Manning: Critical test

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OK, you remember that stuff I droned on about last week; you know, topsy-turvy NFL, unpredictable, upside-down, etc, etc?

Well, welcome to a true testimonial from the Far Side, a genuine head-scratching mystery of sporting comment, where nothing is as it seems and strange things lurk in dark corners.

Strange things like the Cowboys falling to the weakest team in their division; the Eagles succumbing to Chicago and Kyle Orton (Kyle Orton? Did my computer just slip into the Twilight Zone?); feeble Kansas City shellacking previously unbeaten Denver; Kurt Warner throwing for 472 yards and STILL finishing on the losing team; the Tennessee Titans running rampant in the AFC South with Kerry Collins at quarterback; Brian Griese leading Tampa Bay to victory despite a stat-line which reads like a horror show (15 of 30 for 149 yards, just one touchdown and THREE interceptions); and Buffalo needing 18 fourth-quarter points to see off woeful St Louis.

In fact, Warner wasn't alone in putting up some monster numbers and yet leaving with an 'L' in the most important stat column of all. Matt Schaub had 307 yards, three TDs and yet his Houston team fell to Jacksonville in overtime; Tony Romo also put up 300 yards and three TDs for Dallas; Jay Cutler piled up 361 yards to no avail against the Chiefs; and JaMarcus Russell out-duelled Philip Rivers (277-180 with a touchdown apiece) but still came up short.

What in the Sam Hill (as they like to say over here) is going on with this league this season?

Well, it could be that parity is finally starting to overwhelm the NFL and make every game a complete lottery, where Any Given Sunday is not just a clever film title (Dallas and Denver can both take that to heart).

Or it could be that the rash of early-season injuries have seriously unbalanced some teams, with the week-to-week casualty lists acting as a counter-weight to anyone who thinks they are ready to dominate (Philadelphia, Indianapolis and New England would all fall into that category).

But a more realistic appraisal might just be that the current lack of real quarterback quality is finally starting to show through to add a rather seamy side to what was promising to be the most wide-open season in recent years.

Chicago, Kansas City, Minnesota, San Francisco, Miami, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Cincinnati, New England and even Buffalo (where second-year QB Trent Edwards showed some worrying signs of immaturity before pulling thing back together in the final quarter against the hopeless Rams) are all among the teams with much to ponder regarding their quarterback position.

Tempting

The lack of consistency is truly startling in all the above, and that's before you add in the ongoing 'projects' at Oakland, Baltimore and Atlanta, and the recent mis-steps from the likes of the Eagles, Indianapolis, San Diego and, yes, even the Cowboys.

With just three teams left undefeated - Buffalo, Tennessee and reigning champs New York Giants - it is certainly tempting to point the finger at the alarming number of QB failures as a big reason behind all this uncertainty and lack of predictability.

With that in mind, the great Sports Illustrated pundit Paul Zimmerman (aka Dr Z) has just completed an in-depth analysis of the signal-callers of 2008 and 1988 (OK, with a little prompting from Yours Truly) and come down firmly on the side of '88, deciding that no less than 19 of the 28 teams then were better stocked than their modern counterparts.

That should be a worrying trend for the current 32 (where Houston Texans, Jacksonville, Carolina and Baltimore have all been added since that 20-year-high watermark), with at least half of them not being able to depend on the most important member of the team.

And it opens the way nicely to a look ahead to the big match-ups for this weekend, when Sky viewers will be able to see for themselves if the sudden struggles of the likes of the Seahawks, Cardinals and Broncos are really down to quarterback foibles or stem from more wide-ranging issues.

Start with Seattle at the Giants (live on SS2 at 6pm), where it will be a critical test of Eli Manning's ability to see off supposedly inferior opposition. The Seahawks are desperate for someone, anyone to line up at wide receiver after an incredible run of injuries, but a bye week may have provided enough time for Deion Branch to be fully fit again. Both quarterbacks will therefore be firmly under the microscope.

Favourites

Then stay tuned for the Bills at Arizona (SS2 at 9pm), where another of the unbeaten teams will now be favourites to claim a road win (pretty much unthinkable at the start of the campaign) - if the man under centre is able to live up to his billing (which is certainly open to question after his struggles in the first three quarters against St Louis last week).

For the Cardinals, Warner had a complete aberration of a game against New York Jets (three interceptions and four fumbles) last Sunday, despite those 472 yards, so Arizona fans will be watching his performance anxiously.

Or keep an eye on the Buccaneers at the Broncos (SS2i at 9pm), where the pundits will be keen to see if Cutler can find his way back into positive territory after three fine starts and then hitting a Kansas-sized roadblock. At the same time, Tampa's Griese could make some kind of bizarre history if he can lead the Florida outfit to a third successive win while also throwing three interceptions each time (yes, both recent wins were accompanied by no less than six INTs, a truly horrible stat with which to look back in longing at 1988).

As a final curiosity, stay tuned for the Pittsburgh-Jacksonville clash (SS2, 1.30am on Monday), when we will see if the Steelers can actually get through a game without another serious injury or six to their starting line-up. In their current banged-up state, the hard-nosed Jaguars are just about the last team they'd want to see on their schedule, and the ability of their O-line to keep Ben Roethlisberger in one piece will be high on their 'Must do' list.

So keep checking back for more reports from the sporting Twilight Zone, where the onus is now firmly on the current crop of quarterbacks to prove they're not just a shadow of 20 years ago...