In upward spiral, 60 QBs start NFL games in 2007

The NFL's starting-quarterback carousel continued to spin at a dizzying pace Monday night when Chicago's Kyle Orton became the 60th signal-caller to start a game this season.

The number of starters through Week15 is up 20% from last year's full-season total of 50 and marks the most starting quarterbacks used league-wide since the NFL expanded to 32 teams in 2002.

Why the rotation under center? A rash of injuries and ineffectiveness have forced teams to abandon their incumbents and switch to backup plans.

"We're going through a transition in football," former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann said. "Thirty-two teams has diluted the talent at the position."

But a replenishment will come, he said, as more backups gain experience and confidence and then win starting jobs.

In the meantime, a quarterback change often has negative consequences.

"It has a terrible effect on the confidence of a football team," Theismann said.

This past weekend, three other quarterbacks joined the list of starters because of injuries, including Carolina rookie Matt Moore, the team's fourth starter, Washington's Todd Collins, who hadn't started a game in a decade and San Francisco's Shaun ... // 50% Remaining