"Open Mic": Sports Most Important Player; Quarterback in the NFL

The most important position in team sports aside from a manger or coach is the quarterback of a professional football team. Does any other player have the ball, or puck in their hands 95 percent of the time? No, no other sport has just one player that at any second during the game can make or break the game and as we saw over the weekend make or break the season if he gets injured. Possibly a point guard or star player on an NBA team such as Chauncey Billups, or a Manu Ginobli, as shown in the Western Conference Finals the Spurs were not as electric of a team as they are while Manu is healthy. Other than that I can not think of a player or position in any other team sport that is equally or more important than the position of quarterback.

The position of quarterback is a unique one. As mentioned before the quarterback has almost as much power during the game as the coach and offensive coordinator. The position requires you to study every aspect of the defense, know every play in the playbook whether its a simple quarterback sneak or a flee flicker. Take Peyton Manning for example, once he steps up to the line he has control over the play, who the hot receiver is and the offensive lines coverage. He is given a play and because he is so intelligent Tony Dungy gives him the ability to audible any play and usually he is right. That's an example of a "stud" at the quarterback position, he wins games for you, rarely makes mistakes, and leads the rest of the team into battle. A liability would be a player such as Rex Grossman. He rarely even has the ball in his hands as he will usually fumble the snap or throw an interception and give the ball to the other team. The middle of the spectrum would be a quarterback such as Trent Dilfer who led the Ravens to a Super Bowl title by simply managing the game and not losing the game for his defense which at that time was spectacular.

Now to focus specifically on the Patriots situation now that Tom Brady is out for the season with an ACL and MCL tear in his right knee. I don't think that it is possible to recover from such an injury especially when your backup has yet to start a game since high school. Now if they were to bring in a quarterback with some more experience that can put them in more of a position to win and be a stud while not losing the game for them at the same time. I believe the best quarterback out there would be Daunte Culpepper and to me this would be a no brainer for the simple fact that hes the same age as Brady and has been great. And when was the last time he had great numbers? when his primary receiver was Randy Moss. Bring in Culpepper and reunite the tandem that fronted the best offense in recent memory until the Patriots team from last year demolished every offensive record in the game. If this was to happen I would have to believe that the AFC Championship isn't too far of a stretch with seemingly every team in the AFC having a down year except for the Steelers.

If this move is not made than I would have to believe that the Steelers will make a strong run at the Super Bowl with an outstanding defense that brings back memories of the Steel Curtain with their great linebackers and down lineman. Their offense looks great as well as they put up 38 points on a Texans team that was figured to be on the rise. Another team could be the Chargers the only reason they are behind the Steelers as of right now is because of their last second loss to the Panthers. However they are equal in talent and skill and I predict they will meet in the AFC Championship game barring any moves by the Patriots to acquire a veteran quarterback.