Has Week 10 Ignited A QB Controversy?

The Arizona Cardinals beat the Eagles, 21-17. Yeah, the Eagles were without DeSean Jackson, but that's their own damn fault. They benched him for completely missing the Saturday meeting. So maybe it's Jackson's own damn fault. At any rate, Vick went 16-34, with 2 INTs, and had at least one other interception nullified by a ticky-tack penalty.

On the Cards' side, John Skelton had some good and some bad. On the good side, he avoided some sacks, threw for 315 yards and 3 TDs, and lead a game-tying 4th quarter drive, and then the game winning 4th quarter drive. On the bad side, he was still sacked 4 times, completed barely more than 50% of his passes (21 of 40), and threw 2 INTs in his half of the field, one of which was returned for a touchdown. He also had a couple of passes to Fitzgerald tipped, which Fitzgerald managed to come down with, despite the Eagles all around.

So it isn't as though Skelton's playing like Kurt Warner, or even Good Jake Plummer. And the Eagles are a massively disappointing team, though I did not know before today there defensive coordinator was formerly their offensive line coach. What the hell was Andy Reid thinking with that one? Still, the Cardinals didn't run the ball terribly well for the second consecutive game. They did at least keep trying, at 29 carries for 88 yards, though it drop to 25 and 73 if you take Skelton's scrambles out. But I appreciate the commitment to the run as an attempt to take some pressure off Skelton. Also, Feely missed two field goals which could have made things easier for Arizona. The indisputable fact is the Cardinals are 2-0 this year when Skelton starts, 4-2 for his entire career.

Certainly that isn't all him. The defense did well against the Eagles air attack today (though not their running game, as the Eagles averaged almost 7 yards a carry on 24 carries, and yeah, Vick's responsible for 8 carries and 79 yards, but that still leaves 16 carries and 87 yards for Lesean McCoy and Co.), and it was defense and special teams that won the day last week. And of course there was Jay Feely's 22 consecutive points game against Denver last year. Whether it's the level of competition, or the rest of the team rising to the occasion, they do manage to pull out some victories when Skelton's under center.

So, is there an issue at QB? I doubt the Cardinals are ready to take the starting job away from a healthy Kolb, though some of the fans certainly are. I figure his job's safe if only because the Cardinals made a point to trade for him, then give him a fat contract. It would look pretty silly to do that, then hand the job to a guy they already had on the roster. Money talks. I'm still OK with that. Whisenhunt said when they drafted Skelton that they saw him as a project. Someone with all the physical tools, but who would need a couple of years to adjust to the level of play in the NFL, compared to what he faced at Fordham. Kolb isn't quite that raw, but his starting NFL experience is pretty limited, 14 starts thus far, 7 before this season. So really, as long as one of them is getting some experience, I'm OK with that. Given the amount they sunk into Kolb, I'd prefer they start him if only so they can more quickly figure out whether he was a mistake. So if he's healthy, let him play. If he's not, then keep Skelton in there. See if he can cut down on the mistakes, improve the completion percentage, or both.