The Arizona Cardinals had things go about as badly as they could on Sunday in rookie quarterback Clayton Tune’s first career start. They were shut out 27-0 by the Cleveland Browns.
Tune was sacked seven times, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. He completed 11-of-20 passes for 58 yards and two picks. He finished with a passer rating of 20.8.
Longtime Cardinals fans should be used to quarterbacks making their first start playing poorly.
Let’s look back at a few of the stinkers.
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2012: Ryan Lindley
Lindley’s debut came when John Skelton was benched against the Atlanta Falcons. Lindley completed 9-of-20 passes for 64 yards. He was sacked three times.
Lindley then started for the first time and piled up the yards against the St. Louis Rams, but he did not have a touchdown and was picked off four times.
2004: John Navarre
Navarre’s only career start came as a rookie against the Detroit Lions. He completed 18-of-40 passes for 168 yards, a touchdown and four interceptions. The Cardinals lost 26-12.
1997: Jake Plummer
Plummer led the Cardinals to a long touchdown drive entering the game in relief but his first start was forgettable. In a 41-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans in 1997, Plummer completed 21-of-40 passes for 195 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. He was sacked six times.
1989-1990: Timm Rosenbach
Rosenbach got his first NFL start in a 37-0 shutout loss to the Denver Broncos. He didn’t make it out of the game. He was sacked once after completing 2-of-8 passes before getting pulled.
He entered 1990 as the starter and his Week 1 start was bad. In a 31-0 shutout loss the Washington Redskins, he completed 20-of-39 yards for 228 yards and four interceptions without a touchdown. He was sacked three times.
1989: Tom Tupa
Tupa was a rookie in 1988 but made his first NFL start in 1989. It was also bad.
In a 17-5 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, he was picked off six times and sacked six times. He finished with 266 yards on 26-of-41 passing.
