Favre

[HarveyWallbangers]

Finally, one national guy who isn't dumping on Favre and his return.

Favre's picks don't mean he's rotten
By Dan Pompei - SportingNews

Those gray temples you can attribute to Brett Favre's age. That gimpy walk also is a byproduct of his 36 years.

But those 29 interceptions from last season had more to do with youthful impetuousness than a deteriorating body. That is to say, the dude still can play. A lot better, in fact, than many of the NFL's starting quarterbacks.

Before you join the chorus of those who say Favre should have retired, you should know some things about why he threw 12 more interceptions than any other quarterback last year. You probably already know the Packers went through receivers and running backs the way Paris Hilton has gone through boyfriends.

You might not have realized that most of Favre's problems resulted from the desperation he felt as the Packers' season crumbled.

Some compelling numbers:

# Only four of Favre's interceptions came when the Packers were winning.

# His passer rating was 86.5 when the Packers had a lead and 61.2 when they trailed.

# He threw 15 touchdown passes in the team's first eight games and only five in its last eight.

# His first quarter passer rating was 101.3; his fourth quarter passer rating was 50.0.

The trend is obvious. As the lights kept growing dimmer for the Packers, both in the course of games and the season, Favre played with an absence of caution that was appropriate but rare, especially for a veteran. "In games when they're behind, a lot of quarterbacks pack it in and protect their stats," Packers general manager Ted Thompson says. "They say, 'I won't throw any more picks today.' Brett was still trying even when the odds were tall."

Favre brought up the subject when he met with new quarterbacks coach Tom Clements. He told Clements there were many times he could have dumped off the ball for short completions instead of trying to push the ball downfield but that wouldn't have helped the Packers win. "He acknowledged he was taking chances he wouldn't have taken if the game was close or if we were ahead," Clements says.

Favre went overboard taking chances. With him behind the wheel, what should have been fender benders became spectacular fiery crashes. In that regard, his play wasn't much different from what it had been in his early years in Green Bay.

If you are looking for proof that Favre still can play, consider this: Only one of his interceptions came in the red zone. And he threw 11 touchdown passes from the 19-yard line in -- the tightest area on the field.

When Favre was pondering retirement in the offseason, Thompson told Favre that if he quit, he shouldn't do it because he thought his skills were deteriorating. "I don't see any appreciable drop-off in terms of his physical ability to play the game," Thompson says.

New Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, who was Favre's quarterbacks coach seven years ago, believes Favre has lost some rpms off his fastball -- but not enough to make a difference. "Back then, he was throwing it at a level I have never seen before," McCarthy says. "He still throws the ball very well."

For Favre to be the best he can be in his 16th NFL season, he'll need help from his team. McCarthy, who I believe could be the best influence on Favre since Mike Holmgren left town, acknowledges he can help Favre by not panicking with the play-calling. If the Packers are trailing an opponent in 2006, coaches intend to stick with the game plan longer.

The Packers will have to improve their running game, which ranked 30th in rushing average last season. They could be considerably better in that area because they imported a Broncos-style scheme and have Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport back from injuries.

There is much less to be encouraged about with their receivers. After Donald Driver, the Packers have no one they can be sure of. Trading Javon Walker has left a vacancy, and Thompson would be wise to try to fill it by acquiring Ashley Lelie. Without better receiver play, Favre's interceptions total could be closer to his age than his shoe size.

But with some support, Favre will be able to light up a game and a scoreboard with the best of them.

[KilrB]

I agree with that, not just because I am a Packer/Favre fan either.

It goes right along with what Favre always says that he doesnt play for the stats! He plays to win!

It makes him look pretty bad sometimes like last year, but Wow! What a champion that can make.

Here is to anouther MVP for Favre this year! :cool:

[4and12to12and4]

By the way, the one interception in the red zone he spoke of was when the Bears got a rush on him in about .1 seconds, and as he was still peddling back to a pocket that was nonexistent, he threw it up to the right corner of the end zone hoping that Fergy could get a beat on it, and as usual, Fergy let the defender get in front of him, and stood behind him watching him jump up and take the ball out of the air. Plays like that are why Brett didn't throw his way very often.

[Deputy Nutz]

Favre did throw 5 ints against the Bengals when they were in that game half way into the fourth quarter. That games was his absolute worst

[GBRulz]

nice to see a reporter who doesn't attempt to use controversy to get his name recognized. thanks for sharing, Harv

[MadtownPacker]

Nice article. Lets keep this guys name in ind for when Favre starts playing like his old self. Then ALL the "experts" will be saying the same.

[woodbuck27]

That was a straight up - THE TRUTH - article.

Those of us who are really behind Brett Favre, understand his outstanding desire to do all he can for the Packers to win, understand the results last season.

What I need to see from Favre this season is for him to play it tight. . series by series and quarter by quarter sticking to the game plan. Brett alluded - just to that theme - in his conference on Monday.

It seems to me that MM has reached Brett Favre. In Sept. we will see if "the proof is in the pudding".

The National media will be all over Brett as he goes after Marino's TD record. Silly!

The deal is, that if he doesn't break it before the end of this season, he will early in 2007. :mrgreen:

GO PACKERS !

[Creepy]

SDtats are miss-leading. GB lost 8 or more games by 7 or less points. Just because they were behind does not mean Fvare had to cut loose. It is the 3d/4th quarter and your down by 3 does not require throwing it up. I believe favre had a bad year last year and a lot of it I will put on coaching.

The reason is simple., Sherman allowed Fvave when it wasn't necessary to take risks without answering for it. The Packers whether they had the lead or were down made no changes at the half. No adjustmenst andthe other team killed them. Play calling became so predictable that a HS coach could have stopped GB. How many time on 1st & goal inside the 10 did GB run the shuttle pass? How many times did GB movethe ball into opposing territory when Sherman would call for friggin end around?

Even with Sherman's coaching, you still have to give some of those ints to Brett. Even withoutthe coach getting on him, he should have made better decisions. I think this year will be much better. From what I read they are talking and coaching Brett back to the system that won him 3 MVPs. And for those who don't like the WR situation, in 96-97 & 98, who were the GB receivers? Brooks, Freeman, Schroeder, and a host of others. Favre goes back to the old system, he will discover that it still works.

[Badgepack]

Creepy said,

"The reason is simple., Sherman allowed Fvave when it wasn't necessary to take risks without answering for it. The Packers whether they had the lead or were down made no changes at the half. No adjustmenst andthe other team killed them."

Amen to that brother, Sherman's half time adjustments were pathetic.

[woodbuck27]

Creepy said,

"The reason is simple., Sherman allowed Fvave when it wasn't necessary to take risks without answering for it. The Packers whether they had the lead or were down made no changes at the half. No adjustmenst andthe other team killed them."

Amen to that brother, Sherman's half time adjustments were pathetic.

Mike Sherman's and didley squat OC - up in the box's Offense. . was way too predictable. Game after game after. . the same DAM stuff. . .Uhhh !

How many times did he think he could pull off that silly reverse play involving Donald Driver, after it worked at first? It's the NFL and that play may as well been announced on " the Big Screen ".

HOLD THE FAITH - GO PACKERS in 2006. . .

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

I think this article is just making excuses for Brett. Not once last year did we go out in a game and just get crashed from the start. We were in almost every game and their was no reason for him to throw up some of the passes that he did. Sometimes it just seemed he didnt care anymore, and would just loft the ball in the air like Moss and Owens were our wide receivers. Last year Brett just didn't use common sense plain and simple. I mean come on packer fans, Brett was not the only guy in the league playing on a bad team and I know one else even got close to his pick total.

And don't get me wrong I love Brett as much as anyone, but he has to use better judgement this year for us to succeed.

[Badgepack]

That because Favre will take the risk to try to win the game. Certainly, some were not the smartest choices, but he goes for it, not the 3 yard check down.

Wth receivers that didn't know the system, sub-par guards, 3 string running game, and Sherman at the helm, it all adds up. Brett is to blame, but there are numerous other factors.

The gun-slinger attitude has done pretty good for us in the past 15 years.

[prsnfoto]

I think this article is just making excuses for Brett. Not once last year did we go out in a game and just get crashed from the start. We were in almost every game and their was no reason for him to throw up some of the passes that he did. Sometimes it just seemed he didnt care anymore, and would just loft the ball in the air like Moss and Owens were our wide receivers. Last year Brett just didn't use common sense plain and simple. I mean come on packer fans, Brett was not the only guy in the league playing on a bad team and I know one else even got close to his pick total.

And don't get me wrong I love Brett as much as anyone, but he has to use better judgement this year for us to succeed.

The fact is the writer is right many of brett's picks were on 3rd and 4th down when you are right he threw it up there what good is a 3 yard checkdown when it is 3rd and 16 plus with our shitty punter six or eight of those ints were better than a sanders shank, now that is a team player. One other thing when you have no running game defense can sit on your plays and they know what is coming, plus my 14 month old can steal the ball away from that little queer Ferguson. That being said Favre still had about 15 bonehead picks which is acceptable to everyone when he has his normal 30-35 TDs.

[woodbuck27]

I think this article is just making excuses for Brett. Not once last year did we go out in a game and just get crashed from the start. We were in almost every game and their was no reason for him to throw up some of the passes that he did. Sometimes it just seemed he didnt care anymore, and would just loft the ball in the air like Moss and Owens were our wide receivers. Last year Brett just didn't use common sense plain and simple. I mean come on packer fans, Brett was not the only guy in the league playing on a bad team and I know one else even got close to his pick total.

And don't get me wrong I love Brett as much as anyone, but he has to use better judgement this year for us to succeed.

Of course your post has merit. Believe in Brett Favre this season PaCkFan_n_MD,

Kharma. :idea:

HOLD THE FAITH - GO PACKERS IN 2006 !!

[CaliforniaCheez]

This writer has looked at the numbers. I have said repeatedly in this regard you have to look at the reason behind the numbers. Who wants a guy hanging his head and giving up before the gun sounds.

Brett's passion for the game and his team should make everyone proud.

Brad Johnson is 2 years older and still in the league. Elway played to 38. Moon played past 40. Brett is tougher than all of them and a superior QB.

[RIPackerFan]

I agree, that there were games in which we were close and Favre threw interceptions. However, when I watched those games, most of his passes were "questionable". After the first 8 games, when our running game was minimal, the defensive game plans were simple. Double Driver, single cover all other recievers (with a safety covering the top) and rush Favre. Since none of our other recievers (besides Driver) could beat single coverage - Favre was always threading the needle. Go back to those games - how many times do you hear from the commentators - wow - he threaded the needle on that one - that's only a throw Favre can make (or try) - how did he get that in there.......

Every game he was making tough passes that had to be perfect, since the talent around him wasn't separating enough to make the pass easy. If you try to thread the needle enough, no matter how good you are, you are going to miss. And the more you try to thread the needle, the more likely you will miss.

Of course, he could have played it safe, but in most games, we would have never been even close even he wouldn't have thrown a few "needle" passes to get us close.

Don't get me wrong - there are still passes that Favre makes that never should have been thrown. However, I think most of the interceptions were caused by threading the needle one too many times - and I believe he was threading the needle since there was no other way to get close.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Well said.

[retailguy]

Mike Sherman's and didley squat OC - up in the box's Offense. . was way too predictable. Game after game after. . the same DAM stuff. . .Uhhh !

How many times did he think he could pull off that silly reverse play involving Donald Driver, after it worked at first? It's the NFL and that play may as well been announced on " the Big Screen ".

HOLD THE FAITH - GO PACKERS in 2006. . .

Hmmm. The same Mike Sherman who had the top three and top five offenses when he had a healthy team? C'mon Woody, you can blame Sherm for a bunch of things including crappy play calling, but a bad offense? No way.

Sherm had a problem adapting and changing, but when you are using a 5'6" receiver and a 6th and 7th string running back, with two low budget bad news guards, what the he(double hockey sticks) could he really do?

I loved the article, and you can interpret things both ways, but you can't excuse the gunslinger mentality in Favre. A lot of those picks were on him. Too many happened on early downs. He wasn't patient. I can handle 3rd down and long interceptions, or 4th down interceptions, but honestly, how many times did an ill timed, early down interception sail down the middle of the field?

Let's just step back, and stop shooting from the hip and talking up the "easy blame" as all the stupid journalists did that watched the highlights and not the game. Most of us watched the game - every game. If you're objective you know the true problem with the team was on several fronts, among them 1 - bad offensive line, 2 - poor play calling, 3 - running back injuries, 4 - Wide receiver injuries, 5 - lack of conditioning, and I'm sure there were others...

Some Sherms fault, and some not.... The guy got fired, TWICE, can't we give it a rest?

[mraynrand]

I'd say, in order, Favre's INTs were a result of

1) Horrific Offensive line play
2) Loss of receivers from game 1 on
3) Loss of a running game due to loss of running backs and O-line (see 1)
4) Extremely bad judgment/desperation of Favre's part. The INT that sticks out the most in this category was in Philly. Favre just chucked it up late hoping for something. Favre knew at this point that nothing mattered. When's the last time he faced that? I'd say when the Packers were getting blown out In St. Louis following the 2001 season
5) Favre's decreased willingness to take a hit. One thing Sherman did well was to see to it that Favre was protected with linemen and the running game. Without that protection, Favre was getting rid of passes faster, and the INT mentioned that turned the tide of the Bears game was in this category. Sure Favre may have been trying to escape loss of yardage, but I think there was at least an element there of Favre trying to escape being planted. And to be sure, I don't want to see the guy get planted anymore. The next hard hit could be his last. The guy is 36 years old but has the mileage of a George Blanda on him.

[MJZiggy]

You forgot a porous defense that could not be counted on to hold a lead, and special teams didn't to a whole lot to secure great field position.

[woodbuck27]

retailguy:

I am alot like you not down on Mike Sherman.I really didn't feel that we were well prepared in OUR TC last season.I've been always, all over that.

Mike Sherman made a bold statement early in OUR season last.Words to the effect."I can only work with what was given to me" (paraphrase).Do you re-call that retailguy? Anyone?

I felt that we suffered through a brutal TC.The focus wasn't, IMO correct.

When we were 1-6 . . Brett Favre was playing overall-aewsome, with a QB rating around 93, and leading the NFL in TD's as I re-call. The injuries were hitting us a terrible blow. Not Mike Sherman's fault for sure.

Too much adversity!Then OUR depth issues reared it's ugly head.Many placed that on Mike Sherman.I couldn't refute their stance. The other thing was Mike Sherman's clock management - that many criticized.

I won't bring it all up as many here know the points where I was criticle of how the team was handled. I was all over T2 and felt badly for Mike Sherman.I really liked HC Sherman as who was more dedicated and he did so much outside of the team for the community.

When Mike Sherman was canned.The reaction of the Packer players said it all. They liked him.That firing was brutal, pour moi.

The problem was that he and the OC were married (tied at the hip). Favre didn't agree with the way the Offence was co-ordinated. It was IMO - stale.

This season will bring us something new and exciting I trust.

Mike Sherman will be a HC again.

GO PACKERS !