THe rest of the top five backups.
think you get the idea. If your team is decent, and your starter is vulnerable, you qualify. These are five backups who could have the greatest impact on this season:
1. Jay Fiedler, N.Y. Jets: Another smart pickup by the club. Last year it turned to Quincy Carter while Chad Pennington was recovering from a sore shoulder, and he won two of three starts. This year, it has the proven Fiedler behind Pennington, who returns from surgery for a torn rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder. Fiedler is the perfect fit. He's from Long Island. He needed a change of scenery. And the guy's a winner. He was languishing in Miami, where he led the Dolphins to two playoff appearances and won twice as many as he lost (35-17) before last season, but now he has a chance to make an impact. There are a couple of things to consider here: 1) The Jets made the playoffs three of the past four years, and 2) Pennington has yet to play an entire season, missing nine games the past two years to injuries. Just a hunch, but Fiedler will play a role in the Jets' fortunes.
2. Jeff Garcia, Detroit: Smart move, numero dos. Like Fiedler, Garcia has the credentials, with three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances on his resume. Like Fiedler, he needed a change of scene. So he moves to Detroit, where he's paired with coach Steve Mariucci, and I'm not sure who needs who more. Mariucci last had a winning season in 2002 when Garcia led the 49ers to the playoffs; Garcia last had a winning season in 2002 when Mariucci ... I think you can see where this is going. Garcia is a safety net for Joey Harrington, with the Lions ready to pull the plug if Harrington falters again. I know the Lions haven't won more than six games in any season since 2000, but trust me -- they're a factor in the NFC North, and Garcia could be the panacea for an offense that features three first-round draft picks at wide receiver, a potentially great running back and an enigma at quarterback.
3. Josh McCown, Arizona: The Cardinals have the lineup to make a run at first place in the NFC West -- provided, of course, they figure out how to beat San Francisco and keep one quarterback on the field. This year that quarterback is Kurt Warner, but tell me the last time he played an entire season. OK, I'll help: It was 2001, when he was the league's MVP. Since then, he has had 16 starts in three years, including nine last season before he was pulled. That's not exactly what the Cards have in mind. So the question is: Who's behind the guy? Enter McCown, who coach Dennis Green once said reminded him of Brett Favre but later benched in favor of Sean King. So Green doesn't believe in the guy, but let's face facts here: McCown was 6-7 as a starter in his first crack at the job. That's not bad.
4. Kelly Holcomb, Buffalo: The Bills' Tom Donahoe has built a career out of outmaneuvering opponents, and his signing of the former Cleveland backup qualifies as this year's clever move. Holcomb not only is good; he's so good he shredded Pittsburgh for 429 yards and three touchdowns in a 2002 playoff loss and hit 30 of 39 for 413 yards and five TDs last year against Cincinnati. Buffalo qualifies as a potential playoff candidate, largely on the strength of its 8-2 finish last year. Yes, the Bills start an unproven quarterback in J.P. Losman, but Donahoe saw enough talent there to make him a first-round draft pick. That's the good news. The bad: Losman missed most of his rookie season with a training-camp injury and played sparingly. The Bills are in his hands, but if he struggles -- and he could -- the cavalry is waiting.
5. Jon Kitna, Cincinnati: The Bengals are going to be trouble this year, and it's because -- hallelujah -- they have a quarterback who looks like the real deal. In his first year as a starter, Carson Palmer grew into the job in a hurry, throwing for 11 touchdowns in his last four games before bowing out with a knee injury. I don't know if Palmer is fragile; all I know is that he missed the last three games. Kitna stepped in and won two of them, which runs his two-year total at Cincinnati to 10-9. I'll take that from a backup, especially with Kitna throwing 30 touchdown passes over that span. Palmer makes this team dangerous, but Kitna is what every coach would love to have: a veteran with the experience of playing and winning if you're forced to make a move.
Honorable mention, Doug Flutie, New England: OK, so I just broke the ground rules. Tom Brady hasn't missed a game since joining the starting lineup in 2001. The Patriots know that, too, yet they signed Flutie, 42, as insurance just in case. And that's the point. If something happens to Brady, the Patriots want protection, and Flutie's the ticket. He can win games. He can win big games. And he's made a career of doing both. Look at it this way: Which would you rather have as your first option behind Brady -- Flutie or Rohan Davey and Matt Cassel? I thought so.
Flutie has 66 career regular-season starts; Davey and Cassel have none. The Patriots were looking for experience in the event of an emergency -- someone who could keep the train moving forward -- and they found it. No, I don't know what he has left either, but with Flutie, it has never been as much about talent as it has guts, tenacity and willpower. The guy's a terrific competitor -- he was San Diego's co-most inspirational player in 2003 when he backed up Drew Brees -- and his addition is another strong move by the shrewdest operation in the business.
GBR
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