On September 23, 2001, a young man named Tom Brady entered the field of the old Foxboro Stadium near Boston. He replaced the injured Drew Bledsoe, the quarterback of the New England Patriots. The game was lost with substitute Brady. But it was also the beginning of a great era. Brady and the Patriots won the Super Bowl that same season. 18 years later he is the most successful quarterback in history with six Super Bowl titles.
If a quarterback gets badly injured, then every NFL team faces a problem. The passer often decides on success and failure. In the current, still young NFL season, the failures of quarterbacks are piling up: Nick Foles of the Jacksonville Jaguars broke his collarbone on Matchday 1. Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers injured his elbow and fails the entire season. Less serious is the thumb injury on the throwing hand of Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.
AFP
Ben Roethlisberger from the Pittsburgh Steelers
Now the question now is: Did the seasons for the Jaguars, the Steelers, and the Saints run with the injuries of their key players? Often it was like that in NFL history. But sometimes there were cases where a backbencher entered the stage through the loss of a star player - and changed the story of a season.
#MinshewMania in Jacksonville
Whether Gardner Minshew can write such a "Cinderella story" is still uncertain. But it is already clear that the 23-year-old backup of Foles in the Jaguars has kindled a hype about his person. Under the hashtag #MinshewMania the fans pay homage to the rookie with the iconic mustache and the bandana cloth. Especially since he led his team to their first win of the season in week three (20: 7 against Tennessee Titans). Previously, the team from Florida had lost the first two games.
That makes you make when you just know the AFC South is yours. #DUUUVAL #TENvsJAX #MinshewMania pic.twitter.com/kJTcfxPcUM
- #MinshewMania (@MinshewMinute) September 20, 2019On his debut against the Kansas City Chiefs, Minshew scored a record following the injury of Foles, earning 88 percent of his passes to his own man, which before him had not been a debutant in NFL history since 1950. His team still lost 26:40. After three games Minshews Quote is still at 74 percent. Against the Titans he threw 204 yards and two touchdowns. On Sunday, he meets with Jacksonville on the Denver Broncos.
How to make it from backup to the star of his team, Minshew can ask at Foles. In 2017, Foles replaced Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz (cruciate ligament tear). At the end of the season was the win of the Super Bowl.
The Steelers without "Big Ben"
Of all the recent injuries, Steelers' quarterback Roethlisberger seems to be the one to weigh the hardest: for 15 years in Pittsburgh, he has relied on "Big Ben," just as long as he's among the elite NFL quarterbacks, even if the last of two Super Bowl -Siegen already eleven years ago. Roethlisberger never missed more than four games per season.
The Steelers lost 3:33 in New England on Matchday 1. In the second game at home against Seattle Roethlisberger injured his elbow. Substitute Mason Rudolph came on the field, throwing 112 yards and two touchdowns, but the game was 26:28 lost.
Who does not like a good flea flicker? Could this be the future look of the Pittsburgh Steelers? #SEAvsPIT
cc: @NFL pic.twitter.com/QIjjSiK4oP
The chances to successfully follow in the footsteps of Roethlisberger in his second professional year are, for Rudolph, low. The loss of the two best offensive forces in recent years does not seem to be compensated: scandal-wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le'Veon Bell.
In his first game from Sunday's start against San Francisco, Rudolph threw 174 yards and again two touchdowns. But as against Seattle, he also caused an interception. The 49ers won 24:20.
The Steelers have to improve in many areas: the offensive line has better protect the quarterback, the running game must be more efficient. But then Rudolph could do a bit of a job, especially since he has an excellent destination with passport receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster - and with James Washington an old friend from college days at Oklahoma State. There Rudolph broke 54 school records and came to a total of 32 victories in nine defeats.
The Saints without Drew Brees
The thumb injury of fellow quarterback legend, Drew Brees of the Saints, weighs less heavily. For one thing, New Orleans believes it will return within six weeks, and secondly, replacement Teddy Bridgewater is an NFL veteran. Against the Los Angeles Rams on Matchday Bridgewater was still often inhibited. But against Seattle on Sunday, he led his team to 33:27. He had 177 passing yards and two touchdown passes. It was the Saints' first win without Brees in the starting lineup since 2005.
AP
Daniel Jones (center) led the New York Giants against Tampa Bay to victory in the penultimate minute
Nevertheless, a quarterback change more often means the end of a successful season for NFL teams than the other way around: The San Francisco 49ers, for example, had high hopes in 2018 of finally being successful again with Jimmy Garoppolo. But after Garoppolo already tore the cruciate ligament in the third season game, the team lost six games in a row and finished the season with a disappointing record.
But there is another possibility: that not an injury ends the season for a quarterback, but an appearance of his backup. For 16 years, Eli Manning was the star of the New York Giants. On Sunday he was replaced by rookie Daniel Jones and led the Giants after a 18-point deficit to the break against Tampa Bay still to 32:31 victory. The 22-year-old contributed two pass and two receiving touchdowns at over 300 yards. He scored the winning points one and a half minutes from time with a sprint over seven yards himself.
It is likely that Jones has thus inherited the legacy of two-time Super Bowl champion Manning. But if this is already the beginning of a new era, one can say only in a few years.