 |
|
 |
||
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|||
| Prairie View MFA Agri Services - CLICK - MFA CONNECT |
|
Printable Page
09/23 05:00 CDT A stunning early QB injury wave leaves up to 6 teams already
turning to backups
A stunning early QB injury wave leaves up to 6 teams already turning to backups
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer
The NFL hasn't seen an early-season injury epidemic at quarterback quite like
this in a long time.
With Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Jaxson Dart all getting hurt in Week 2,
there's a good chance six teams will have been forced to go with a backup
quarterback as the starter because of injuries by the time the games this week
are finished.
This will be the first time since at least 2000 that has happened within the
first three games of a season. There have been four other seasons in that time
when at least six teams used multiple starting quarterbacks within the first
three games, according to Sportradar, including a record-tying seven in both
2019 and 2010. There were also six in both 2001 and 2015, but the changes in
all four of those seasons also included benchings and rookies getting elevated.
The spate of quarterback injuries started when Super Bowl winner Sam Darnold
injured his hip on the first drive of the season for the Seattle Seahawks on
Sept. 9. Drew Lock replaced him and has helped Seattle get off to a 2-0 start.
One day later, Tua Tagovailoa left practice for Atlanta with an oblique injury,
forcing the Falcons to turn to Cooper Rush as their starter for the first two
games. Michael Penix, coming back from a knee injury last season, is set to
start Thursday night against Green Bay.
Minnesota's Kyler Murray then got a concussion in the first quarter of the
opener for the Vikings, opening the door for Carson Wentz to come in and finish
that game and start Week 2. Murray will be back as th starter this week.
The issue only got worse this past week with Williams injuring his hamstring
late in Chicago's loss to the Vikings, Daniels going down with a serious left
elbow injury for Washington against Dallas, and Dart injuring his knee Monday
night when the Giants lost to the Los Angeles Rams.
Daniels has already been ruled out this week, with Marcus Mariota set to start
for the Commanders. Jameis Winston is expected to start for New York on Sunday,
while Williams won't practice this week but hasn't been ruled out for Monday
night against Philadelphia. Backup QB Tyson Bagent went into concussion
protocol, possibly setting the stage for third-stringer Case Keenum to get his
first regular-season action since 2023.
All the injuries have been in the NFC, making this the first time since the
merger in 1970 that six teams in the same conference used multiple starting
quarterbacks for any reason within the first three games of a season.
Despite the early quarterback carousel, one thing has been missing. No drafted
rookie has taken a snap at QB all year, with Atlanta's undrafted Jack Strand
the only rookie to see the field so far.
This is just the fourth time in the common draft era starting in 1967 that no
drafted rookie quarterback saw the field during the first two games. It also
happened in 2007, 2000 and 1991.
Red zone forbidden territory for the Falcons It's been a rough start for one team that hasn't had its No. 1 quarterback. The Atlanta Falcons are still searching for their first red-zone trip of the season after failing to get inside the 20-yard line in losses to Pittsburgh and Carolina the first two weeks. The Falcons' only touchdown came on a 23-yard pass from Cooper Rush to Bijan Robinson in Week 1 against the Steelers. No other drive has crossed the 20, marking the first time since the St. Louis Rams in 2008 that a team had no red-zone trips over the first two games of a season. The Rams finally made it to the red zone in the second quarter of Week 3. According to ESPN, two other teams since 1978 also failed to reach the red zone in the first two games: Detroit in 1997 and New England in 1992. The Lions weren't inept, as they scored six touchdowns in the first two games that season, with two coming on defense and four on big plays of at least 20 yards. The Falcons have struggled to move the ball at all, especially through the air. Atlanta's quarterbacks have combined for a 38.2 passer rating, third-worst through two games in the past 20 seasons and worse than the 39.6 if the QBs simply spiked the ball every play.
Bills and Lions join rare 30-30 club through two weeks Two teams that haven't had trouble scoring --- or success stopping others from doing it --- are the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions. Buffalo opened its new stadium last Thursday night with a 41-31 win over Detroit, scoring the third-most points since the merger for a team in its first game in a new stadium. Only the 1987 Miami Dolphins with 42 points in a replacement-player game at Joe Robbie Stadium and the 1971 Dallas Cowboys with 44 at Texas Stadium scored more. The Bills and Lions had both won high-scoring games in Week 1, with Buffalo beating Houston 36-31 and Detroit beating New Orleans 31-30 in overtime. Only four other teams had opened the season with back-to-back games both scoring and allowing at least 30 points, with the Bills also doing it in 1991 and 2002, the Rams in 2000 and New England in 1994. The 62 points allowed by the Bills are the fourth-most permitted by a team that won its first two games, with the 2000 Rams having the most with 70. Josh Allen has led the way on offense for Buffalo with back-to-back games with at least two touchdown passes and two TD runs. He has now done that 10 times in his career --- including twice back-to-back after doing that for the first time in Weeks 14-15 of the 2024 season. Hall of Famer Steve Young is second all-time with four of those games. Allen is the third player in the Super Bowl era with at least nine total touchdowns rushing and passing and no turnovers in the first two games of a season. Patrick Mahomes did it on the way to winning MVP honors in 2018 and Peyton Manning did it in his 2013 MVP season.
Raiders and Chargers change roles The Las Vegas Raiders were the NFL's worst team a year ago with a 3-14 record that gave them the No. 1 overall draft pick. The Los Angeles Chargers were a playoff team for a second straight season under coach Jim Harbaugh. It's been a role reversal so far this season after the Raiders beat the Chargers 26-14 in Week 2 to improve to 2-0 and hand Los Angeles a second straight loss. Las Vegas is just the fourth team in the common draft era starting in 1967 to open a season with back-to-back wins after using its own pick at No. 1 overall earlier that year. Houston did it in 2014 after drafting Jadeveon Clowney first overall, Kansas City did it in 2013 with Eric Fisher and Detroit in 1980 with Billy Sims. All three of those teams ended the season with winning records but the Chiefs were the only one to make the postseason. The Raiders have done it with No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza a spectator and Kirk Cousins starting at quarterback. The only other team with a No. 1 pick rookie quarterback to start 2-0 was Denver in 1983 after trading for the rights to John Elway. He started the first two games but didn't do much, going 10 of 29 for 120 yards with one interception and a 33.7 passer rating. The Chargers are on the opposite end after also losing their opener 26-14 to an Arizona team that was tied last season with the Raiders with just three wins, giving them back-to-back home losses by double digits. The last team to do that against opponents that won less than 20% of their games the previous season, according to OptaSTATS, was the 1928 Racine Tornadoes, who disbanded after playing only one more game. ___ Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here. ___ See AP's full NFL coverage here
Red zone forbidden territory for the Falcons It's been a rough start for one team that hasn't had its No. 1 quarterback. The Atlanta Falcons are still searching for their first red-zone trip of the season after failing to get inside the 20-yard line in losses to Pittsburgh and Carolina the first two weeks. The Falcons' only touchdown came on a 23-yard pass from Cooper Rush to Bijan Robinson in Week 1 against the Steelers. No other drive has crossed the 20, marking the first time since the St. Louis Rams in 2008 that a team had no red-zone trips over the first two games of a season. The Rams finally made it to the red zone in the second quarter of Week 3. According to ESPN, two other teams since 1978 also failed to reach the red zone in the first two games: Detroit in 1997 and New England in 1992. The Lions weren't inept, as they scored six touchdowns in the first two games that season, with two coming on defense and four on big plays of at least 20 yards. The Falcons have struggled to move the ball at all, especially through the air. Atlanta's quarterbacks have combined for a 38.2 passer rating, third-worst through two games in the past 20 seasons and worse than the 39.6 if the QBs simply spiked the ball every play.
Bills and Lions join rare 30-30 club through two weeks Two teams that haven't had trouble scoring --- or success stopping others from doing it --- are the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions. Buffalo opened its new stadium last Thursday night with a 41-31 win over Detroit, scoring the third-most points since the merger for a team in its first game in a new stadium. Only the 1987 Miami Dolphins with 42 points in a replacement-player game at Joe Robbie Stadium and the 1971 Dallas Cowboys with 44 at Texas Stadium scored more. The Bills and Lions had both won high-scoring games in Week 1, with Buffalo beating Houston 36-31 and Detroit beating New Orleans 31-30 in overtime. Only four other teams had opened the season with back-to-back games both scoring and allowing at least 30 points, with the Bills also doing it in 1991 and 2002, the Rams in 2000 and New England in 1994. The 62 points allowed by the Bills are the fourth-most permitted by a team that won its first two games, with the 2000 Rams having the most with 70. Josh Allen has led the way on offense for Buffalo with back-to-back games with at least two touchdown passes and two TD runs. He has now done that 10 times in his career --- including twice back-to-back after doing that for the first time in Weeks 14-15 of the 2024 season. Hall of Famer Steve Young is second all-time with four of those games. Allen is the third player in the Super Bowl era with at least nine total touchdowns rushing and passing and no turnovers in the first two games of a season. Patrick Mahomes did it on the way to winning MVP honors in 2018 and Peyton Manning did it in his 2013 MVP season.
Raiders and Chargers change roles The Las Vegas Raiders were the NFL's worst team a year ago with a 3-14 record that gave them the No. 1 overall draft pick. The Los Angeles Chargers were a playoff team for a second straight season under coach Jim Harbaugh. It's been a role reversal so far this season after the Raiders beat the Chargers 26-14 in Week 2 to improve to 2-0 and hand Los Angeles a second straight loss. Las Vegas is just the fourth team in the common draft era starting in 1967 to open a season with back-to-back wins after using its own pick at No. 1 overall earlier that year. Houston did it in 2014 after drafting Jadeveon Clowney first overall, Kansas City did it in 2013 with Eric Fisher and Detroit in 1980 with Billy Sims. All three of those teams ended the season with winning records but the Chiefs were the only one to make the postseason. The Raiders have done it with No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza a spectator and Kirk Cousins starting at quarterback. The only other team with a No. 1 pick rookie quarterback to start 2-0 was Denver in 1983 after trading for the rights to John Elway. He started the first two games but didn't do much, going 10 of 29 for 120 yards with one interception and a 33.7 passer rating. The Chargers are on the opposite end after also losing their opener 26-14 to an Arizona team that was tied last season with the Raiders with just three wins, giving them back-to-back home losses by double digits. The last team to do that against opponents that won less than 20% of their games the previous season, according to OptaSTATS, was the 1928 Racine Tornadoes, who disbanded after playing only one more game. ___ Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here. ___ See AP's full NFL coverage here
