NFL MONDAY QB returned to CBS Sports Network tonight, Monday, Sept. 17, to recap Week 2 of the NFL season. The episode featured an interview with Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, who talked to Phil Simms about his team’s win over the Chicago Bears, and the play of quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Led by Simms, THE NFL ON CBS lead analyst and Super Bowl XXI MVP; Super Bowl XXXVII quarterback and 2002 NFL MVP, Rich Gannon; and 17-year veteran and 1999 NFL All Pro quarterback, Steve Beuerlein, NFL MONDAY QB brings together an elite roster of quarterbacks providing their unique and compelling opinions, and break-down of the week’s games focusing on how quarterback play impacted the games, key plays, clutch drives, crucial decisions, star performances, winning and losing efforts and much more. 

CBS Sports Network Coordinating Producer Drew Kaliski produces. Steve Karasik and Tyler Hale serve as Executive Producers of NFL MONDAY QB.

Following are excerpts from the show:

(ON END TO GIANTS-BUCCANEERS GAME):

Phil Simms: It doesn’t bother me. I was in a lot of those kneel-downs at the end of the game. And we would always say, ‘We’re kneeling on it.’ And the defense told us, ‘yes or no.’ Sometimes they’d say, ‘We’re coming.’ So I’d take that snap and get my rear end back there. And the offensive line would block it differently. I had heard there was talk that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers said, ‘We’re coming.’ So if they warn you and don’t catch you by surprise, I have no problem with it.

(ON ANDREW LUCK):

Rich Gannon: I think he’s about as ready as any quarterback that’s come out of a college. You think about the experience he had with Jim Harbaugh out there, the experience he had with David Shaw, both NFL coaches. You look at him physically, you look at him mentally, you look at the things he was asked to do in that offense at Stanford with all the check-with-me’s and changes in protections. I’m really impressed with this guy.

Steve Beuerlein: What I’m excited about is that we all sit here, we see what we see on TV. He’s making plays. He’s got the presence. He can play right now. But we all agree, he’s going to get better. He’s going to continue to get better. That would make me pretty excited if I’m a Colts fan.

(ON ALEX SMITH):

Beuerlein: He has won me over. I’m a believer. He’s gone 216 passes in a row without an interception. That’s a huge stat right there. He showed toughness and then clutch throws down the stretch during that game-sealing drive. I thought it was an awesome performance by him last night.

Simms: I would play well too if I played for the 49ers. Would you want to go into a room and have to look at Jim Harbaugh and look at those eyes and have him stare you down and want to fight you if you didn’t play well? Alex Smith has grown into a man. Of course he’s being taught well, but he’s just gotten physically stronger. When you look at his first three or four years, I didn’t think he was strong enough to be an every week starting quarterback. He is now.

Gannon: He’s finally getting coached. He’s finally in a system that makes sense to him. He’s got someone around him that believes in him. Do you know how important that is? A quarterback coach, an offensive coordinator that says, ‘You’re my guy. I’m not taking you out of the game.’ He has that in Jim Harbaugh.

(ON BEN ROETHLISBERGER):

Simms: I want to teach the NFL coaches. Do yourself a favor, don’t blitz Ben Roethlisberger. Again yesterday, the Jets blitzed him four times. They have three runners, so in other words, nobody is blocking the blitzer. He avoids the blitzer, throws the football down the field and completed all four passes for one touchdown and big yards. The big man can throw in rhythm and Todd Haley is doing a good job of moving him around and giving him some new opportunity.

(ON SAM BRADFORD):

Simms: It was like watching a video game as the football was going through the air. Everything was accurate. Can you believe there were people stupid enough to say, ‘Should the St. Louis Rams draft another quarterback?’

(ON ELI MANNING):

Gannon: Isn’t this Eli Manning in a nut shell? Not always perfect and it may not necessarily look pretty. But he really found a way to come on at the end. Outstanding when it mattered the most. And that’s really Eli Manning.

(ON THE HOUSTON TEXANS):

Beuerlein: Everybody talks about all of the great receivers in the NFL, for some reason Andre Johnson is not talked about as much as he should be. There aren’t many guys I’d take over him. He’s one of the top-two or -three in the league. He’s still making plays, he’s healthy… The 49ers and Texans are the top-two teams in the league.

Simms: There’s a great lesson to be learned down in Houston. Don’t be so quick to fire that coach. Rick Smith kept Gary Kubiak, even though it was kind of on the edge there. And how do they reward him? The team keeps building. The Houston Texans have something a lot of teams in the NFL don’t have. They have depth. So when somebody gets hurt, besides the quarterback, the season is not over. They have speed. They have depth. They have size. And they have the best play caller in the NFL and that’s Gary Kubiak.

(ON MICHAEL VICK):

Gannon: He’s been careless with the football and that really bothers me. Six interceptions and three fumbles in the first two games.You can’t play the game that way and expect to win. He’s an exciting player. I love to watch him run around and make plays. But he’s another guy who doesn’t take care of himself, takes unnecessary hits. It’s going to catch up with Michael Vick.

Beuerlein: Sure, he’s not playing very well. But they’re 2-0 right now. They beat a pretty good Baltimore team yesterday. He admits that he’s got to get better. He knows he’s making mistakes. He knows he can’t keep playing like that. This is a very good football team. If he can get his game under control, they have a chance to go a long way.

Simms: I think he’s going to be okay. It’s easier to pull back than to try to push guys forward. He has so much talent, there’s nothing on the field he can’t throw. That arm is tremendous. It is flexible. He can make every throw and do it with ease. So it’s going to be easier to pull him back instead of trying to design plays for him to make down the field.

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