For the first time ever, Favre is playing within the system

[channtheman]

It's quite amazing to think this, but if you look at Favre's interception totals over the years, you can see that for the first time in his career, Favre is playing within the system. He is taking what defenses are giving him and not taking chances with the ball.

From 2002 to 2008 Favre threw 148 interceptions. I divided these interceptions into 2 categories: interceptions thrown on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th down, and interceptions thrown on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th down while in the oppositions 30 yard line (field goal range). I'll note, I started at 2002 because that is as far as ESPN's archived play by play went and there are 8 unaccounted for interceptions from 2003 as ESPN's archives did not have play by play available for a few games.

Here are the numbers.


Interceptions
1st down 41
2nd down 32
3rd down 33
4th down 4
Field Goal Range Interceptions (within opp. 30)
1st down 16
2nd down 5
3rd down 9
4th down 0

In 2009, Favre has thrown just 3 interceptions. They are as follows.

2 thrown on 3rd down situations and 1 on 2nd down inside the Pittsburgh 30 yard line. This one, however, was tipped by the running back before it was intercepted.

I would argue that interceptions inside field goal range are almost always unacceptable (exception being tipped passes). Most of these interceptions are probably Favre thinking he could fit it into a tight spot or thinking he could make a throw. These INT's almost always take points off the board. In close games, these INT's are killer.

Then the 73 interceptions thrown on 1st and 2nd down are also almost unacceptable. I understand that INT's are not always avoidable and that some of those are tipped passes, etc. BUT, how many times do you remember the defense getting the ball back time after time only to have Favre toss a lame duck up in the air on 1st down to a guy in triple coverage? Way too often. There MUST have been a guy open if someone was in triple coverage, yet Favre took unnecessary chances and was picked off for it.

Interceptions on 3rd down are the most forgivable. I don't have much of a problem taking a chance on your last attempt before a punt and if it's picked off, it might have been equal or better than a punt (not always but for the most part).

Comparing those years with this year, you can see that Favre is NOT taking chances. He is NOT throwing up lame ducks to covered receivers on first down. He is playing within the system and taking what the defenses give him. Why is he doing this? I asked that question in another thread that you can read here if you are interested. http://packerrats.com/ratchat/viewtopic.php?t=19209&highlight=

Amazing to think though that it seems Favre has actually changed for the better. Can you imagine how many Super Bowls we would have won in the 90's and even the 2000's if Favre had played the system?

[bobblehead]

I would say i've been harping on this for longer than anyone....BF is finally playing the way MM begged him to play and he is doing it to....drumroll....stick it to MM and show him what for. :shock:

BTW, 41 FIRST down interceptions....sweet cuddly moses!!

I'm not kidding when I say that I think this is his best season EVER and he is a lock for MVP if he doesn't completely shit himself the last month. If only he would have stayed in GB and played this way.

[channtheman]

I would say i've been harping on this for longer than anyone....BF is finally playing the way MM begged him to play and he is doing it to....drumroll....stick it to MM and show him what for. :shock:

BTW, 41 FIRST down interceptions....sweet cuddly moses!!

I'm not kidding when I say that I think this is his best season EVER and he is a lock for MVP if he doesn't completely shit himself the last month. If only he would have stayed in GB and played this way.

Really it's 57 if you add the field goal range 1st down INT's.

[Partial]

I hate sayings like this. "Playing within the system". So he was playing out of the system in GB? That's stupid.

He has incredible talent around him. Percy Harvin may be the best player drafted last year (consequently, I loved the kid and was flamed for it ridiculously, much like VY, who is proving to be another solid, solid player). He's a super star. He creates match-up problems all over the field. Berrian is a good deep threat. Pete is dictating 8-9 guys in the box.

He's playing well, the players are making plays, and the play calling is solid. What more can you ask for?

FWIW, he played this way in 2007 but didn't have anywhere near the talent around him. How quickly we forget that he was 2nd in MVP (behind the best year for a QB ever in Brady). Any other year and he wins MVP in a landslide imo. It's not like he sucked ass here and left. He took us to overtime in the NFC championship game.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Great, another Favre thread!!!

Yea!!!!

Chan...you fucking moron.

[channtheman]

Great, another Favre thread!!!

Yea!!!!

Chan...you fucking moron.

:lol:

This is different. It isn't a flame thread that most Favre threads are designed for. I think this could actually garner some good discussion.

I gotta add, damn man, when will you get it, it is TWO n's. Chann

[channtheman]

I hate sayings like this. "Playing within the system". So he was playing out of the system in GB? That's stupid.

He has incredible talent around him. Percy Harvin may be the best player drafted last year (consequently, I loved the kid and was flamed for it ridiculously, much like VY, who is proving to be another solid, solid player). He's a super star. He creates match-up problems all over the field. Berrian is a good deep threat. Pete is dictating 8-9 guys in the box.

He's playing well, the players are making plays, and the play calling is solid. What more can you ask for?

FWIW, he played this way in 2007 but didn't have anywhere near the talent around him. How quickly we forget that he was 2nd in MVP (behind the best year for a QB ever in Brady). Any other year and he wins MVP in a landslide imo. It's not like he sucked ass here and left. He took us to overtime in the NFC championship game.

Stupid or not, that's exactly what I'm saying. In Green Bay, Favre would chuck up INT's left and right on 1st down, in scoring position, etc. There was NO reason for this. On first down, why are you going for the kill to a guy in triple coverage? And not just once, but multiple times. This year he isn't doing that. He is playing within the system.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Great, another Favre thread!!!

Yea!!!!

Chan...you fucking moron.

:lol:

This is different. It isn't a flame thread that most Favre threads are designed for. I think this could actually garner some good discussion.

I gotta add, damn man, when will you get it, it is TWO n's. Chan.n

No. It isn't different. He ain't a packer. Good or bad isn't the issue..he ain't a packer, therefore we don't need to start threads about him.

You made the point, and a good one, in the Arod thread...this is just bs. Sorry.

Ty isn't changing it to Chann. Ty likes thinking of you as a young chinese boy....you and your dad discussing packers as you do the white man's dry cleaning.

Your foxy chinese mom..apearing and rolling her eyes when your dad says, "ancient chinese secret" about how he gets my shirts so clean.

[Bretsky]

I tend to agree with the premise of this thread.....but why ?

Is it Favre that has changed ?
Is it better coaching that he is receiving ?
Is it just better talent around him that allows him to excel this well ?


I tend to think it's the 3rd

This might be near to or the greatest set of Weapons Favre has played with

All Day Peterson
A vsolery id OL
A more than serviceable TE
A pretty solid WR group in Rice, Berrian, and Harvin

[Kiwon]

I think one obvious thing is that Farve and Darrell Bevell are totally in sync.

I don't know if the full story of the Vikings' courtship of Farve has been told but I suspect that Bevell is squarely in the center of it. As his former QB coach and current Offensive Coordinator it seems that the whole offense was designed for Farve to manage.

Someone else may call the plays but the HC and OC trust Farve to make all the right reads. Childress and Bevell give Farve the freedom to basically be a player/coach.

Farve certainly did not look this good last year with the Jets in an offensive system that was new to him. Of course, the Jets were not nearly as talented as the Vikings are.

More interesting to me than finally learning to play within the system is all the years of nonsense about Farve and domes. The noise will naturally be an obstacle when you are the opposition but the stuff about the field itself was always silly to me.

[channtheman]

I tend to agree with the premise of this thread.....but why ?

Is it Favre that has changed ?
Is it better coaching that he is receiving ?
Is it just better talent around him that allows him to excel this well ?


I tend to think it's the 3rd

This might be near to or the greatest set of Weapons Favre has played with

All Day Peterson
A vsolery id OL
A more than serviceable TE
A pretty solid WR group in Rice, Berrian, and Harvin

I'm actually thinking that it is because Favre doesn't think he can make all the throws anymore. When he was younger, he thought he could fit it in there. I think now that he is 40 and with the injury he had last year, he has realized that he can't do it and needs to take the check down instead, for example.

[sheepshead]

Playing for the NY Jets will humble the best of us.

[mission]

I think the real issue here that everyone wants to gloss over is Brett's enthusiasm.

Yeah, I'd be a lot more excited to be playing with AP over RG but let's get real... we've never seen him so involved with guys on the sideline and I doubt he has his own separate dressing room in Minneapolis.

I guess it's kinda like a marriage... you get bored after awhile and stop putting everything you have into something. Just seems like Brett is doing all the right things where before, it seemed, he only did the right things that HE wanted to do.

[get louder at lambeau]

I guess it's kinda like a marriage... you get bored after awhile and stop putting everything you have into something. Just seems like Brett is doing all the right things where before, it seemed, he only did the right things that HE wanted to do.

I think that's most of it. That, and having the weapons they have right now, and having such a healthy team.

[bobblehead]

I tend to agree with the premise of this thread.....but why ?

Is it Favre that has changed ?
Is it better coaching that he is receiving ?
Is it just better talent around him that allows him to excel this well ?


I tend to think it's the 3rd

This might be near to or the greatest set of Weapons Favre has played with

All Day Peterson
A vsolery id OL
A more than serviceable TE
A pretty solid WR group in Rice, Berrian, and Harvin

Seriously?? You think the talent around him is So much better than it ever has been that he is on pace for a mere 4 interceptions?? You think that in 95/96 his talent was so inferior to this that he threw 10 more interceptions than he is on pace to now?? You honestly believe that there has been no effort to be smart with the football that is leading to this??

You sir, are the most deluded person I have ever met. BF is mad at MM and wants to stick it to him...he is smart enough to know he can't toss 20 picks and accomplish anything this season other than embarrass himself.

What he should do is call MM, thank him for getting BF to play like an NFL QB again and apologize for being a spoiled rotten little kid.

[bobblehead]

I guess it's kinda like a marriage... you get bored after awhile and stop putting everything you have into something. Just seems like Brett is doing all the right things where before, it seemed, he only did the right things that HE wanted to do.

I think that's most of it. That, and having the weapons they have right now, and having such a healthy team.

Great post mission. I agree with this. He did what he wanted to under Rhodes and shermy and he was not playing that well. MM came in and demanded more from him and after the kid glove treatment of shermy he didn't like it. So he divorced his wife, found a new young hottie and treated her the way his former wife wanted to be treated.....just to show his ex how SHE screwed up.

[Brando19]

Are you serious? Another Favre thread. Holy shit....this place is becoming a joke.

[Bretsky]

I tend to agree with the premise of this thread.....but why ?

Is it Favre that has changed ?
Is it better coaching that he is receiving ?
Is it just better talent around him that allows him to excel this well ?


I tend to think it's the 3rd

This might be near to or the greatest set of Weapons Favre has played with

All Day Peterson
A vsolery id OL
A more than serviceable TE
A pretty solid WR group in Rice, Berrian, and Harvin

Seriously?? You think the talent around him is So much better than it ever has been that he is on pace for a mere 4 interceptions?? You think that in 95/96 his talent was so inferior to this that he threw 10 more interceptions than he is on pace to now?? You honestly believe that there has been no effort to be smart with the football that is leading to this??

You sir, are the most deluded person I have ever met. BF is mad at MM and wants to stick it to him...he is smart enough to know he can't toss 20 picks and accomplish anything this season other than embarrass himself.

What he should do is call MM, thank him for getting BF to play like an NFL QB again and apologize for being a spoiled rotten little kid.


So Favre is having this great year because he's mad at MM ? Sure, that explains everything. He just got smarter.

I wasn't comparing the talent around Favre back to 95/96; I was looking more towards the past five years. But if you want to I'd be interesting in how you line them up position by position and compare them. Our two TE's were undoubtedly better than the Vikes...but other than that IMO it's pretty comparable. Peterson is so much better than any RB we had in the Super Bowl it's silly.

But if the Favre got smarter because he's mad theory works best that works just as well I guess.