Cardinals Fans, Media Need to Drop Luck Fixation
By Scott Allen
For once and for all – STOP! Stope the fixation on the possibility of the Arizona Cardinals drafting Andrew Luck. It. Is. Not. Happening. Period. I’m sick of people giving up so easily. After last season, I would think there would be a little more patience in realizing the Super Bowl isn’t in the franchise’s near future. Yes, Kevin Kolb has not played the way many people thought he would. However, that being said, it has been seven weeks. He has played seven games. Everyone is so quick to try something else. I can tell you first, in order to get Luck, you are going to have to have the worst record. The Cards won’t finish with the worst record and nor should they try for the worst record. That’s just assinine. Stupid to even suggest it.
Let’s take a look at comparison’s from last year. Derek Anderson had seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a quarterback rating 65.9. Kevin Kolb has eight touchdowns and eight interceptions and a QB rating of 77.8. The completion percentage from Kolb is better than Anderson, 51 percent versus 56 percent. Not that much better, but better nonetheless. Look, it is hard to find that franchise quarterback in this league. There is no guarantee Luck is that guy.
The Luck hype is a little overrated. He’s good, no doubt. Would love to have him. At what expense though? Right now, Kolb is the guy, like it or not. He’s NOT getting traded. He’s NOT getting benched. Now, he might not be just handed the keys to the job next season and could be in a battle for the starting job. Fact is, Kolb is being paid a lot of money. Fact is, he IS better than Derek Anderson. Right now, Kolb is better than Josh Freeman. He is better than Sam Bradford. It is fact. Look at the numbers. No one is calling for their quarterbacks to be traded or benched in Tampa Bay or St. Louis. The reason people are calling for it in Arizona is because of who surrounds the quarterback. Fair or not, it’s the truth. So people automatically blame the whole thing on the quarterback.
Look at the Indianapolis Colts. People are blaming the 0-9 start on the absence of Peyton Manning. Well, sure it is part of the problem. You can’t lose a Peyton Manning and not have it affect the football team. However, he doesn’t play defense. He doesn’t pick the personnel. There are a lot of reasons the Colts are 0-9. However, it is human to blame it on one thing – the quarterback position.
Everyone is so quick to blame one thing instead of looking at the big picture because people are lazy. I know it. I get lazy from time to time. People choose not to read into the details. They only see what they want to see at the surface of a problem. Right now, we are all sick of losing. We were just getting used to winning after making the Super Bowl in February 2009. I get it. I’m just as passionate as the next guy. I want to win now too. You also have to be realistic though. There is no “magic” button. Could Andrew Luck be the answer? Sure, but I wouldn’t go betting the farm on it. So, let’s just deal with the Cards we’ve been dealt, pardon the pun, and see how the cookie crumbles once January 2nd rolls around. Then, we can all start thinking about what the Cards can and should do looking ahead to 2012. Until then, get your rears in support of Kolb and do it now. He’s your guy, like it or not.
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