Philadelphia and Cleveland QB Situations: So Similar, Yet So Different

In 2008, the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns went into the year with almost identical quarterback situations.

They had an incumbent starter who has had success and a young, highly regarded prospect who the fans were eager to see.

That created many question marks about the incumbent and his future with the team.

Although they entered the season in almost identical situations, they turned out in much different ways.

This article has two parts. Part One will compare Donovan McNabb to Derek Anderson and Part Two will compare Kevin Kolb to Brady Quinn.

Part One: The Incumbents

While Donovan McNabb has a resume that includes a trip to the Super Bowl, multiple trips to the NFC Championship Game, and Pro Bowl appearances, Derek Anderson was coming off a breakout year in which he made the Pro Bowl himself.

In spite of their accomplishments, both guys had a young prospect behind them.

The fans wanted to see these two prospects. That made it so both McNabb and Anderson would constantly look over their shoulders.

When the season started, it was up and down for both guys. In Anderson's case, it was mostly down.

In all fairness to both guys, they both had things happen that they had no control over. 

Both guys dealt with key offensive players getting injured. Anderson dealt with receivers dropping passes and McNabb still hadn't replaced Terrell Owens after all these years.

Those were factors in both guys performing inconsistently during the first half of the season.

Both quarterbacks were benched at different times of the year. Fans and players who supported these guys spoke out about how it was wrong.

My take on it is that whether a benching is right or wrong, how that player responds to the benching really tells me a lot about that player.

It is his chance to prove to the coaches that they were wrong to take him out. That is where the paths of Anderson and McNabb became so different after being so similar.

Donovan McNabb came back in on Thanksgiving night after Kevin Kolb had been ineffective. He threw over 400 yards and many touchdowns.

After that game, he remained hot and took the Eagles to a game away from the Super Bowl. Any questions about whether he was the right guy to quarterback the Eagles were put to rest.

When Derek Anderson came back, he made a much different statement. He replaced an injured Brady Quinn against Houston in the third quarter. He went 5-of-16 for 46 yards and an interception.

The next week, the offense produced nothing with him back at the helm. That isn't exactly the statement the coach was looking for.

Now going forward to 2009, McNabb is the uncontested starter for the Eagles while Anderson will really have overcome a lot to become the starter once again for the Browns.

Part Two: The Prospects

Kevin Kolb and Brady Quinn entered 2008 also in almost identical situations.

They were both highly regarded draft picks the year before for their respective teams. Yet they were both No. 2 going into the year.

For both guys, there was uncertainty as to when they would get a chance to play and whether or not it would be with their current teams.

Both guys knew they would be backups, regardless of how they performed during the preseason. In spite of that, both guys looked very good in the exhibition games.

When the season started, both guys would watch the starter go through ups and downs.

Fans and media for the respective teams began to call out for Kolb and Quinn. Both knew that they could get an opportunity at any time, so they had better be ready.

Quinn got his chance to start on a Thursday night against Denver. Although the Browns lost, Quinn was very impressive. He threw for almost 300 yards and two TDs.

More importantly, he managed the game well and didn't turn the ball over. He earned the respect of his teammates with his leadership.

The following week at Buffalo was another solid performance. His passing stats weren't great, but he managed the game well and again didn't turn the ball over.

He was able to lead his team to victory in the last minute with a drive that led to the game winning field goal.

In his first two starts, he led the offense to a combined total of 59 points produced. Unfortunately he broke a finger in the Buffalo game.

He tried to go against Houston, but was not as effective with the injury. Unfortunately, he was lost for the year and the offense produced zero offensive TDs the rest of the year.

Kolb didn't have nearly as much success when he got his chance. He replaced McNabb for the second half in a game against the Ravens.

Kolb really struggled and was very ineffective. The next week McNabb took back over and the rest is history.

To be fair, I have much more sympathy for Kolb than I do for Anderson. He really wasn't given a fair chance.

The Ravens are one of the best defenses in the NFL and he was just thrown in without any real preparation to be the guy that week.

Whether it was fair or not to take McNabb out, the decision was made to give Kolb a chance.

Once that decision was made, he should have been given a fair chance. One half against one of the meanest defenses is not a fair chance by any standards.

But, regardless of how fair each situation was, Quinn made the most of his and Kolb didn't.

Now Quinn is the favorite to win the job in Cleveland and most Browns fans want to see more of him.

Meanwhile, Eagles fans and media are slowly forgetting that Kolb is even on the team.