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Drama pivots on revolving door of quarterbacks
So much backing up in the NFL on Sunday, the whole league should have been beeping.
The backup quarterbacks for Denver, Indianapolis and Houston led their teams to victories, and Tony Romo, who has watched Dallas backup quarterbacks languish for seven weeks, returned to lead the Cowboys to their first win since September.
As for the Baltimore Ravens, they have to go to the bullpen for the first time in years as quarterback Joe Flacco suffered a season-ending knee injury at the end of a 16-13 win over St. Louis.
“He tore his ACL and maybe his MCL as well,” said Ravens Coach John Harbaugh of Flacco, who sustained damage to the anterior cruciate and medial collateral liga-
ments in his left knee during the closing seconds, after left tackle James Hurst was blocked into him.
Just before Justin Tucker won the game with a 47-yard field goal as time expired, Flacco hopped off the field in obvious pain. His future in Baltimore is complicated. His salary-cap number rises to $28.55 million in 2016, and the 3-7 Ravens could draft high enough to start thinking about a quarterback of the future. For the moment, Matt Schaub will be Baltimore’s starting quarterback.
Sunday was a huge afternoon, meanwhile, for Carolina’s Cam Newton and Tampa Bay rookie Jameis Winston. They threw five touchdowns each in a couple of blowouts over NFC East teams. The host Panthers routed Washington, 44-16, and Tampa Bay embarrassed Philadelphia, 45-17, on the road.
At 10-0, Carolina is the NFC’s only undefeated team. New England, the AFC’s unbeaten team, plays host to Buffalo on Monday.
The Panthers put the defensive clamps on a Washington team that blew out New Orleans by 33 a week earlier.
“Last week we felt pretty good, top of the mountain,” Redskins Coach Jay Gruden said. “It’s a humbling game.”
Winston undeniably brought Philadelphia to its knees, throwing four of his touchdowns in the first half to four receivers. With his fifth, he tied Matthew Stafford’s single-game rookie record.
“I ain’t going to cry, but this is a dream come true for me,” said Winston, the No. 1 overall pick last spring and a leading candidate for offensive rookie of the year. “I always wanted to play here, ever since I was a little boy. I always wanted to be an Eagle. I was even singing the fight song on the sideline. It was a special day for me.”
Winston, who doesn’t turn 22 until Jan. 6, is the NFL’s youngest starting quarterback.
“We are watching a young quarterback grow before our eyes,” Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans said. “He did not turn the ball over, had five touchdowns, which is great. If we have that type of consistency on offense, we will be a really dangerous team.”
It was a big day, too, for 40year-old Matt Hasselbeck, the league’s oldest quarterback.
The Colts’ Hasselbeck, starting in place of the injured Andrew Luck, improved to 3-0 as a starter this season after a 24-21 victory at Atlanta. Earlier this season, Hasselbeck guided Indianapolis to wins over Jacksonville and Houston, but the Falcons were the first winning team he’s beaten.
Actually, it was the NFL’s oldest active player who hammered home the win, with Adam Vinatieri making the deciding 43-yard field goal with 52 seconds to play.
Denver’s Brock Osweiler, who has spent three-plus years learning at the elbow of Peyton Manning, finally got his chance Sunday, with Manning sidelined by foot and ribcage injuries.
In his first career start, Osweiler threw for two touchdowns, and Denver’s defense stopped a do-or-die two-point conversion by Chicago, as the Broncos picked up a 17-15 victory.
Not a bad birthday for Osweiler, who turned 25 Sunday.
“I don’t know if anybody believed me, but I really was telling the truth — I have not wasted a single day sitting behind Peyton,” he said. “I fully recognize that he might be the greatest quarterback to ever play, if not one of the greatest. I wasn’t going to let one of those days go by where I didn’t learn something. I’ve been very appreciative for my situation.”
T.J. Yates became the third quarterback to start a game for Houston this season when he faced the New York Jets. He threw two touchdown passes to help the Texans to a 24-17 victory as Houston won three games in a row for the first time since 2012. Both of Yates’ scoring passes went to DeAndre Hopkins, and receiver Cecil Shorts threw for a third touchdown, to Alfred Blue.
In a sense, Shorts was the backup to the backup. It was that kind of day.
Kap issues
San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was placed on season-ending injured reserve over the weekend, will undergo surgery Tuesday for a torn labrum in his left, nonthrowing surgery. Trent Baalke, 49ers general manager, told reporters Sunday that surgery was a mutual decision by Kaepernick and the organization, and dismissed reports that the player doesn’t factor into the team’s future plans.
Thomas guide
Marshawn Lynch won’t be around forever, and he contemplated retirement after the last two seasons. That’s why rookie running back Thomas Rawls is so valuable to the Seahawks.
Rawls rushed for 209 yards and two touchdowns in a 29-13 victory over San Francisco, the third time this season he has run for at least 100 yards. Rawls, undrafted out of Central Michigan, started in place of Lynch, who is nursing an abdominal injury.
Insult to injury
Not only did the Buccaneers blow out the Eagles in Philadelphia, but they left their mark on the NFL record books in the process.
With Winston throwing for five touchdowns and Doug Martin running for 235 yards, Tampa Bay became the first road team to have a quarterback with at least five touchdowns and a running back with at least 200 yards.
OK, that’s obscure, but the game was a cover-your-eyes disaster.
Denver Brock-os
For Denver, it was an impressive start to the Osweiler era. He had the second-most passing yards (250) and second-best passer rating (127.1) by a player in his first career start for the Broncos.
The leader in those categories? Manning, naturally. He threw for 253 yards and had a 129.2 rating when he made his Broncos debut against Pittsburgh on Sept. 9, 2012.
Broncos Coach Gary Kubiak was noncommittal when asked which quarterback, Osweiler or Manning, would start Sunday night at home against New England.
“I knew that was coming,” Kubiak said. “Here’s the deal — we got healthier here today. We’ve got some guys on this team that we’re trying to get healthy, so that’s important. And we won our eighth game. So we’re going to focus on winning today and enjoy winning and we’ll go back to work next week.”
Rebounders
Kansas City sure knows how to bounce back. After winning their opener, the Chiefs lost five in a row — along with running back Jamaal Charles — and looked cooked. Since, they have won four consecutive games in convincing style, knocking off Pittsburgh by 10, Detroit by 35, Denver by 16, and on Sunday, San Diego by 30.
Of the Chiefs’ six remaining opponents, only 5-4 Buffalo has a winning record.
Perfect position
Carolina is 10-0, and New England should get there.
Entering this season, 15 teams in league history have gotten off to a 10-0 start. Each of those teams made the playoffs, nine got to the Super Bowl, and six won it all.
Get ’em while they’re hot
With the way the Rams, Raiders and Chargers played Sunday it’s obvious: They’re all clearly trying to rev up the Los Angeles market.