The count of fallen quarterbacks shook up three division leaders in the NFL's Week 11, turning backups in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Denver into main men.
On the most devastating day for quarterback injuries this season, the Steelers' Tommy Maddox suffered cerebral and spinal cord concussions, the Eagles' Donovan McNabb broke his right ankle, and the Broncos' Brian Griese sprained a ligament in his left knee on Sunday.
It appears Maddox and McNabb might be finished for the season, while Griese could miss from one to three weeks.
Although Maddox's injury was the most serious, the biggest playoff repercussions were felt in Philadelphia. The Steelers probably can survive the loss of Maddox because they play in the lukewarm AFC North and because they still have Kordell Stewart, who quarterbacked them to a 13-3 record a year ago.
The Eagles go from the dynamic McNabb to a fifth-year journeyman who has made six career starts and once lost a game in Green Bay after he gestured at Packers quarterback Brett Favre. Koy Detmer wasn't surprised to find Philadelphia near despair yesterday over his sudden promotion to starter.
"Donovan is a star in this league," Detmer said. "He's been a Pro Bowler and all those things. He's built this organization to where it is. I know that and everybody knows that. That's why the reaction was such."
Griese will be replaced this week at least by veteran Steve Beuerlein, 37, who has made 97 starts in his NFL career.
Certainly, the scariest injury of the season was the one that put Maddox face down in Tennessee. Hit cleanly by Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck on the last play of the third quarter, Maddox lay motionless while Steelers' medical personnel worked over him for 15 minutes.
Maddox reportedly had no feeling in his limbs for 45 minutes. Taken by ambulance to Nashville's Baptist Hospital, he eventually regained movement and was able to walk yesterday.
The Steelers won't speculate on Maddux's possible return.
"He's feeling much better, other than a headache," Anthony Yates, the team's physician, said during a news conference. "We're quite happy with his progress."
Dr. Andrew Tucker, the Ravens' team physician and a member of an NFL committee studying concussions, said concussion symptoms can vary in duration.
"It's not uncommon for a person who sustains this kind of injury to have symptoms for many hours or even days," said Tucker, who is also director of primary care sports medicine for the University of Maryland Medical Center. "It means they may have persistent numbness or tingling, or mild weakness in their arms or legs before it completely goes away.
"According to Dr. Yates, there appears to be no structural damage, which means recovery should be absolutely complete and Tommy won't have permanent effects from the injury."
Remarkably, McNabb played most of the game with a broken ankle and had his best day of the season against Arizona. Apparently, he refused to have X-rays at halftime and resisted coach Andy Reid's attempts to get him to come out. McNabb finally left the game with a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter in a 38-14 rout.
The Eagles initially announced the injury as a sprain, only to discover a nondisplaced fracture in X-rays later.
"On the sideline, he was smiling and joking," Reid said of McNabb. "He must have a tremendous pain threshold."
The Eagles (7-3) take a one-game NFC East lead over the New York Giants into a Monday night clash against San Francisco. They play four of their last six games on the road. While McNabb debates surgery against letting the bone heal naturally, Reid is not counting on his quarterback's return.
"I'm looking at it ... that we don't have Donovan for the season and we move on," Reid said. "We have full trust in what Koy's going to do."
The Broncos share first place with San Diego in the AFC West, and the teams meet on Dec. 1.