For all but the first three snaps last Sunday afternoon, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb gimped around Veterans Stadium on a fractured right ankle, eluding the Arizona Cardinals pass rush and his team's X-ray technician with equal deftness.

In good hands

Some playoff contenders have already been forced to find out this season just how effective their backup quarterbacks are, and other hopefuls likely hold their breath every week, hoping the starter doesn't go down with an injury. Here is a thumbnail look at how well-prepared some playoff contenders are to deal with an injury to their starting quarterback: Bulger St. Louis: No one would have guessed six weeks ago it would be the untested Marc Bulger, not veteran Jamie Martin, riding to the rescue when starter Kurt Warner broke his right pinkie finger. But the inexperienced Bulger played so well, the debate is raging in St. Louis on whether Warner should take back his job, and maybe destroy current chemistry. But if something happens to Warner, the Rams know they have a guy who can do the job. Pittsburgh: Love him or hate him, Kordell Stewart did take the Steelers to the AFC championship game last season. And he looked very sharp Sunday in replacing the injured Tommy Maddox, orchestrating two scoring drives in eight minutes. Plus there's always Charlie Batch on hand as well. Tennessee: The well-traveled veteran Neil O'Donnell hasn't played much lately but, should Steve McNair ever get knocked out of a game, "OD" still has enough smarts to operate the offense productively. He's a pretty nice safety net, that's for sure, a veteran who gets the ball to the open man, at the right time, and takes good care of the football. Philadelphia: It's difficult to evaluate Koy Detmer before he even takes his first snap as the new starter. The former Colorado star certainly will be more a "complementary type" quarterback than was Donovan McNabb, and coach Andy Reid will probably rely more on a suddenly resurgent ground game. But opposing defenses are going to force Detmer to make plays, to dare him to win games with his arm, and he'll have to respond. Detmer hasn't started a regular-season game since Dec. 19, 1999, when he threw three touchdown passes in an overtime win against New England. Opinions are mixed, but there are some league personnel people who feel that, with the Eagles defense, Detmer will put up enough points to win most games. Tampa Bay: If anything happens to Brad Johnson, the Bucs have a guy on hand with playoff experience, and solid playmaking skills. No, we're not talking about Rob Johnson, but rather Shaun King, who is moving up in the eyes of coach Jon Gruden. San Diego: We've never been big on Doug Flutie, pardon the pun, but if second-year veteran Drew Brees was ever injured, the Chargers would be in good hands. Denver: If this was two or three years ago, before surgeons started using Steve Beuerlein for suturing practice, there is no doubt the Broncos would be higher on the list. Remember, Beuerlein threw for a ton of yards with the Carolina Panthers in 1999-2000, before injuries became a concern. He might not be able to break a pane of glass with his best fastball now. But the talent the Broncos possess, combined with Beuerlein's guile, should be enough to hold down the fort until Brian Griese returns. Miami: The surprise was that, after an excellent preseason, Ray Lucas did not play well in his first two outings replacing Jay Fiedler. The former New York Jets backup improved last Sunday but, on an overall basis, his stint has only reinforced Fiedler's importance in the minds of Dolphins staffers. Atlanta: Third-year pro Doug Johnson beat the New York Giants earlier this season when Michael Vick was nursing a shoulder injury. There are people in the league who really like Johnson's arm strength, poise and ability to move the team. Given that Vick puts himself in harm's way about three or four times every outing, Johnson could yet be a factor in the stretch run to the playoffs. Green Bay: Journeyman passer Doug Pederson did a nice job replacing Brett Favre on Oct. 20 but it's hard to fathom the Packers competing well over an extended period if they lose their star. The psychological trauma alone might be enough to send Green Bay, which demonstrated last week it isn't as dominant as people felt, into a tailspin. The Bay Area: The Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers must light votive candles every week praying for the continued health of starters Rich Gannon and Jeff Garcia. The departed Jon Gruden staff really liked young Marques Tuiasosopo in Oakland, but the kid hasn't played, and retread Rick Mirer isn't going to win you any games. Niners backup Tim Rattay puts up nice numbers in preseason but is untested in the regular season. -- Len Pasquarelli

Just 24 hours later St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger, the knuckle of his right index finger so bruised and swollen that after the game he shook hands with a reporter using his left hand, took two painkiller injections rather than exit the contest. Last month Cleveland Browns backup Kelly Holcomb, on a broken leg, finished the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens instead of surrendering to the pain.

Over the past few weeks, Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair typically has spent much of his preparation time in a walking boot to protect foot and toe injuries. Two weeks ago, Jake Plummer of Arizona could barely lift his arm to shave, but stayed in the starting lineup. The incredible consecutive starts streak of Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre rolls on despite a partially torn ligament in his left knee.

In a season of seemingly unparalleled turnover at the game's most high-profile position, and with the quarterback merry-round spinning wildly out of control, no one wants to give up their spot on the wooden horse.

Then again, of late, some quarterbacks haven't had a choice.

"You go out there every week pretty much knowing you are the target," said New Orleans quarterback Aaron Brooks. "You're the guy that every defender wants to get a hit on, you know? You're in the (crosshairs). And sometimes, especially this year, they score a bull's eye."

The injury problem at quarterback was dramatically magnified last Sunday because three viable Super Bowl contenders saw their starters go down with serious injuries -- McNabb, Tommy Maddox of Pittsburgh and Denver's Brian Griese -- but even before Week 11 on the schedule it seemed like open season on passers.

What the events of last weekend did, probably, was cast a brighter spotlight on the 2002 injury toll.

By the time this weekend's games are concluded, there will have been 53 different starting quarterbacks leaguewide (assuming no one trips over his dog before then), more than the total for all of the 2001 season. There has been an incredible 12 quarterback switches that were not infirmary related, double the 2001 total, but most of the changes in 2002 have been because of injury and not ineptitude.

This has been a compelling season in which some coaches have brought out the big hook and other teams have survived big scares. No incident to date has been more frightening than the injury to Maddox, diagnosed Monday as a concussion and a spinal contusion, but one that had players from both the Pittsburgh and Tennessee rosters quietly praying as the veteran passer lay unconscious Sunday for five minutes.

The long-term prognosis for Maddox, who earlier in the season wrested the starter's job from Kordell Stewart, is good from a general standpoint. Whether he plays again this season, or ever, remains to be seen. The football reality for the Steelers, in most pragmatic terms, is that they must now rely on the quarterback coach Bill Cowher benched earlier in the season.

It is a situation fraught with irony, but one that seems to fit into this season, with all the twists around the NFL at the quarterback position. By unofficial count, there have been 34 incidents in 2002 in which quarterbacks have had to leave the field for at least one series because of an injury.

In this Year of Living Dangerously, only 15 franchises have had the same starter in every contest, and four teams have been forced to employ three different starters each. Somehow only one starting-caliber quarterback, Trent Dilfer of Seattle, has been placed on the injured reserve list during the season. But the insurance premiums at the position must be rising quickly.

And given the carnage of last weekend, the stakes are rising as well, since there is now an unhealthy dose of uncertainty among some contenders. The playoff chase is now morphing into a sort of Quarterback Darwinism, where survival is tied to the fitness of some teams' backup quarterbacks, and where reserve passers must evolve under the pressure of the stretch run.

There are currently 10 teams either in first place in their division, or tied for the lead, and by the time the Week 12 schedule is concluded only half of the group will have had the same starting quarterback in every outing.

"More than ever, it's apparent you need a solid backup, that you can't plan on getting through a season with one guy," said St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz, who has the luxury of turning his team's fortunes back over to two-time most valuable player Kurt Warner. "If this year doesn't reinforce that, then nothing will, I guess."

One quarterbacks coach, however, estimated that "more than half the clubs" in the league were still deficient at backup quarterback. "Teams are one snap away from disaster, they know it, and they still ignore (the backup) position too often," he opined.

Few teams have the kind of depth the Rams have proven to possess, though not even Martz could have predicted Bulger's prodigious numbers when the youngster took over for Warner, and injured backup Jamie Martin. But it is incumbent now on backups like Koy Detmer (Philadelphia), Steve Beuerlein (Denver) and Ray Lucas (Miami) to either hold the status quo or lead their team into postseason play.

Until last Sunday afternoon, Beuerlein hadn't registered a pass attempt in a regular season game since December of 2000, and spent all last year on the injured reserve list with a balky right elbow. Detmer now figures to log as many starts this year, six, as he had in his previous five seasons combined. Lucas posted a 6-3 record with the New York Jets in 2000 but is just 1-2 this year after replacing Jay Fiedler.

All of the backups will be scrutinized even more closely in 2002, perhaps, because the injuries have stricken so many contenders. It matters little, for instance, that Cincinnati has used three different starters or that Washington coach Steve Spurrier changes quarterbacks like he changes socks. Neither of those clubs are playoff contenders.

But when a team like the Eagles or the Broncos lose their starter, that is big news, indeed. And the loss has a huge psychological impact in a franchise's locker room, where psyches are fragile enough, and players are wound tight because of close divisional races.

"Your main guy goes down," said Pittsburgh wide receiver Plaxico Burress, "and, sure, it's a blow. Even if you've got a qualified guy like we do here in Kordell, it still hits you hard, because there are adjustments."

	“	More than ever, it's apparent you need a solid backup, that you can't plan on getting through a season with one guy. If this year doesn't reinforce that, then nothing will, I guess. ”
		— Mike Martz, Rams head coach

There is no denying the spate of injuries at the position has cast a mushroom cloud of uncertainty over the playoff viability of some teams. And perhaps no team better mirrors that than Philadelphia, a franchise that many pundits felt would represent the NFC in this year's Super Bowl, but which must rely on a player who had attempted a combined 15 passes the last three seasons.

Hardly the playmaker that McNabb is, Detmer has exuded confidence, but also conceded he will rely more on the guys around him. The Eagles coaches and players have said all the right things, and Detmer may well do most of the right things on Monday, but the fact remains that Philadelphia has not played as well as people felt they would in 2002 and now owns just a skinny one-game lead over the resurgent New York Giants.

Over the past two days, ESPN.com surveyed 11 coaches, general managers and owners and the consensus was that the Eagles were the team that might be most severely affected by a quarterback injury. That was not, the group collectively suggested, a commentary on Detmer but on the importance of McNabb to an offense that has struggled at times.

"Of the teams that suffered injuries (last weekend) ... well, Beuerlein and Stewart have been there before," said one AFC general manager. "Detmer is going to be under a lot of pressure. Then again, the quarterback position in general has been under attack all season. They quarterbacks have certainly been on the firing line."

And the teams left standing at the end of the year might be those franchises whose quarterbacks most successfully dodged the bullets.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.