When examining the quarterback situation for any team in the NFL several things need to be considered. First, and most obvious, you look at how good the starting quarterback is. A team with an all-pro quarterback has a serious advantage. However, this is the NFL and, to borrow a phrase from Jerry Glanville, that can stand for Not For Long for many QBs. So, that takes us to the second criteria for a team with the best quarterback situation and that is the team's depth. Just like the Vice President of the U.S. is one heartbeat away from the Presidency, a backup quarterback is only one injury away from taking over the team for the rest of the season. So, it is important to note if a team is one play away from losing their whole season (see: AZ Cardinals). Finally, how dependent is a team on their quarterback to win games for them? In other words, does the team depend on their quarterback to run the offense and consistently make great plays to give them the chance to win or is the QB a caretaker that just needs to manage the offense and not make any mistakes that give away the game (I.e. Baltimore Ravens). So, with this all being said, which team has the worst QB troubles? Read on . . .

Green Bay, Indianapolis and New England all have All-Pro quarterbacks and all 3 rely heavily on their QBs to win games for them. These teams also have no proven backups for their star QBs and are one serious injury away from their offense becoming very ordinary. That having been said, these 3 quarterbacks never get hurt so all 3 ballclubs can rest easy knowing their guys are going to start the next game, and the next and the next . . .

Another category of teams is those who have a high quality starter who will win games for them, but don't rely on him to do so. Basically, if the quarterback doesn't throw interceptions, completes the passes he should and let's the running game work, the team is confident their defense will deliver the win. Best example of such a team would be the Steelers. Big Ben is a good QB but he does not have to win every game for his team even though he is a significant contributor to their offense. Other teams that fall in this category are San Diego, Kansas City (when LJ hits his stride) and the NY (football) Giants. None of these teams rely on their quarterback to win every game for them even if sometimes that is exactly what they will do.

Then there are the teams who do not have any current All-Pro quarterbacks on their roster but they have decent quarterbacks with quality back-ups. Teams that fall into this category would be ones like the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders can start either McCown or Culpepper and feel confident that their offense is in good hands. If both of these quarterbacks go down they still have their first-round draft pick, Jamarcus Russell. Other teams would be the Arizona Cardinals, the Falcons and Carolina Panthers. Not that these teams have an embarrassment of riches at QB, but they don't suffer a significant drop off in talent when their backups come into the game.

Other teams have good, even great, starting quarterbacks with no one to back them up; and those starters are fragile. Cincinnati is a perfect example of this. Carson Palmer is an All-Pro quality QB that is the key to the Bengals success on offense. However, he has suffered injuries in his career and who do they have backing him up? Ryan Fitzpatrick from Harvard or a rookie, Jeff Rowe from Nevada. Let's just say that the Bengals cannot afford to have Palmer injured. The Cowboys only carry two QBs on their roster and 38 year old Brad Johnson is Tony Romo's backup. Denver also only carries 2 QBs and they have Patrick Ramsey (a bust in DC) backing up Jay Cutler. These teams are one injury away from potential disaster. But that hasn't happened yet, so they don't qualify as having the most trouble at QB.

So, which NFL team has the worst quarterback situation in the league? It has to be the Miami Dolphins. The mistakes made by Miami's front office in the off season have led to the current disaster that they have at quarterback. In the off season the Dolphins gave up on Daunte Culpepper after he tried to come back to soon from a serious knee injury. Miami found out that this was a mistake when the Raiders came into their house and Culpepper was responsible for 5 touchdowns (2 rushing) in an Oakland win over Miami. In addition to spurning Culpepper, Miami let Joey Harrington go to the Atlanta Falcons. Harrington, though not great, was better than average for the Dolphins last year when he was thrust into the starting position. This year he is playing well for the Falcons although they aren't winning many games. So, who did the Dolphins acquire to lead their team? The Dolphins got 37 year old Trent Green who was coming off of a serious concussion injury. Green has been a huge disappointment this year and now has suffered another concussion that might end his season. But that is okay, because the Dolphins have a proven backup, right? No, not really. But the Dolphins' front office must have been really busy doing something other than letting two quarterbacks go that are now starting for other teams, right? No, not really. The two backups for Trent Green are Cleo Lemon and John Beck. Cleo Lemon is in his 4th year out of Arkansas State and has attempted exactly 95 passes in his NFL career. His career passer rating is 71.5 and he has thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns-2. John Beck is a rookie out of BYU, a college known for producing good quarterbacks. But Beck is a rookie and despite a good college career is not going to lead Miami to the playoffs. In short, Miami has no one. Some teams might still be able to be competitive in such a situation (see 2005 Bears with Kyle Orton), but not the Dolphins. The 2005 Bears were able to turn their offense over to Orton who played mostly mistake free football and make the playoffs. Their defense was the difference. The Dolphins are not in the same position. They need production out of the quarterback position and are not likely to get it any time soon. There it is. Miami fans are likely to suffer through one of the worst seasons in club history and their number one concern has to be at quarterback.