Have Brett Favre's skills really diminished that much?

[woodbuck27]

Have Brett Favre's skills really diminished that much?

By Chris Landry, Yahoo! Sports
September 19, 2006




Physically, Favre is not the same player that he was in his prime. That much is obvious to even the most casual observer. However, his skill level is still better than many starting NFL quarterbacks.

In his prime, Favre was always a wild-child-type player who routinely threw the ball into coverage. Back then, he had two huge factors going for him. One, former head coach Mike Holmgren was both a calming influence and stern hand. Holmgren was great at accentuating the positives in Favre's skills as well as diminishing his flaws. With better personnel weapons surrounding Favre, Holmgren was also outstanding at clearing coverage in the deep middle and allowing Favre to make the throws against man coverage successfully.

Now, the Packers struggle in both pass protection and in the running game, which leads to them falling behind early, which forces them to hope Favre pulls something out of his hat. In this scenario, even the hottest quarterbacks will fail.

When evaluating a player, you must ask yourself why he is struggling or having success. Asking the "whys" accurately and astutely will ultimately bring you to the answer.

A number of other quarterbacks are playing poorly, but there are other issues that are contributing to that. Changing the quarterback is not always the answer, unless he's beaten down physically or mentally and not processing information accurately.

Making a change at a position without addressing the other problems is just cosmetic. If you had transmission problems on your automobile, would changing the tires help? Or would it simply make one situation better without addressing the more significant issue?

PACKERS @ LIONS - GO PACK GO !!

[KYPack]

Ron Jaworski did an in-depth analysis of Brett's skills over the last 4-5 years. They have markedly diminished. He is making technique errors and is no longer fundamentally sound. He used to overcome these deficiencies with his monster physical talent. Now he has deteriorated to the point that he can't overcome this stuff.

I hope Brett goes back to the basics and improves. I want him to play next year, for my own selfish reasons.

[mission]

i obviously started a thread about his mechanics a couple days ago but it's also worth noting that on certain passes, he's made remarkable improvement.

those two passes to driver....

the first one favre rolled left and got his feet around in position to make a solid throw like any high schooler is taught to do (but he never used to do). he did it and made a perfect pass between defenders and right into driver's hands. then the deep pass to driver on the other side of the field, he came directly over the top (this being key) with good follow through and squared away feet and threw one of the best passes ive seen him throw in quite some time.

if he keeps putting effort into those little things and continues to see positive results/changes then i can see that lighting a little fire under his ass. everyone likes to see the fruits of their labor and i think he flashed signs of it on sunday.

id just like to see it continually improve ... hopefully it does.

[chewy-bacca]

yes he is older, but I would say Favre @ 85-90% is better than most other QBs. I agree with the story, he needs more exp. in all areas. He also need the vets to hold on to the ball. The game plan was better for him this past week, roll outs and bootlegs. The oline is giving him vary little time. its hard to be sound with mech. when your getting pushed around in the pocket, and chased on bootlegs. He did hold the ball to long on the pick, but in a game where he did good things, something bad is gonna happen, they always do. In the past other players helped make it up. now they crumble.

If Favre had half the team Elway had in the end of his time, we would be a top team. Nothing seems to be working in his favor though, so he has to take the heat. He is still damn good, its just the rest of the team is pretty darn bad.

[GBRulz]

Personally, I ignore the stuff about "has brett's skills dimished" blah blah blah because how can you even compare him today vs. when he actually had talent around him? I won't deny that his decision making over the past year plus makes me beat my head against the wall at times, but other than Driver, this guy has nobody. his WR's and TE's can't even catch a cold at times, he has no running game, the O-Line has him running for his life, etc. Of course that's gonna mess with the guys head....he doesn't have much confidence and I can't say that I blame him.

I am still a total supporter of Favre and that he definitely gives us the best chance to win. I think if he had some surrounding talent, we wouldn't be reading all this talk about his skills deteriorating and we'd be talking about when he's going to get his 4th MVP.

Call me an apologist if you will, but I am in no way ready to let go of #4....

[MJZiggy]

I was thinking about this last night and for some reason, I still have a good feeling about this team that I can't seem to shake no matter how many times you guys try to tell me that they suck. It seems to go beyond just me defending the team. I will defend them, but I haven't seen guys get after a qb like they did last week in a long time. Kampman was determined and never gave up and did a hell of a job as did a few of the other guys. I just feel like they need to come together a little more and they will be a force. Jennings just has to catch one or two more (and Koren comes in) to take the heat off DD and they just need to make a few fewer mistakes on the line and Ahman will start breaking runs. It's coming, I can feel it.

[mission]

I was thinking about this last night and for some reason, I still have a good feeling about this team that I can't seem to shake no matter how many times you guys try to tell me that they suck. It seems to go beyond just me defending the team. I will defend them, but I haven't seen guys get after a qb like they did last week in a long time. Kampman was determined and never gave up and did a hell of a job as did a few of the other guys. I just feel like they need to come together a little more and they will be a force. Jennings just has to catch one or two more (and Koren comes in) to take the heat off DD and they just need to make a few fewer mistakes on the line and Ahman will start breaking runs. It's coming, I can feel it.

It's funny you say that. I really feel the same way. I was disappointed obviously last week when ahman fumbled, they scored and everything looked bleek but I didnt have that shitty feeling in my stomach that I was used to from last year. I saw a ton of bright spots and maybe it's just wishful thinking by the both of us, but I can't help but feel some positive things are going to come out of this year.

I think all the national negative attention is from people who really have seen any of the games or are just going off ESPN and i think it's incredibly misleading. I'm not saying we're a playoff team, that's for sure, but it's fun to watch this new wave of players develop before our eyes.

[Harlan Huckleby]

The one area that is holding the team back is the offensive line. If the offensive line starts run blocking, the team can be competitive. I just don't know if Moll and Spitz are good enough.

[ahaha]

The one area that is holding the team back is the offensive line. If the offensive line starts run blocking, the team can be competitive. I just don't know if Moll and Spitz are good enough.

This is the position group with the most potential for improvement. With all the youth, and guys having to learn this new blocking scheme, it's not unreasonable to HOPE for some dramatic improvement as the season goes on.

[mmmdk]

The one area that is holding the team back is the offensive line. If the offensive line starts run blocking, the team can be competitive. I just don't know if Moll and Spitz are good enough.

This is the position group with the most potential for improvement. With all the youth, and guys having to learn this new blocking scheme, it's not unreasonable to HOPE for some dramatic improvement as the season goes on.

Let's hope so, remember, Whitticker & Klemm had NO room for improvement. Coston is an enigma too - will he ever play a down in the NFL?

[prsnfoto]

Ron Jaworski did an in-depth analysis of Brett's skills over the last 4-5 years. They have markedly diminished. He is making technique errors and is no longer fundamentally sound. He used to overcome these deficiencies with his monster physical talent. Now he has deteriorated to the point that he can't overcome this stuff.

I hope Brett goes back to the basics and improves. I want him to play next year, for my own selfish reasons.

Ky don't listen to morons like Jaws his observation is flawed from the start Brett has never ever ever had good mechanics his arm has got him through now I concede he has lost 5% of his velocity but he still has one if not the strongest arm in football the difference is his supporting cast sucks.

[Tony Oday]

I feel better about this team than last year

[Scott Campbell]

Jaworski is not your typical pretty boy with nothing but a loud mouth. Much of his analysis is done while breaking down film. I respect his work and his opinion.

[Rastak]

Jaworski is not your typical pretty boy with nothing but a loud mouth. Much of his analysis is done while breaking down film. I respect his work and his opinion.

I agree, he's one of the best out there actually.

[RIPackerFan]

MJZiggy - I agree with your sentiments. Maybe I am deluded, but I feel some good things are coming this way. After two games, its tough to really judge a lot. We know we are not one of the premier teams in the league, but are we really that bad? What if we had a crystal ball and saw that NO and Chicago were both 5-0 after week five - does that make our losses more palatable? What is we go on to win 2 out of the next three? What does that say?

As far as Favre goes, I watched the game and saw at least three passes that only a few quarterbacks could make - Favre being one of them. I am not ready to concede anything about his skills diminishing yet. I also only see better things coming in the future, as he feels more comfortable with his recievers and his line.

I can't wait for this weekend's game. I saw improvement in several areas this past weekend, and I expect to see even more, which should put us in a position to win.