Talking NFL

As a fan of New England sports teams, I’m paranoid by nature.  There’s always something to worry about, even when your team is the overwhelming favorite to win the Super Bowl (in fact, just writing that last sentence gave me a seizure).

And while there are plenty of other teams (Chargers, Colts) and players (LT, and yes, Peyton Manning) that worry me, you always have to look at your own division first for the immediate concerns.  If you think your team can handle the other 3 teams, then and only then can you start worrying about the rest of the league.

Well, as I mentioned in my AFC East preview, the Bills and Fins don’t concern me.  And right now, the Jets are close, but what separates them from us right now (primarily) is the quarterback position.  Like I said (and I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here), Chad Pennington is no Tom Brady.

Enter Mr. Kellen Clemens, the guy who’s currently giving me nightmares.  What do we know about him?  He’s a 2nd year QB out of Oregon who currently backs-up one Chad Pennington.  He’s completed 22 of 31 passes for 230 yards, four TDs and one interception so far this preseason.  He has thrown one (count ‘em - ONE) meaningful pass in an NFL regular season game (FYI - it was an incompletion).

And I’m absolutely terrified that he could become the next Tom Brady (minus the dreamboat looks).

Now I’m certainly not saying that Kellen is going to BE the next Tom Brady, but when it’s come to the NFL, there’s what you know, and what you don’t know.  I have no idea (nor does anyone else) whether Clemens will be the 2nd coming of Broadway Joe, or the 2nd coming of Browning Nagle.  But I DO know Chad Pennington.  I know that he’s a good quarterback, 31 years old, has a 2-3 playoff record, and a solid career QB rating of 89.3.

I also know that many Jets fans like to call him “noodle-arm”, and compare his crunch time performance to a Chinese fire drill.

And I know that once the Patriots got ahead of the Jets in last year’s divisional playoff game, there was very little worry that the Chad was going to rally Gang Green (for both of the above reasons).

Now, Eric Mangini has all ready gone on record that Chad is his starting QB.  But keep in mind he’s a direct decedent of the Belichick/Parcells coaching line, so that makes his statement fairly useless.  And one can only imagine what he thought of Pennington’s 2 disastrous interceptions against the Vikings last week (both returned for TD’s).

There is buzz in the local media as well as in the fan forums that Kellen Clemens is gaining ground on Chad.  And don’t leave out the national media, as Peter King of SI had his say this Monday as well:

Whenever I mention Kellen Clemens deserves playing time, Jets fans say I’m nuts. Hey, it’s not a knock on Chad Pennington. But this team has two good quarterbacks. Both of them should play some.

Now imagine THIS situation unfolding; it’s opening weekend, Patriots vs Jets.  The Jets are down by a touchdown late in the game.  Chad rolls out to his right, but can’t find anyone, so he scrambles to get out of bounds.  But before he gets there, Rodney Harrison lowers the boom on him.  When the trainer comes over and asks Chad who he is, he replies, “I’m Batman!”  

Exit Chad, enter Kellen.

The Jets lose the game, but Kellen slowly gets comfortable with the new offense, and shows a level of calmness and control that just wasn’t there before.  When Chad is cleared to play in Week 8, Man-boobs has that same awkward discussion Belichick had with Bledsoe 6 years ago to the day (“you see…it’s not you…it’s us. Yeah. We’re in a different place now, Chad…we have different needs…you understand, right?”)

Slowly the Jets start creeping into playoff contention, until they are tied with the Patriots going into their pivotal rematch in Week 15.  The Pats get off to an early lead, and the fans in Foxborough start celebrating too soon.  But the Jets grab a quick TD, thanks to Kellen finding his go-to guy, Jerricho Cotchery.  And the Patriots go 3 and out, and the Jets have one of those franchise altering drives where Kellen becomes a legend by-

Nah, that’s just too weird.  It couldn’t happen like that AGAIN, right?

Uh…right?

NFL, New York Jets, Chad Pennington, Kellen Clemens, QB Battle, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, and back-up QBs, jinxing it now so it never happens