Brett Favre's arm, game come up short

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/fo..._up_short.html

BY RICH CIMINI
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Wednesday, October 22nd 2008, 9:57 AM


Brett Favre's curiously conservative play has some speculating problem is his arm and not Jets' brain trust.

The Brett Favre insider-trading story has created quite a buzz around the NFL, raising a semi-related question: If an opposing player shared secrets about Favre and the Jets' offense, what would he say?

Actually, the Raiders provided some insight into that question, and there was nothing secret about it. They did it in broad daylight. Just check out the game tape and you will see that, in the overtime period of Sunday's game, the Raiders stacked the line of scrimmage, basically daring Favre to beat them with his arm - absolute heresy.
PHOTO GALLERY: RAIDERS DOWN JETS IN OVERTIME

Deploying safety Gibril Wilson as a linebacker, the Raiders put eight men in the box on seven of the 14 plays (mostly on first and second down), leaving the Jets' receivers in man-to-man coverage. Quarterbacks live for those situations, especially a gunslinger such as Favre, but he - and the coaches - played it safe. The situation screamed for a play-action pass.

Instead of attacking downfield, they ran eight times into the teeth of the defense, resulting in three punts, an eventual loss and heavy criticism of conservative play calling. Maybe the Raiders were on to something.

Only two of Favre's 34 pass attempts in regulation traveled more than 20 yards in the air, a shockingly low number for a big-armed passer. Maybe, just maybe, the big arm is hurting. There is circumstantial evidence. Many of his throws lacked the usual velocity, especially the 8-yard pass to Jerricho Cotchery that was intercepted in the end zone - a ball ... that ... took ... forever ... to ... get ... there.

Perhaps Favre still was feeling the effects of a big hit from the previous week, when the Bengals' Jonathan Fanene crashed into the quarterback's fully extended arm, a play vaguely reminiscent of the one that wrecked Chad Pennington's rotator cuff. Favre got up slowly, rotating his arm as if to test the shoulder.

CBS showed a clip of the Fanene hit during the Oakland game, with the announcers raising the issue of a possible injury. They said Favre told them it was just "wear and tear on a 39-year-old body." When Dick Enberg chimed in, he quoted Favre as saying his arm was "sore."

At the start of the second quarter, Favre took another punishing shot. The camera caught him wincing as he made a shaking-out-the-sting motion. Maybe that explains why the Jets opted for a nickel-and-dime attack for the second straight week. If not, the coaching staff needs to take a hard look at the matter, because Favre's personality isn't suited to being a nickel-and-dime passer.

The Jets did take one shot in overtime - a wide-open Chris Baker fell down at the Oakland 32 - but it wasn't enough. Favre is averaging only 6.77 yards per attempt, 22nd in the league, far behind his predecessor. The weak-armed Pennington stands fourth at 8.12, an indictment of the Jets' passing game, which, except for the Cards, hasn't scared anyone. There's no need to panic if it's the game plan. If it's the shoulder, well, that's panic-worthy.