Quarterback Obituary: Chad Pennington, Scapegoat

by Dan Lewis

At long last, the Chad Pennington era is over in New York. Rocket-armed Kellen Clemens will start next week, and, barring injury or catastrophe, forevermore.

With the Jets at 1-7, it's sexy to blame Pennington for the team's failures, but such finger-pointing borders on the moronic. For example, here are three teams that would have potentially won this week had Pennington started at QB.

• Jacksonville 24, Tampa Bay 23: With Quinn Gray, Medicine Woman putting up a less-than-stellar 7-for-16, 100 yard, 1 TD day (plus one lost-and-recovered fumble), it's hard to argue that the QB was anything more than a caretaker -- and a poor one at that.

• Same Game: On the the flip side of that game is Jeff Garcia. The Bucs managed to make it competitive in spite of his 19-for-47 (!) game and three interceptions.

• Giants 13, Miami 10: Eli went 8-for-22 for 59 yards. Yes, that's not a typo -- 59 yards. The rain-soaked game mandated a conservative, ground-first and short-pass game, and the Giants (unlike their tenants) were able to adapt.

What's interesting about all three of those teams? They all have winning records. Sure, it's unlikely that the Giants would be as good if you plug in Pennington over Eli, but they'd probably be 4-4 at worst.

Here's another interesting Pennington stat: Of the seven games he started, he beat the other team's QB in passing yards in three. He out-passed Eli and Carson Palmer in relatively close games.

One more? Thus far in 2007, Clemens is 29-for-59 for 362 yards, 1 touchdown, and 4 (!) interceptions. And oh, he's been sacked five times. Pro-rate that over Pennington's 190 passes:

• Completions: 93 for Kellen, 120 for Chad
• Yards: 1,165 for Kellen, 1,317 for Chad
• Touchdowns: 3 for Kellen, 9 for Chad
• Interceptions: 13 for Kellen, 7 for Chad
• Sacks: 16 for Kellen, 15 for Chad

Good luck with that, Jets fans.

Anonymous Fanatic #1

768 days ago

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Very interesting.

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DonatevoMajor Leaguer

768 days ago

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Me again, not logged in.

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MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

768 days ago

Score -3

C'mon Dan. How can you pro-rate Clemens stats? He played a game against one of the best defenses in the league and 3 minutes in junk time where he was passing every down and one of his interceptions was a desperation heave at the end of the game.

As for Pennington, I have long been a supporter. And I agree, he could be sucessful for certain teams in the same way that Trent Dilfer was. If you have a running game and defense that can win games for you, you can live with a QB who rarely throws the ball more than 10 yards and won't turn the ball over. However, that does not make Chad Pennington a good QB.

The last few games have underscored the problems that have and will continue to plague him. 1) He can't conplete a pass to a downfield receiver

2) His balls take so long to get to the WR that he gets his receiver's killed like he did to Coles yesterday.

3) his throws take so long to get to the receiver that the defense back can take away the long pass by playing back 5 to 7 steps and still have time to recover to jump the route and take the play back for 6.

4) Because his balls take so long to get to the receiver they have to run either short routes or routes where they come back toward the QB limited the WR's opportunity for yards after the catch.

5) Because his passes take so long to get to WRs and cornerbacks can recover very quickly if beaten, WRs have to be very very open before Pennington will throw the ball to them.

6) Because of all of the above it is very easy to eliminate the WRs from the game forcing the Jets offense to consist of running plans and checkdown passes to the RB.

7) While he is generally smart in the pocket he lacks mobility and is almost never a threat to avoid a sack and gain positive yards.

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DNLLegend

768 days ago

Score 0

I don't think Clemens will be better, and that's really all I'm saying. Pennington -- He's a caretaker QB. That was obvious two years ago. He doesn't have arm strength and he can't hit a WR who can't get great separation, but he should be able to throw timing patterns to slot receivers and TEs. Let him run a dink and dunk offense on a team with a running game and an offensive line, and he'll be servicable. Put that offense -- which, by the way, is cheap -- on a team with a great defense and you're going to the playoffs. The Jets have many, many questions, and this one isn't one of them. Pennington is a known commodity who was set up to fail on this team.

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MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

768 days ago

Score -3

Ok. Clemens is not a caretaker QB. He is a gunslinger with a strong arm who some said was the going to be the best QB of the draft. The Jets have some tools on offense. Coles and Cotchery are a pretty darn good tandem, Baker is more than servicable TE and Jones and Washington are a good 1/2 punch. The o-line has been shaky. I think this offense has the potential to score and to have a good passing game. The problem with Pennington was that more often than not, to score a TD it had to be a 10-15 play drive. that just doesn't happen enough. The Jets pick up more than 10 yards a play a game maybe 2 or 3 times, more than 15 yards once a game if lucky. Thats because the QB can't throw a simple 15 yard out because he doesn't have the arm strength to get the ball in there. In terms of team management, lets say you are right and Chad is a caretaker QB. The Jets don't have the team to win with an offense built around a caretaker QB. Their o-line is not good enough, and their defense is nowhere near good enough. Thus, CP can't be seen as the QB of the future. With that in mind, you have to take a look and see what you have in this Clemens kid because if he isn't the real deal, you have to cut your losses with both guys and go after a QB with your early pick in the draft.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

768 days ago

Score 0

It's also moronic to say Pennington era is over. Wasn't the Phil Simms era over when Hostetler took the reigns? Barring injury? Have you looked around the NFL lately.

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MetsJetsDevilsDraft Pick

768 days ago

Score -1

I don't think it is moronic at all. Whether Pennington QBs again for the Jets this year, the Pennington ERA is over. He is not the QB the team thinks will lead it to the promised land.

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False ProphetAll-Star

767 days ago

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If the Jets don't want Pennington, I'm sure the Vikings will take him. In fact, I'd say that if you put Pennington at QB for Minny, and gave them a slot WR, they'd be a legitimate playoff team in the NFC. The Oline is solid. The D is good when they don't have to play 3/4 of the game, and AP is a legitimate threat when he isn't the only weapon they have

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Anonymous Fanatic #3

761 days ago

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Before todays game - Chad Pennington was ranked the number 15 quarter back in the league.

Scape goat is not a strong enough word. Sacrificial Lamb is more like it.

Chad most probably will play again this season as the offensive line is likely to allow to 4-5 sacks a game. Clemens will get hurt and Chad will play.

There are so many teams in this league that would Jump at the number 15 ranked quarterback. Clememns has some damn big shoes to fill........

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