It’s time to move on from the Olympics and get back into what matters – football. We’ll find lots of different ways to look at things in the coming weeks, but to ease back into it lets take a quick survey of some of the interesting stories out there concerning the most over-watched and over-hyped position on the field – the quarterbacks. I’m interested in these stories partly because of the impact they could have on the field, and partly because the betting public will almost certainly overcompensate for the situations.

Chicago – The Bears made the surprising early decision to appoint Kyle Orton their starting QB over Rex Grossman. I think that that’s the right move, though I don’t get why they would have announced it now instead of waiting until after another preseason game or two. Regardless, the big thing to note here is that the Bears are in trouble. Orton is better than Grossman, but he’s a long way from good. A couple of years ago they showed that that can be overcome if the team is otherwise dominant, but that’s not the case this year, so it could be a long season in Soldier Field.

Buffalo – Trent Edwards is looking like a star. That doesn’t matter much given that it is the preseason, but it’s nice progress, and Edwards has been showing progress for two years. He has a system that he’ll be comfortable with now that his QB coach is his offensive coordinator, and he has the skills, and the team, to make a bit of noise. I’ll be very carefully watching watching this one – if he plays well then the team will be worth a bet, but if he isn’t clicking on all cylinders then the public might ride the hype too far and create opportunities on the other side.

Miami – I like that they picked up Chad Pennington, but I think that people are expecting too much from him. He’ll be better from the start than Chad Henne would be, but he’s still Chad Pennington, and he’s a long way from his peak. There seems to be a sentiment in the media that the combination of Parcells and Pennington will leap this team forward. I’m not buying it.

Cleveland – Derek Anderson suffered a concussion in the last game. If it is even a little serious then this could be Romeo Crennel’s worst nightmare. His way of managing the potential quarterback battle was to ignore it – leave Anderson in lace, and keep Brady Quinn out of sight. Now Quinn could get some valuable face time. If he plays well then Cleveland will have a situation on its hands, and it could get tense. That’s the last thing a team that is trying hard to make the playoffs needs to deal with.

Minnesota – This one scares me. The Vikings have the potential to be really good. All Tavaris Jackson has to do is not screw up. He’s having a heck of a time staying healthy, though. He has knee problems already, though, and those don’t tend to get better in a hurry. There’s no one else on the roster that I would rather have taking the snap than Jackson on the team, though, and they would suffer a setback if he is not ready. Again, the biggest challenge will be in balancing the challenge the situation presents with the reaction of the public.

The Jets – I just don’t care.