Starting QBs hold lots of sway in NFL

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Ask 100 football people to name the most important attribute a franchise- changing quarterback needs to succeed, and you will likely get several dozen different answers.Big arm. Big brain. Big heart.Accurate. Calm. Competitive.Work ethic. Gamer.And on it goes, item after item. So as another NFL season starts, one thing which will rise to the top, when all is said and done, is that quarterbacks -- big-name, shoe-selling, sports drink-chugging, paparazzi-fueled quarterbacks -- will have the most to say about the way things go.Whether they like it or not."Oh, yeah, when you're the quarterback, being in that position my whole life, you're kind of in that leadership role whether you want to or not," Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler said with a laugh. "So, if that's what you want to do, you just grasp it and run with it. You have to. You have to do whatever you need to do to score some points and get some wins, and a lot of people are looking at how you go about it."And while football is still one of those endeavors where the sum of the parts still really means something, a quarterback has the biggest ripple effect.So much so that a careful review of the 2007 season, one in which a staggering 64 different quarterbacks played in games, shows clearly how much a starting quarterback means to the proceedings.Starting quarterbacks won a sliver under 55 percent of their games last season. On the other hand, backup quarterbacks, won roughly 16 percent fewer games -- just over 39 percent -- in their starts last season.Now, it's difficult to factor in whom else was hurt in those games, the weather or any problems with the field, etc. . . . but almost 16 percent is a drastic difference for just one player being removed from the equation.That says:-- The backup quarterback, despite the annual rite around the league's talk-radio nation that he should be playing from the moment a team fails to get a first down, is simply not as good as the starting quarterback.-- Perhaps the defense, seeing a backup quarterback across from it, takes a few more chances, plays with a little more aggression. They blitz more, perhaps force more turnovers playing a way they would not have played had the No. 1 quarterback been in the game.-- Maybe a team simply takes an unconscious "Oh, man" type of dip when the backup quarterback is going to play, no matter how much lip service is paid to picking it up when the starter is out. That the starter is such a center of things, it's difficult to overcome such a big change in the structure of the team, even for just a week.It can be seen even in Cutler, when he talks about his position on the Broncos' leadership scale despite the fact he is just in his third season, surrounded by many players with far more experience."I like that role, I've always felt comfortable with it," Cutler said. "Always have; it's a lot of responsibility, obviously, but your play on the field speaks louder than anything in the locker room. But when you're the quarterback, at any level, you're going to be expected to be in that leadership role."This all comes to light in the season's opening week because two of the players who are most important to two of the league's elite teams have yet to play in a game since the '07 season ended.The Colts' Peyton Manning has said he's ready to start his 161st consecutive regular-season game -- he has never missed a game, regular season or postseason, in his previous 10 years in the league -- Sunday night against Chicago.But Manning did not play in any of the Colts' preseason games this year because of surgery July 14 to remove an infected bursa sac in his knee.From Manning, the depth chart goes to Jim Sorgi, who has had a grand total of zero starts in regular-season games in his previous four years in the league.Then there's Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The reigning MVP has started 127 consecutive games, regular season and postseason, but did not play in a Patriots preseason game because of a foot injury.This week, Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave a nebulous "I expect him to be out there all week" answer when asked about his quarterback's status. Brady is listed on the team's injury report with foot/shoulder injuries.But then again, he was listed with a shoulder injury all through the 2007 season, including the playoffs, and started every game, throwing a single-season-record 50 touchdown passes to go with just eight interceptions.Behind Brady is Matt Cassel with his zero regular-season starts in his three previous seasons.So coaches might always say these guys are one play away from being on the field, but it seems the team is a lot farther away from a win than that if those backups have to play.(Contact Jeff Legwold of the Rocky Mountain News at legwoldj(at)rockymountainnews.com.)