On the bright side, Aaron Rodgers looked prettty good.
If there's an upside to the Packers' utter humiliation on MNF last night, it's the end it promised to put to any ambivalence fans might feel about Brett Favre's retirement. How could anyone honestly believe the team that gave up 48 points to the prodigiously mediocre Ravens while failing to score a single touchdown of its own could turn things around enough to have a winning season next year? And yet my position seems to be a minority one among Packer fans. One guy I watched the game with made a serious argument that the key to a playoff run next year is snapping up Terrell Owens. Because of course the guy who couldn't set aside his ego in Philadelphia is going to do it for a losing team in the league's smallest market, right?
I love Favre as much as the next guy, and I'd be happy to watch him play, and even lose, for another 10 years -- if he were playing well. But he's not. His decisionmaking, never his strongest point, has been deteriorating, and it has made the difference in several close games this year. Yes, he's been getting crummy pass protection, and he lacks a standout receiver. But Favre has played and won under these conditions before. The difference this year is he no longer has the patience to put together long drives or the discipline to throw the ball away under pressure. And every time the subject of his own errors comes up, he just falls back on rationalizations about it being his job to try to make something happen. I hate to say it, but retiring at the end of the season is the best the Favre could do for his team -- and for his legacy.
I love Favre as much as the next guy, and I'd be happy to watch him play, and even lose, for another 10 years -- if he were playing well. But he's not. His decisionmaking, never his strongest point, has been deteriorating, and it has made the difference in several close games this year. Yes, he's been getting crummy pass protection, and he lacks a standout receiver. But Favre has played and won under these conditions before. The difference this year is he no longer has the patience to put together long drives or the discipline to throw the ball away under pressure. And every time the subject of his own errors comes up, he just falls back on rationalizations about it being his job to try to make something happen. I hate to say it, but retiring at the end of the season is the best the Favre could do for his team -- and for his legacy.
posted by Jeff at 1:06 PM
3 Comments:
Ashatolla, I'll make this simple for you. Favre is playing poorly; this much is undeniable. He is, in fact, currently ranked second to last among all NFL quarterbacks in passer rating. Ah, I can hear you saying, but there's a reason why he's playing poorly: His team is weak and he feels he must be the one to pull them up out of the ditch.
Fine -- but that's not what he's doing. The guy has thrown 10 interceptions since the last time he threw a touchdown. On some of those, the receiver did not play the ball, but on plenty of them Favre just threw it up without waiting for the play to develop, and on a couple he just made inaccurate throws.
By this point, a good quarterback would have watched the game tapes and said, What am I doing wrong? What can I do differently to ensure, say, at least one touchdown for every interception? But Favre doesn't do that. He goes out and makes the same throws, week after week, to the point where opposing defensive backs are just lying back in coverage, waiting for one.
Yes, he has racked up a lot of yards -- as you might expect of a quarterback who leads the league in attempts. Yes, he lacks a running game, a deep-threat receiver and an offensive line. So the only fair way to judge him is to ask: Is he making the most of his all-too-rare opportunities? Is he even trying to learn from his mistakes?
Can you honestly answer yes to those questions?
It looks as though Favre is done, however, I would argue that if you bring back both him AND Mike Sherman next year, with a 5th pick in the draft (D-Line anyone?), at least a couple of the offensive weapons back (some are unrestricted free agents), and some cap room, they COULD be a viable team next year. Yes, I have called for Sherman's head in the past, but I feel differently once the frustration with the losing wore off several weeks ago. He was able to keep this team competitive in every game except for one (Baltimore).
I also agree that Favre's decision making is bad, but it has been his entire career! It is just that he has no offensive weapons to make those "bad" decisions turn out to be good ones (see GB vs Oakland in December 2003 -- he made many desperation passes that were all caught by Walker and Driver for his 399 yard/4 TD performance). Mark my words...if he returns and the injuries are minimal, this team could win the NFC North next year.
Well put Ashatolla! Favre DID make some bonehead plays, but he always has!! It's just that there is no one else but Driver to help him turn those into positives.
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