Through the first five weeks, in fact, 30 of the 32 teams started the same quarterback for every game - an NFL record. Changes were made in Indianapolis and Jacksonville following an injury to Kerry Collins and the Jaguars' choice to replace Luke McCown with rookie Blaine Gabbert.
But look at all the quarterback changes coming in Week 7. Due to poor production and injuries alike, there could be as many as six new starting quarterbacks across the league Sunday.
If you think that's a lot, consider 12 teams overall have new starting quarterbacks this season, be they rookies or acquisitions through trades and free agency.
Look around. There's Andy Dalton in Cincinnati and Cam Newton in Carolina. There's Gabbert now in Jacksonville, Kevin Kolb with the Cardinals and Matt Hasselbeck in Tennessee.
Plus, all the backups that are now getting their turn.
"You've got to see what's out there," Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan said, referring to making quarterback changes. "It's not like they fall out of trees."
No, it only feels that way given all the change, especially this week.
Here are four that are certain:
- Tim Tebow replaces Kyle Orton as the Broncos' new starter and goes home to face the Dolphins in Miami in a game where Tebow and the 2008 Florida Gators national-championship team will be honored at halftime.
Tebow got three starts at the end of last season but head coach John Fox went back to Orton to start this season. With every Denver loss, the fans screamed louder and louder for Tebow.
"It's not so much fan outcry as we're in a result-oriented business and we're 1-4," Fox explained to reporters. "It's not one guy. We'll see if this helps."
- John Beck, who attended Mesa Mountain View High, replaces Rex Grossman as the Redskins' starter and will face Newton and the Panthers on the road. Grossman was benched after being intercepted four times in a 20-13 loss to the Eagles.
For Beck, a former second-round pick from Brigham Young, it will be his first start since 2007 when he was a rookie with the Dolphins.
"There's been a lot of hard work that's gone into this," Beck said. "You never know when your opportunity's going to come and you've always got to stay ready. I've tried to do that."
- Christian Ponder, the 12th overall pick in this year's draft, replaces Donovan McNabb as the Vikings' starter and will have to face the undefeated and reigning Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.
McNabb hasn't looked right the past two years and the Vikings' passing offense ranks 31st in the league. Ponder replaced McNabb in the fourth quarter of Minnesota's 39-10 loss to the Bears and head coach Leslie Frazier said he liked what he saw.
"Some of the things he did let me know that this game is not too big for him, it's not too fast for him," he said.
- The Raiders lost Jason Campbell to a broken collarbone last week and coach Hue Jackson will turn to either backup Kyle Boller or Oakland's new prized acquisition, Carson Palmer.
The Raiders dealt a first-round pick and a conditional second-round pick that could become a first-rounder to the Bengals for the rights to Palmer, who hasn't played since last season.
"This guy knows how to play the game and he knows how to elevate the players around him," Jackson told reporters.
Meanwhile, there also could be changes at starting quarterback with the Seahawks and Rams. Seattle's Tarvaris Jackson is hampered by a pectoral strain and could give way to Charlie Whitehurst against the Browns.
Rams quarterback Sam Bradford has a high-ankle sprain and if he in unable to go Sunday against the Cowboys, St. Louis will turn to veteran journeyman A.J. Feeley.
So much for consistency at the quarterback position, huh?
Where are the Ironmen?
The list of active quarterbacks and impressive starting streaks is short in the NFL now that Brett Favre is retired and Peyton Manning is sidelined with a neck injury.
Only three active quarterbacks have consecutive-games-played streaks of 50 or more games.
Eli Manning of the Giants presently has started the most consecutive games (109), the fifth-longest in history and two behind Tom Brady's string of 111 from 2001 to 2008.
San Diego's Philip Rivers is second on the active list with 85 consecutive starts, which ranks 12th all-time. With four more starts, he will surpass Johnny Unitas (88) and tie Roman Gabriel (89) for the eighth-longest streak by a quarterback.
Baltimore's Joe Flacco has the third-longest active streak at 53 games.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/2011/10/21/20111021nfl-quarterback-consistency.html#ixzz1bm2CoiNB
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