Monday, December 29, 2008

The Great Favre Debate

So...Brett Favre for a third rounder is how it shakes out. What do you think? The season is over, did the Packers make the right move?

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Aaron Rodgers: 28 TD|13 INT|4038 YDS|63.6%|34 SACKED|4 RTD|3 lost fumbles (10 total)

Brett Favre: 22 TD|22 INT|3472 YDS|65.7%|30 SACKED|1 RTD|3 lost fumbles (10 total)

QB Rating:
Rodgers - 93.8 (6th in the league)
Favre - 81.0 (21st in the league)

Record:
Packers: 6-10
Jets: 9-7
Titans (Kerry Collins): 13-3 (best record in NFL)

Notables:
Rodgers was 4th in total passing yards, 8th in attempts per game (33.5)
Favre was 11th in total passing yards, 10th in attempts per game (32.6)
Yards per pass: Rodgers - 7.5 Favre: 6.7
Rodgers was 6th in passing yards per game: 252.4
Favre was 15th in passing yards per game: 217
Passing plays of 20 yards or more: Rodgers - 48 (5th in league) Favre - 40 (12th in league)
Passing plays of 40+: Rodgers - 16 (tied 1st) Favre - 7 (13th)
Aaron Rodgers was sacked 7th most in the league, Favre 10th. (I was surprised to see Cassel at the top).

20 comments:

PaulNoonan said...

It was clearly correct to go with Rodgers. My only questions is, should we have traded him to the Vikings instead? We may have gotten more value in return, and Minnesota made the playoffs anyway.

Chris said...

I am just glad the NYBretts did not make the playoffs draft pick be damned. I could not have handled a whole offseason listening to the Eric's of the world tell us how we would have went to the Super Bowl if we had the Favre God instead of Rogers.

The kid will do fine give him a defense and a couple of new offensive linemen and we will be alright.

Qb is not one of the many problems in Green Bay

Rob said...

Well... I'm glad you asked. Back in the days of the WSB I was an accused and admitted Favreophile. I thought it was a mistake to get rid of the old gunslinger.

With that said, I will still say that I feel we would have won 2 and may be 3 more games with Favre at QB.

BUT, I am now agreed that discarding Favre and starting Rodgers was the better choice... that is probably because not only has time softened the burn of crapping to the side the greatest Packer of my lifetime and by watching him the last half of the Jets season you can see he isn't capable of leading a mediocre team to the Super Bowl. The Packers season has shown that, like Chris said, Rodgers has shown that he WILL be a top tier QB and he is not one of the problems that they have.

Anonymous said...

Rodgers was the correct move. It is a shame it took hindsight to make this apparent. My gripe with the Packers, contrary to Chris being Chris, was the process-less way the decision was made.

Somebody literally made a gut decision. There was no evaluation at all. Once again, Chris, my problem was not the outcome of the decision my problem was the way it was made.

This arbitrariness without competition tells the players that no matter how good they might be they will literally be let go for any reason, even a gut instinct. Why the hell would a player perform to peak standards under such conditions?

I believe the Packers lost games because of this.

I also believe the Packers lost games because McCarthy blows as an OC and Favre covered that up with experience. Fortunately Rodgers will learn experience. Hopefully McCarthy will learn his lesson and hire an OC.

Anonymous said...

Favre is so amazing that even after he ran out of great seasons to give to Green Bay, he managed to get them a 3rd round draft pick!

I am wondering why Eric believes it was a gut decision instead of a carefully considered one.

E.S.K. said...

Yeah, I don't really get why Eric assumes it was a gut decision either?

PaulNoonan said...

Hi Scott, long time no see.

Ditto that. So many people (besides Eric) talk as if the decision was personal, or ill-considered. Clearly, with the benefit of hind sight it was correct, but it was also very defensible from the outset from a strategic perspective.

Rob said...

The reason that I would be led to think that the end of the Favre era was a gut decision was because if that is how an NFL GM and head coach execute a MAJOR decision then they suck and/or are incompentent. If that is how I made political decisions at work then I would be soon working at McDonalds.

Their strategic move was ran about as well as the McCain campaign.

Anonymous said...

The decision to go with Rodgers was of course strategic but also a freaking guess and thus ill considered. Chris that means unwise.

The 2007 Packers were 13-3 with Favre; including at least three games in which the Packers were down in the Fourth quarter.

That looks pretty good. One could easily look at that and reason it would be silly for anyone to replace Favre.

In fairness however Aaron Rodgers looked pretty good against Dallas and FAvre was only going to get older. But consider that Warren Moon played until he was 44.

So if the Packers made a rational choice, without hindsight, as to whom the starter should be how did they do it?

E.S.K. said...

A guess, how so? I mean they couldn't have know that Rodgers was going to excel like he did but they had seen the kid for 3 full years of pro ball. You can't play a football season with two starting quarterbacks, but they had as much knowledge of Rodgers as anyone could have ever hoped to.

They allow Favre to come back, they lose both Favre and Rodgers at the end of this season. It doesn't seem like rocket science to make the choice to keep a young Rodgers (see if he can cut it) over 1 season of Favre.

To the 2007 Packers, yep, they looked damn good. What is nice is that the organization was much closer to Favre than any of us mopes. I'm guessing they saw his inability to play in cold weather games and his reluctance to come to camp early as signs of age. This speculation proved true, as Favre played pretty terrible at the end of this season.

As for Rob, I'm not really sure what you are getting at. In the end, I think the Packers played it exactly right. They let Favre twist in the wind and look like the asshole. Everyone outside of Wisconsin thinks Favre is a prick for last off season, I don't see how else they could have played it.

Rob said...

ESK... you are probably right and I don't know either how they could have played it and looked better or acted more competent. I guess I just expect the two guys leading our team to figure that out. My best-construction-on-everthing side says that they just keep their mouths shut because it is a no win to criticize Favre or throw him under the bus. May be it was a no-win situation.

I am with the feeling now that it was the right decision and I am extremely optimistic for 2008. I saw my first mock draft this past week and the projection was a DT... I can't wait for a pass rush from the front 4!

E.S.K. said...

Is there a good list of NFL free agents out there? I'd like the see the Packers pick up a DT before the draft.

Rob said...

Here is a nice list that I'm sure will be updated: http://www.nfl.com/freeagency

Here is a 2009 list: http://www.footballsfuture.com/2009/fa/dl.html

This is a nice one with free agents up through 2017 (hope I'm alive): http://www.footballsfuture.com/2009/fa/dl.html

E.S.K. said...

Thanks!

There are like 6 d linemen on that list that could immediately have a huge impact on this club.

Chris said...

I see Jets players are calling out the Favre God in the Media.

It must really sadden Eric that his new favorite team is turning on his precious Brett.

E.S.K. said...

Saddens me too, dude. I don't get your hate for Favre, even now a year later.

Chris said...

Simple last off season Favre showed that the Packers and Green Bay meant nothing to him he tried his hardest to fuck them over the offseason and he showed when he went to NYC that it is all about Brett no matter what team he is on.

E.S.K. said...

Assuming all that is true...so?

Chris said...

I do not like the guy I believe that is my right Since we are not in an American Court room I do not have to defend why I do not like him

E.S.K. said...

very True