a very, very long time.

The Arizona Cardinals are notorious for losing year after year and not spending money on the “big time” players. These last few years have proved to be different ironically.

Kurt Warner had been uncertain about his NFL future, playing around with the idea of retirement. Anquan Boldin was unhappy with his status on his team and threatened to leave. Edgerrin James was lost to free agency, and was now on the Seahawks in Seattle. Many wondered what the fate of the Cardinals would hold in store in 2009. However, with the exception of Edgerrin James, Anquan Boldin and Kurt Warner both returned.

The team opened up the season with a very disappointing win against the 49ers at home in Arizona. Losing a game that was expected by many to be an easy win was no way to start a football season.

The Cardinals are not yet what they were at the end of the 08′ season, not by far. This doesn’t mean they can’t capture lightening in a bottle again. Kurt Warner is the savoy veteran who can change his game around quickly – how could you not with the talent at WR position the Cardinals have.

Kurt Warner was nearly as effective as he’s ever been, chewing up the Jacksonville secondary as he completed an amazing 24 of 26 passes. Tim Hightower looked great at running back, and the Cardinals receivers were equally effective. There was even time for Matt Leinart to enter the game, as this was an easy victory.

The NFC West isn’t the strongest division in the NFL and with the weapons the Cardinals have – look for them to put on better performances game by game. The Cardinals must contend with the revamped San Francisco 49ers – they look like major players in the NFC this season.

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