Kevin Kolb and 6 NFL Players Holding Their Teams Back from Greatness

Kevin Kolb was sacked nine times against the St. Louis Rams on Thursday.

Unsurprisingly, the Arizona Cardinals lost and much can be attributed to the lack of overall offensive production.

That said, Kolb isn't the only one in pro football limiting the capabilities of his team. After all, John Skelton did enter the 2012 season as the starter anyway.

Well, we saw how ineffective the Cards can be and they aren't the only ones restricted at the moment.

So, let's move ahead and see who joins Kolb in preventing their teams from reaching potential.

Matt Cassel: QB, Kansas City Chiefs

From 2008 through 2010, Matt Cassel was one impressive quarterback.

He broke onto the scene in New England for Tom Brady in 2008, and all of a sudden Cassel was under center in Kansas City.

The Chiefs proceeded to win the AFC West in 2010, and despite losing in the postseason, K.C. had increased expectations for 2011. Unfortunately, that's when Cassel began to decline and it's been rough since.

Even when healthy last year he failed to find a rhythm, and had just 10 touchdowns to nine picks through nine appearances. Although that's not completely awful, Cassel has further regressed in 2012. With five touchdowns to seven picks in four games, his 58.4 completion percentage isn't helping either.

Facing the Baltimore Ravens this week, at Tampa Bay before the bye, and five divisional games thereafter, Cassel must immediately get back on track. If not, 2012 will end in significant disappointment for Kansas City.

Ryan Fitzpatrick: QB, Buffalo Bills

The one consistent missing piece to the Buffalo Bills offense is the quarterback.

Ryan Fitzpatrick was solid in 2010 and 2011, but being interception-prone has cost Buffalo quite a bit.

Week 4 against the New England Patriots was that in a nutshell, because Fitzpatrick threw four picks giving him seven on the year. The other three came in the Week 1 loss to the New York Jets.

Durability concerns aside, Buffalo has arguably the NFL's best two-back tandem in Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller. This duo, combined with a reliable offensive line—only four sacks allowed in 2012—means the Bills simply need improved consistency under center.

On the bright side, Fitzpatrick does possess the ability to put up impressive numbers across the board.

Having tossed 68 touchdowns since joining the Bills in 2009, Fitzpatrick can get points on the board.

For Buffalo's sake, he will need to do just that as 2012 progresses, otherwise the season will end in frustrating fashion.

Dez Bryant: WR, Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys have plenty of work ahead in order to improve the offense.

Dez Bryant, however, has not lived up to his No. 24 overall selection in the 2010 NFL draft.

Catching 45 passes for 561 yards and six scores as a rookie, Bryant underachieved in 2011 with just 928 yards on 63 receptions and nine touchdowns.

Obviously a better performance, but considering this was Tony Romo's best season as a pro and fellow receiver Miles Austin missed six games, Bryant didn't step up. Romo relied on Laurent Robinson and Jason Witten to keep the offense explosive.

This season, Bryant's on pace to reach career-highs in receptions and yards. That being said, he's tied with Victor Cruz with the most drops among all NFC receivers (not counting tight ends) so far in 2012, per Stats Hosted Solution.

Include his miscommunication with Romo against the Bears, and it ultimately turned into a 14-point swing for Chicago. Bryant has undeniable talent, but he's far from the most dependable target in Big D.

Nick Fairley: DT, Detroit Lions

Taking Dez Bryant's first-round status to another level, Nick Fairley has been unreliable for the Detroit Lions.

Taken No. 13 overall in the 2011 NFL draft, Fairley has dealt with trouble on and off the field.

Now take into account his durability issues as a rookie, and his career never got off to a great start. Recording just 15 tackles and one sack last season, Fairley has just three tackles and a sack through four games in 2012.

Part of this can be attributed to Fairley seeing the occasional double-team. But playing a part of a defensive front seven with Ndamukong Suh, Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch, Fairley isn't the guy offenses should be double-teaming most often.

So it's no surprise that Fairley's lack of impact, regardless of opportunities, has been damaging to the Lions' defense. Any defense with one stud interior defender, such as Suh, can be easily exploited. The blocking scheme becomes geared toward isolating that player and forcing the rest to make plays.

The New York Giants are one prime example of how effective multiple standout defensive linemen can be. Jason Pierre-Paul's production in 2011 doesn't happen without Justin Tuck and Chris Canty doing work elsewhere.

Suh is that beast linemen for Detroit, but he can't do it all alone. And until Fairley matches that Top 15 draft status, Detroit's defense won't entirely slow anyone down.

Kevin Kolb: QB, Arizona Cardinals

In 2011, Kevin Kolb went 2-6 as the Arizona Cardinals' starting quarterback.

John Skelton, on the flip side, went 6-2 when contributing under center.

To that end, it wasn't shocking when Skelton appeared at the helm for Week 1 of the 2012 season. Unfortunately, Skelton went down late against the Seattle Seahawks, and Kolb has done a decent job stepping in thus far.

Then Week 5 kicked off on Thursday and Kolb was pressured all night long. He's now been sacked 22 times this year and that's on pace to destroy last season's sacked total of 30.

Now, part of the offense's troubles definitely are attributable to the offensive line and banged-up backfield. However, facing that kind of adversity is when the elite quarterbacks step up and make everyone around them better.

Whether it's making a pre-snap audible to call quicker developing plays or recognizing the blitz, Kolb must utilize that awareness to partially make up for the lack of protection.

Unfortunately, we didn't see that from Kolb in 2011 and had it not been for the Cards' defense so far 2012, this season would be a lot worse than 4-1.

Cleveland Browns' Receiving Corps

The AFC North is a division run by defense and slamming on the ground between the tackles.

Still, each of last season's playoff teams field a standout receiving target with a solid group to complement.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have Mike Wallace, the Cincinnati Bengals have A.J. Green, and the Baltimore Ravens have Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin.

By comparison, who do the Cleveland Browns have?

Greg Little was the leading receiver in 2011 with 709 yards and only two scores. In addition, Mohamed Massaquoi has yet to surpass his 2009 rookie season totals of 624 yards and three touchdowns.

In short, the Browns receivers have not been dependable enough for any quarterback. Brandon Weeden's Week 4 performance against Baltimore was in no way stellar. However, he was putting the ball where it had to be and Little's end zone drop is Cleveland in a nutshell.

Every few years the Browns have been decently capable of producing a sound running game to set up play-action. Trent Richardson is the future right now and until Cleveland gets more reliable receivers, the Browns will struggle to put up points and win.

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