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• Your Rankings: What's the pecking order for all 32 starting quarterbacks?
• Chat: Gary Horton breaks down Week 11, 4 ET | NFL analyst Drew Bennett, 12 ET
• Vote: What's your take on other action from Week 11?

Well, don't all those people who mocked the Lions and the Browns feel foolish.

One of the great things about sports is a game like (very few) of us saw Sunday. If Ashlee Simpson and a Jonas sibling to be named later write a duet, you know it will have all the musical significance of a mouse belching. But put the Lions and the Browns on the same field and you can occasionally end up with a classic like the one that saw Matthew Stafford throw a touchdown on an untimed down to give the Lions a 38-37 win.

Stafford threw for 422 yards and became the youngest quarterback to throw five touchdown passes in an NFL game. And on a day when Joe Flacco threw a costly pick, Mark Sanchez couldn't stop throwing picks and Matt Ryan couldn't quite lead the Falcons to a much-needed win, it's enough to make him the hottest young quarterback in the league, if only for a week.

• Rankings: Which quarterbacks in new surroundings will fare best this season?

The NFL preseason isn't exactly the height of excitement. But when fewer than one out of five voters claim they don't watch any of it, and 40 percent of SportsNation is more interested in it than baseball's pennant races, well, it's difficult to ignore. At least the first full weekend of games offered some quarterback debuts to make way too much out of.

The Good: Mark Sanchez didn't get the start in the Jets' first preseason game, but he wasted little time completing a 48-yard pass when he did get on the field and will start the team's next game. Matthew Stafford survived his first game behind the Lions' line and even threw a touchdown pass (we grade on a curve when it comes to the Lions).

The Bad: Josh Freeman's numbers suggest he'll miss seeing Iowa State on the schedule, although Byron Leftwich wasn't any more prolific for the Bucs.

The Ugly: It's never good when the savior is cautioning people not to panic, as Jay Cutler had to after throwing a pick on an unmemorable day against the Bills (some would say it's also not good when Trent Edwards shows you up).

• 55 percent of SportsNation, including Michigan, says Daunte Culpepper over Stafford.
• 69 percent of SportsNation, including NY/NJ, says Sanchez over Kellen Clemens.
• 67 percent of SportsNation, not Minnesota, says Tarvaris Jackson over Sage Rosenfels.
• Chat: NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert at 1 p.m. ET.
• Groups: Purple people eaters | The New York Jets | Lions Bandwagon'

• Vote: Which quarterbacks will emerge victorious in some key preseason battles around the league?

It's one thing to look good throwing passes in seven-on-seven drills or posing in the pocket while wearing a red jersey (we see you, Matt Stafford). Any quarterback can look good in a red jersey -- well, maybe not Jared Lorenzen.

The real test for a quarterback trying to earn a starting job comes when the whistle blows for real and defensive linemen are trying to do things to him that would make Brock Lesnar wince. And you thought preseason games were a waste of money. Well, actually, you're right about that, but they do play a role in settling quarterback duels.

While the opening exhibition game between the Titans and Bills didn't offer much in the way of quarterback drama (no matter what Vince Young thinks), the first full weekend of games will be a different story. One of the biggest auditions comes with Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson and the Browns visiting Lambeau Field. SportsNation ranked Quinn No. 2 when it came to quarterbacks battling for jobs, behind only Oakland's Jeff Garcia. The bad news for the former Golden Domer is voters also ranked Anderson No. 3.

Hey, look at that. A post about quarterbacks that didn't mention Brett Favre or Michael Vick ... until now. Our bad.

• Voters think Mark Sanchez is a better bet than Stafford to earn his contract.
• SportsNation also higher on Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers than Stafford.
• Voters believe Quinn's future brighter than Young, Matt Leinart and others.
• More than 70 percent of SN expects Vick to throw a regular-season pass in 2009.
• Chat: AFC North blogger James Walker talks Browns at 4 p.m. ET.
• Groups: Dawg Pound | Detroit Lion fans | The New York Jets Fan Club

Some quarterback battles are worthy of Bruce Lee. Others more closely resemble Larry, Moe and Curly. But through it all, we're talking about summer entertainment. And when the other option is figuring out which punter a team will go with, we'll go with the contrived quarterback drama, thank you very much.

Browns coach Eric Mangini says he doesn't have a timetable for naming a starting quarterback. And the truth of the matter is that it probably doesn't really matter whether Mangini decides to start Derek Anderson or follows SportsNation's advice and goes with Brady Quinn when the Browns open the regular season at home against the Vikings (and their own quarterback to be named later).

Pick the right guy and maybe the Browns go 8-8. Pick the wrong guy and maybe they go 4-12 again. By December, people on the shores of Lake Erie may all be talking about Colt McCoy or Sam Bradford anyway.

But at least the Browns are choosing from two seemingly viable options, if only compared to how voters feel about the battles in Minnesota (Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels) and San Francisco (Alex Smith and Shaun Hill).

• Almost half of SportsNation says Mangini needs to pick by first preseason game.
• Although 74 percent of voters expect Anderson and Quinn to both start multiple games.
• Faint praise? Voters like Quinn more than J. Russell, M. Leinart or V. Young.
• Who are the best of the embattled quarterbacks? Rank those fighting for jobs.
• Groups: Dawg Pound | Vikings Fans | 49er Red and Gold

• Rankings: What were the biggest offseason moves?

Chad Ochocinco is still a member of the Bengals, Anquan Boldin is still a member of the Cardinals and Brett Favre is still indecisive. So not much has changed since last we left the NFL, right? Terrell Owens is in Bills camp talking about the unfairness of any further delay in Michael Vick's comeback? Right, so maybe not everything is right where we left it.

As incredibly wealthy people move into college dorm rooms across the country for the rite of passage that is training camp (or orientation at Sarah Lawrence College, take your pick), there are more than a few familiar faces in new places. Back in May, SportsNation gave the Eagles the highest marks for their offseason moves, but considering first-round pick Jeremy Maclin remains unsigned as camp approaches, they may not even be among the best shoppers in their own city if the Phillies find a way to tack on Roy Halladay on top of the Flyers adding Chris Pronger.

Offseason acquisitions are one topic on the agenda for today's "SportsNation" (4 p.m. ET, ESPN2), but how does your scorecard look for moves like the Redskins signing Albert Haynesworth and the Bears trading for Jay Cutler?

• More rankings: Are the Steelers still No. 1 as training camps open?
• Voters expect more from Mark Sanchez than Matthew Stafford this year.
• Cutler not SportsNation's pick for the best QB in the NFC North this season.
• Majority thinks Chiefs making mistake paying Matt Cassel franchise money.

Hard-throwing rookie from the sunny coast of California signs a deal with $28 million in guaranteed money. Meanwhile, SportsNation is split on whether or not he'll be starting for his new team by early September. Sorry, Nationals fans, Scott Boras isn't about to let you off the hook that easily when it comes to Stephen Strasburg (silver lining: more quality time with Craig Stammen). We're talking, of course, about Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez.

But it is at least a little perplexing that while people badmouth Boras -- all right, that's not perplexing on its own -- nobody seems too concerned with the money headed to either Sanchez or Lions rookie, and No. 1 overall pick, Matthew Stafford. It's not like -- Akili Smith, Tim Couch, Ryan Leaf, Heath Shuler -- first-round quarterbacks are risk-free investments.

• SportsNation blogger cobbknob is swimming upstream when it comes to the guy Sanchez will replace if he's the Week 1 starter. This blogger was tired of Brett Favre but has come to think the quarterback should be free to do as he pleases.
• Meanwhile, regarding the team that may or may not be interested in Favre, blogger rb1331 has tired of the drama and thinks the Vikings have their answer at quarterback. No, seriously.