Having a good to great quarterback hides a lot of a team’s warts.
Take Andy Reid for example.
He didn’t win a Super Bowl as until his 21st season in the NFL as a head coach when Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV.
There were high expectations for the Pitt Panthers this season after winning their first ACC Championship, but without Heisman Trophy finalist Kenny Pickett (now with the Steelers) the Panthers are 4-3 and struggling, losing to teams they should be beating.
Now, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and New England Patriots head Coach Bill Belichick might be learning what it’s like to be without a franchise quarterback.
Overall, Tomlin has a 156-90 record, but when Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t play he’s 19-20-1.
In New England, Belichick is 257-103 overall, but when he’s without Tom Brady his record is 38-39.
Pickett is still very early on in his career, so it’s not known how he’ll turn out, but let’s hope it’s into at least a good quarterback because as Cook & Joe producer Matt Koll says, “I’d say that QB position is pretty important.”