ESPN And Sports Mysticism

I was listening to ESPN radio's day time coverage of all of the NFL games today. I don't remember who the hosts were, but one asked the other what the biggest problem with the Packers was and he said:

"I really think it's leadership, I think they really miss Brett Favre out there."

At the beginning of the season this may have been a reasonable assertion (I guess), but right now it's really stupid. The Packers have a lot of problems, but Aaron Rodgers isn't one of them, and Brett Favre has no effect his own defense. None.

Aaron Rodgers has a higher passer rating than Brett Favre, more yards, more yards per attempt, an equal number of touchdowns, and fewer interceptions. We got a better QB, and a draft pick.

How can you answer that question by picking QB? How about Cullen Jenkins? Bigby and Rouse? Nick Barnett (both for underperforming and getting hurt)? A.J. Hawk for underperforming?

This commentator also claimed that the Packers have rushed the ball well this year. Ryan Grant averages 4 yards per carry. He only has 4 runs of over 20 yards all year, with 3 fumbles. If you rank players by YPC, you will find the following players ahead of Ryan:

Matt Forte, Kevin Smith, Ray Rice, Mewelde Moore, Ricky Williams, Kenny Watson, Michael Pittman, Brandon Jackson, Ernest Graham, Julius Jones, Garrett Wolfe, Darren McFadden, Larry Johnson, Peyton Hillis, Maurice Morris, Jacob Hester, Kevin Faulk, J.J. Arrington, and the bad Adrian Peterson.

The fact is that Ryan Grant has had a bad year. In 30 seconds an on-air ESPN employee blamed the Packer woes on one of their strongest positions while praising one of their weakest, and not mentioning their actual defensive problems.

My day is already ruined, they could at least provide some actual analysis.