A bye week

What happened last week?

Well, I took a bye week! To make up for it, I will try to be more diligent this week.

One topic that has come up more and more this NFL season is the number of quarterback changes due to injury and poor play. What follows is a quick look, by division, at each team's quarterback picture six weeks into the season. (* indicates team has made a change)

NFC EAST
Dallas - Tony Romo has been excellent, with the exception of one game vs. Buffalo
NY Giants - Eli Manning is improving, particularly in his consistency
Philadelphia - Donovan McNabb appears slow, as if he's not fully recovered from knee surgery. But he is still an elite quarterback
Washington - Jason Campbell is improving and seems like he will give the Redskins very good quarterbacking for years to come

NFC NORTH
* Chicago - A mistake-prone Brian Griese has replaced a mistake-prone Rex Grossman
Detroit - Jon Kitna is taking a lot of hits, but he's also passing for a lot of yards for the surprising Lions
Green Bay - Brett Favre. Enough said.
* Minnesota - Tavaris Jackson-Kelly Holcombe-Tavaris Jackson. Not sure that it matters, and whoever stands under center has no one to pass to anyway.

NFC SOUTH
* Atlanta - Bryon Leftwich, who was cut by Jacksonville before the season, is replacing Joey Harrington, who was released by Miami after last season. Harrington replaced Michael Vick, who isn't even released to leave home
* Carolina - Vinny Testaverde has not cashed his most recent social security check because he replaced the injured David Carr, who replaced the injured Jake Delhomme
New Orleans - After a 0-4 start that included 1 TD pass and six picks, Saints fans probably were wishing Drew Brees had been replaced. Brees did show signs of life on Monday night as the Saints finally won.
Tampa Bay - Jeff Garcia has elevated the Bucs to playoff contender

NFC WEST
* Arizona - Tim Rattay has replaced the injured Kurt Warner, who replaced the injured Matt Leinart
* San Francisco - Trent Dilfer replaced the injured Alex Smith
Seattle - Matt Hasselbeck has been healthy, his receivers haven't been.
* St. Louis - Gus Frerotte has Rams fans wanting to bang their heads against an end zone wall after replacing the injured Marc Bulger

AFC EAST
* Buffalo - Trent Edwards replaced the injured JP Losman, and it appears the rookie is going to keep the job now even though Losman could play
* Miami - Cleo Lemon has replaced the concussed Trent Green for the winless Fins
New England - Tom Brady. Enough said.
NY Jets - Injury-prone Chad Pennington is the starter for now, but calls for Kellen Clemons are increasing

AFC NORTH
* Baltimore - Kyle Boller has replaced the injured Steve McNair. The two likely will alternate the rest of the season
Cincinnati - Carson Palmer is healthy again.
* Cleveland - Derek Anderson replaced Charlie Frye, who was so bad in Week 1 that he was traded. My question is what were Browns coaches watching during training camp?
Pittsburgh - Big Ben Roethlisberger is healthy, and the Steelers are rolling

AFC SOUTH
Houston - Think Atlanta wishes it hadn't traded Matt Schaub
Indianapolis - I think this Peyton Manning guy has a future in the league
Jacksonville - David Garrard IS an upgrade over Byron Leftwich. The Jags enjoy a big advantage in the turnover department
* Tennessee - Vince Young, who has a leg injury, might be replaced by Kerry Collins this week

AFC WEST
Denver - David Cutler has looked very uncomfortable in what could be a very long season in the Mile High City. At least the Rockies are in the Series
Kansas City - Damon Huard has held off Brodie Croyle. You're an NFL fanatic if you know what that means
* Oakland - Daunte Culpepper has replaced the injured Josh McCown, both of whom are keeping the seat warm for JaMarcus Russell
San Diego - Philip Rivers has looked a lot better once the Bolts started calling LaDainian Tomlinson's number more.

So 13 teams have different starting quarterbacks than they had at the start of the season, and there is the potential for a few more changes this week.