QBCL (requiem?)

OK, it was probably foolish to try to sign off with the Quarterback Challenged League last week with the wildest of Wild Card rounds in the offing. And there was a distinct amount of additional bruising to the egos of the various sign-callers in action over the weekend in what is otherwise known as the NFL.

But I did, genuinely, expect more from the 8 men under center than a tally of just 7 TD passes and another 10 INTs in those four games.

Much of it (the 10 interceptions, at least) can certainly be attributed to the rookie element of the various QBs, and the truly ferocious nature of the Baltimore D (now we know who put the 'Raven' in ravenous). But, with only 7 TD passes - which was actually DOWN from the truly appalling 9 of this weekend last season - it does make you wonder if some teams (Miami, Minnesota?) might still have questions to answer over the position next pre-season.

Only two QBs avoided an interception (Joe Flacco and Peyton Manning), and one of those still finished on the losing side (thanks, in part, to the horribly iniquitous nature of NFL overtime rules). Only Manning and Kurt Warner managed a positive TD:INT ratio, and some of the INTs that were thrown were positive killers (step forward Chad Pennington, Matt Ryan, Tarvaris Jackson and even Philip Rivers). Ryan also added a fumble that went for an Arizona score and a sack for a safety that provided further ammuniton for the QBCL.

Flacco and Ryan (who were a combined 2:2, with Ryan responsible for all 4 of them) obviously deserve a pass for their novice standing in this year's play-offs and they fact they clearly both have a genuine future in the genuine NFL.

Warner and Donovan McNabb (a combined 3:2) can also look back on both their results and stats with a good deal of satisfaction. But the other 4 were certainly less than overwhelming, at least statistically.

And, with a Divisional Round that boasts six of the NFL's top defences (plus a newly-invigorated Cardinals 'D' and a Chargers unit that limited the high-scoring Colts significantly), there is plenty of scope for the coming weekend to supply a lot more in the way of bruises.

Stay tuned......!