once looked like a . Now he's been . Only 27 years old, Clausen authored perhaps the single worst season for a quarterback of the last decade. that season is the lowest number in the nine years the statistic has been tracked, just edging out JaMarcus Ru sell's rookie year. ('s career surviving Clausen's year is one of the niftier coaching tricks of the decade.) coach has decided that he'd rather go down with Clausen than watch Cutler "ghosts." It's hard to imagine Trestman or Cutler back in Chicago next year. This is the most stunning fall from grace in a season that has seen lose his way, lose the football, and lose his grip on his hometown hero storyline.Not Adam Butler Jersey all is lost for Cutler, however. He still earned notice in some of my arbitrary awards below.Best garbage time numbers: Jay CutlerThe crazy part of this season for Cutler: He was going to break Chicago's franchise records for yards and touchdowns in a single season. (Perhaps Trestman is a huge Erik Kramer fan.) Cutler leads the league in turnovers, but his rate stats weren't much worse than his usual seasons. Cutler's performance against the was typical. He always managed to rack up some tasty fantasy stats after the game was decided.Quiet Rebound: Eli ManningEli has nicely bounced back to something better than average. After leading the league in picks last season, Manning has mostly been steady and improving for an offense that always looks a little better on . If you removed Eli's five pick fiasco against the , he has 26 scores and eight interceptions. Quarterbacks always get too much credit for winning and too much blame for losing. Eli has outplayed "winning quarterbacks" like , and . After nearly falling last season, Manning is safely inside the top 15 now. He might need to learn a new offense again next year, but by his side. Hardest to evaluate: Colin KaepernickKaepernick's performance in Seattle last week was one his better efforts down the stretch. And yet the still only Mark Clayton Jersey scored seven points and Kaepernick mi sed on too many of the shot plays the dialed up. This is the challenge of watching Kaepernick. In more games than not, he makes 3-to-4 plays that take your breath away. But his offensive line has let him down too often, and there is no rhythm to the team's pa sing game. The raw skills are there and so are the random pa ses that go nowhere near the intended target. Best Magician: Peyton ManningThis late-period Manning is a wizard who is beating defenses with his mind, some scotch tape and pa ses that make every game look like it's being played in a wind tunnel. (Having doesn't hurt.) Denver's run-first approach down the stretch was borne out Greg Little Jersey of nece sity, but it's smart football and a recognition of 's surprising talent.Manning's vertical throws look funky, but last week's game against San Diego was telling. The nearly had as many chunk plays over 25 yards in the air (five) as Manning did incompletions. I don't buy the thinking that Denver can't win a this way. We've seen Manning's teams fail in the playoffs because you need more than just a pa sing game. This team -- from the run game to the defense -- might be the best one Manning's ever played on.Best MVP season that wasn't: Philip RiversRivers looked like the best quarterback in the league in September, but he faded to merely "really good" Austin Reiter Jersey after that. When the AFC powers came to San Diego in consecutive weeks in December, the mustered two offensive touchdowns. That's it. Rivers and 's offense rely on precision and painfully long drives without a ton of big plays. When things don't go as planned on third down, they have a lot of five-minute drives to nowhere.Biggest free pa s: Matthew StaffordHe played without for much of the year, but Stafford reminds me of a younger Cutler. Coach has taken away some of his aggre sivene s which has resulted in a safer Stafford who is still too scattershot. When he plays a real defense like in New England or Minnesota, he's struggled to put drives together. played in both of those games, and four of Stafford's five worst games for yards-per-attempt. A great defense has masked a lack of progre s on offense. Best maintenance of the Dalton Scale: Andy DaltonFor those poor souls who don't listen to the , the "Dalton Scale" is Chris We seling's inarguable theory that explains quarterback play in the NFL. If your starting quarterback is worse than , you need a new quarterback. Anyone above the line is a long-term option. is now on the wrong side of the Dalton scale. has risen above.Dalton's 2014 season shows how he perfectly straddles the middle tier of NFL quarterbacks. He's had a few disastrous moments: the shutout in Indy, the "TNF" meltdown against the and the three-pick first half against the Bucs. But he's mixed in a few excellent showings and stayed out of the way more often than not. Dalton is surrounded by great talent this year; he can struggle in a 30-0 win. It all adds up to 7.2 yards-per-attempt, 15 touchdowns, Justin Coleman Jersey 14 interceptions, and continued status as the prime meridian of quarterback play. The latest Around The NFL Podcast and what it means for his future with the . Find more Around The NFL content on .