A Tale of Two Quarterbacks

LaDainian Tomlinson, the San Diego Chargers’ running back, was asked on Tuesday what he expected to see in the postseason from Drew Brees, the young quarterback who will lead the Chargers’ offense against the Jets in Saturday night’s AFC wild-card playoff game.“I think Drew will be fine,” Tomlinson said. “I don’t think there will be anything he has to worry about. It’s the ultimate game, and he has been looking forward to it. That’s his mindset. That’s Drew Brees. He is just a winner, that’s it.”Tomlinson and the Chargers have every reason to believe that of Brees. After a shaky start, the second-year pro rallied his team to the kind of comeback that would be the talk of the NFL if Ben Rothlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t exist.But not many of the Jets feel the same way about Chad Pennington, who not long ago was considered by many to be the second coming of Joe Montana, but now is feared to have more in common with Joe Pisarcik.Certainly, Pennington’s record in “big'” games is not much encouragement – in the eight meaningful games Pennington has started in his three-year career as a first-string quarterback, the Jets have gone 3-5. Nor is the apparent crankiness of his right shoulder, which forced him to turn the job over to Quincy Carter for three games in the middle of the season.The numbers since his return – 7 TD passes, 6 interceptions in five games – haven’t been Chad-like nor have the results, with the Jets losing three of the five. But all of that is less troublesome than what seems to be going on behind the scenes, and in at least one infamous incident, in full view of live television cameras.Is it possible that Pennington, who burst onto the Jets scene in an explosion of helmet-bumping, chest thumping enthusiasm, has lost the confidence of some of his teammates? As his statistics skew toward mediocrity, has Pennington’s gung-ho act begun to wear thin? Jets management may have committed to him with a seven-year, $64 million contract, but do the rank-and-file still believe that Pennington gives them their best chance to someday win a Super Bowl?The answers to those questions, of course, will never be addressed in any serious fashion by the Jets. The team takes its lead from a head coach who on Tuesday waved a form letter from NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue officially confirming the Jets playoff berth with the glee of someone who just won the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.But if you have been paying attention, there has been more than enough evidence that among some of the Jets, Pennington has become a hanging Chad, his status as one of the league’s elite quarterback’s about as solid as the four aching tendons that make up his right rotator cuff.Earlier in the season, there was a stunningly candid tirade by backup running back Lamont Jordan bemoaning the ineffectiveness of the Jets offense. Since Curtis Martin was in the midst of a career season, the offensive line was playing well, and all of the Jets receivers were healthy, Jordan’s words could only have been directed at offensive coordinator Paul Hackett or Pennington.Then came the remarkable sideline exchange last Sunday between Pennington and Kevin Mawae, the Jets All-Pro center, after a fourth quarter three-and-out in which Pennington threw three incomplete passes during a possession that lasted all of 22 seconds.Although no sound could be heard, TV cameras clearly showed Pennington approaching Mawae, and Mawae angrily shooing him away. You didn’t need a degree in lip-reading to realize Mawae had told Pennington, “Get out of my face,” or words to that effect.Whether or not you buy into the Jets’ second-day spinning – it was a “heat of the moment” type thing, Pennington said – it was hard to imagine a true leader at quarterback, a Brett Favre or a Dan Marino, a Joe Namath, a Joe Montana, or even a Joe Pisarcik, being treated with such blatant disrespect by a teammate, especially one on the same unit.“Chad wanted to come over and say something, and we didn’t need to hear what he needed to say,” Mawae explained.That was supposed to defuse the situation. It only made it sound worse.The truth is, the Jets are committed to Pennington, whether they like it or not. And so far, ever since his stirring 12-game run in which he appeared to be the savior of a previously hopeless franchise, Pennington’s career has been one big unkept promise.There have been disabling injuries to the wrist and shoulder. There have been big games against weak teams, and big failures against strong ones.Pennington had a great game against the Indianapolis Colts in the 2002 playoffs, and followed it with a horrendous one against the Oakland Raiders.Since then, there have been three consecutive flameouts against the Patriots (including a five-pick day last December), another flop against the Steelers, and failure last week against the Rams in a game the Jets may not have needed, but sure did want.On Saturday, they return to the scene of one of their few impressive victories this year, a 34-28 win over the Chargers in Week 2, when Pennington looked every inch a winner and Brees looked anything but.Four months later, the fortunes of both teams, and both quarterbacks, have reversed. The Chargers have won nine of their last 10, and one of Brees’s most important teammates considers him a winner. The Jets have lost three of their last four and one of Pennington’s most important teammates scolds him like a little boy.On Saturday, Kevin Mawae will be snapping the football to Chad Pennington. But you’ve got to wonder how much confidence Mawae, or the rest of the Jets, still have in Pennington’s ability to do anything meaningful with it.Mr.Matthews is the host of the “Wally and the Keeg” sports talk show heard Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on 1050 ESPN radio.

A Tale of Two Quarterbacks

A Tale of Two Quarterbacks

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