Audibles Podcast: NFL's best backfield tandems, worst QB situations

On this week's episode of the Audibles Podcast, SI.com's Ben Eagle, Chris Burke and Doug Farrar discuss both extremes of the league's quarterback-running back tandems before turning to which team should feel the worst about its situation under center going forward.

Fast forward to Week 1 of the 2015 NFL season: The energy builds inside NRG Stadium as the Texans take the field for their first offensive series against the Chiefs, but as the huddle breaks, reality sets in. Ryan Mallett is leading the team through its pre-snap reads and Alfred Blue is in the backfield with the running game on his shoulders, while Arian Foster stands on the sideline with his return from groin surgery still weeks away and head coach Bill O'Brien watches his reputation for developing quarterbacks dissolve before his eyes.

On the other sideline, the Chiefs have long-term worries of their own, with Alex Smith's up-and-down play limiting the brilliance of Jamaal Charles. And do those two offenses deserve any more pity than Andy Dalton and the Bengals, who have delivered maddeningly consistent unsatisfying results in the last four years? A team doesn't need to be breaking in a rookie quarterback or a career backup to bemoan its quarterback situation.

• The MMQB training camp tour: Follow along as we check in on every team

On this week's episode of the Audibles Podcast, SI.com's Ben Eagle, Chris Burke and Doug Farrar discuss both extremes of the league's quarterback-running back tandems before debating which team should feel the worst about its situation under center going forward.

You can listen to the podcast below and subscribe on iTunes, and if you have a topic you'd like discussed in the coming weeks, fill up our Twitter mailbag with your questions and comments about the upcoming NFL season.