Seven things I like about Mike McCarthy so far

[pbmax]

Admitting, or not admitting, rebuilding is strictly a PR matter.

Letting your players know that rebuilding or no, you are expected to win your individual battles or be replaced is the important part. The need to put aside the desire to coast.

If T2 and McCarthy are throwing veterans over the side and benching others that have poor preformances, or refusing to play talent that hadn't been committed to practicing the correct way, and bringing in possible replacements through whatever means during the season (trade, waiver, practice squad) then it would be hard to have a sense of complacency as a player.

No matter whether you spoke the R word or not.

And Woodie, I don't believe anyone is saying that Favre never completed a long pass. But the bomb has never been his best pass, even when he has a single coverage go route on the sidelines. And he has definitely struggled throwing that deep ball in the middle with double coverage.

The Oakland game was a near miracle, not the least of which was how many jump balls Walker, Driver and Ferguson won over the Raider DBs.

And Harvey, I was joking about Ferguson and the deep ball. Just playing off his too frequent habit of breaking of routes with little warning and returning sheepishly to the huddle while the ball sails by.

[woodbuck27]

"And Woodie, I don't believe anyone is saying that Favre never completed a long pass. But the bomb has never been his best pass," pbmax

Nice to see you Packer fan.

pbmax. What QB in NFL ALL TIME History had "the Bomb" as his BEST pass?

I believe, that there have been few QB's to ever play the NFL game with maybe an exception being John Elway, who had as strong an arm as Brett Favre.

Now I stand aside "in respect of YOU" pbmax, as one that may inform us differently.

The Bomb to me,denotes two things:

a long pass and a catch of that long pass. The Bomb.

It's all about:

a) a QB with the arm strength pass**

** that pass long,deep and accurate.

to a WR who...

b) has the speed and skills to run "the down on the fly", catch a CB napping and blow past him, to enable catching that long pass.


Sometimes I wonder if fans don't mix up Favre's ability to pass deep, with "the fact" he too often has felt a need or been called upon to air the ball out... in some rush of desperation.

[woodbuck27]

RE: Brett Favre and NOT being able to throw "the Bomb" ?

This just in:

NOTE OF THE WEEK:

** Greg Jennings is only the third NFL player since 1990 to make a TD reception of at least 75 yards within the first three games of his career (Elias Sports Bureau).

** The Jennings reception not only was Brett Favre's 400th touchdown pass, but...

also Brett Favre's 10th of 75 or more yards.

That tied the all-time NFL record for TD passes of 75-plus yards,....

shared by George Blanda, Ed Brown, Len Dawson, Sonny Jurgensen and Norm Snead.

So certainly, Brett Favre can be considered at the TOP of ALL QB's in NFL History as certainly proving he's capable of delivering " the Bomb ".

Also that...saves Fosco33 and I, alot of research.

and there... is ...the rest of the story.

[Fosco33]

RE: Brett Favre and NOT being able to throw "the Bomb" ?

This just in:

NOTE OF THE WEEK:

** Greg Jennings is only the third NFL player since 1990 to make a TD reception of at least 75 yards within the first three games of his career (Elias Sports Bureau).

** The Jennings reception not only was Brett Favre's 400th touchdown pass, but...

also Brett Favre's 10th of 75 or more yards.

That tied the all-time NFL record for TD passes of 75-plus yards,....

shared by George Blanda, Ed Brown, Len Dawson, Sonny Jurgensen and Norm Snead.

So certainly, Brett Favre can be considered at the TOP of ALL QB's in NFL History as certainly proving he's capable of delivering " the Bomb ".

Also that...saves Fosco33 and I, alot of research.

and there... is ...the rest of the story.

Lovely, Wood. But I'm a stat man regardless. It's a difficult stat to locate though, so it may warrant a thread all its own.

[RashanGary]

Did Favre complete Bombs or did his guys run for TD's?

He certainly completed many 40 + yards in teh air to Walker but I don't remember too many other than to Walker.

When I say Bomb, I don't think long runs, I think long passes through the air. I don't remember Favre completed many to WR's not named Walker but I could be wrong.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I'm sure some were. He threw a bomb in the 1993 playoffs at Detroit to Sharpe for the game winner. I remember in 1992 when he threw a perfect bomb to Sharpe on a play-action pass at Chicago. I remember several to Javon Walker. The throw to Walker when he got hurt in Detroit last year was an example. He had a great deep throw to Driver at Chicago (or Champaign) on a Monday night. Let's not make this out to be he can't throw the deep ball. If you want to say he's average, that's fine. I'd say he's slightly above average. If there's one throw that he's not as good at as other throws, it's probably the one.

[RashanGary]

Yeah..We're really picking the guy apart here. He might not be the best ever but he's been pretty damn good at everything hasn't he?

[Fosco33]

Did Favre complete Bombs or did his guys run for TD's?

He certainly completed many 40 + yards in teh air to Walker but I don't remember too many other than to Walker.

When I say Bomb, I don't think long runs, I think long passes through the air. I don't remember Favre completed many to WR's not named Walker but I could be wrong.

Yeah, you're referring to Yards AT Catch - which when combined with YAC = total reception yards. There's a decent breakdown from ESPN on pass attempts by yardage (Y@C or Attempt) - I'll post the truth here soon.

YTD - Brett is 3 of 18 on pass attempts thrown over 21 yards (0-5 on 41+)

[HarveyWallbangers]

YTD - Brett is 3 of 18 on pass attempts thrown over 21 yards (0-5 on 41+)

How does that compare to other QBs? That also doesn't take into consideration the situation. That deep ball to Ferguson last week was a good throw--just a good play made by the DB.

Does it have a breakdown for previous years? It seems like his shots downfield this year have been the keep the honest variety. I know a couple of them went out of bounds--rather than risk an interception.

[Fosco33]

YTD - Brett is 3 of 18 on pass attempts thrown over 21 yards (0-5 on 41+)

How does that compare to other QBs? That also doesn't take into consideration the situation. That deep ball to Ferguson last week was a good throw--just a good play made by the DB.

Does it have a breakdown for previous years? It seems like his shots downfield this year have been the keep the honest variety. I know a couple of them went out of bounds--rather than risk an interception.

Yeah, it'll never be perfect - end of game attempts; attempts when down 14+ w/ 4 minutes remaining, etc. I'm going through a detailed analysis of his career numbers in this arena - give me a few other notable QBs to analyze and we can compare.

This really is OT for the thread and should be moved or started again though.

EDIT - McNabb is 5 for 12 (187 yds) w/ no attempts greater than 40+.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Interesting stats. I think part of the problem for Brett is those late deep throws (and picks) against Chicago. None were completed and one or two were picked.

Under 30, maybe even up to 40 yards isn't really a bomb though. Just looking at 40+ yards would probably be more pertinent. Not one of McNabb's attempts have been 40+ yards down the field. Brett's had 5 of them, and hasn't completed one.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I'd like to see how he compares to some of his contemporaries. Guys like Drew Bledsoe, Mark Brunell, Brad Johnson and Steve McNair. It's kind of hard to compare him to guys that aren't yet in their prime or guys that are in the prime that aren't on the backside of their career. Bigger sample size too. You figure the breaks (poor defense, great receiver or not, etc.) would even out over 10-15 years.

It's apparent looking at some of these guys numbers though that the completion percentage isn't real high for long throws. Brad Johnson is 4 for 27 the last two years on throws over 30 yards. It also points out how important Javon Walker is. Brett went 8 of 18 on 40+ yard throws in 2003 and 2004.

[LEWCWA]

When I think of Favre throwing the deep ball I see him trying to throw the ball to the moon which usually makes it an under thrown ball. He just doesn't have the touch, I have seen it to many times....and that deep ball last week to Fergy was not even close!

[Bretsky]

Did Favre complete Bombs or did his guys run for TD's?

He certainly completed many 40 + yards in teh air to Walker but I don't remember too many other than to Walker.

When I say Bomb, I don't think long runs, I think long passes through the air. I don't remember Favre completed many to WR's not named Walker but I could be wrong.

Intersesting comments; I was thinking the same thing. It appears most of Favre's deep balls have been to Walker. Watched the NFL Network at the health club last night and saw the Cincy Pitt previews from last week.

One thing stood out and right now the Packers dearly miss that with Walker gone. TJ Housch went up and beat the CB on a couple deeper balls just thrown up.

We are now missing that lengthy tall guy to go up and beat the CB and get the ball when he's not really open. Love Driver and Jennings, but they don't have that skills due to size. Ferguson could but he stinks. We need that arsenal for our QB.


B

[J-Rok]

When I read the Woody's, I thought of this play immediately. Don't see many of these in the NFL.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=N_y5UZmTPHk&search=