A week and change ago, Joe Webb and John Skelton were leading their teams, the Vikings and the Cardinals, to upset wins over Philadelphia and Arizona. Both played well, minimized mistakes and had some local and national pundits announcing their teams had solved their searches for quarterbacks of the future.

One radio host – I didn’t catch his name and I don’t know if he was a local guy at ESPN-1500 AM in Minnesota or national guy for ESPN Radio – told listeners this morning that Webb should be awarded the position because he is athletic and because he has the “it” factor. Terry Bradshaw on Fox this morning also seemed to indicate that he was a believer.

I enjoyed watching Webb and Skelton last week in nationally televised games. And both have a chance to be decent quarterbacks. But their respective performances today in losses for both of their teams were illustrative that A) rookie quarterbacks have their ups and downs and B) one game is not enough to anoint them as their franchise saviors.

Skelton completed 14 of 25 passes Sunday but for just 92 yards as his Cardinals were destroyed in their finale by San Francisco, another team that suffered through a season’s worth of mediocre to bad quarterback play. He was ultimately replaced by something called Richard Bartel.

Webb kept the Vikings more competitive in their game at Detroit. But a week after helping his team shock the Eagles, he was held without a touchdown pass, threw a pick and generally struggled along with teammates as the red-hot Lions ended a six-game losing streak against Minnesota.

The Vikings and the Cardinals are not alone in having uncertainties with their signal callers going forward. Jimmy Clausen underwhelmed in Carolina. And though Tim Tebow looked better than expected, at least to me, in his first couple opportunities at extended playing time, the coach who originally wanted him drafted in the first round is gone and he still has a long way to go.

This isn’t to say that any of these young guys can’t become the quarterbacks their teams hope they will be. All of them showed at least an indication that they may have solid futures in front of them.

But they’ve also shown indications that their teams may want to make sure they at least have another option available before they fully commit to handing these guys the keys for the long-term, as well.