No matter what you think of the guy, you gotta give him props on how good he is playing....

[trumad]

Favre that is. Oh sure---he may break down in the 2nd half---but right now he's playing as good as any QB in the league and that's pretty amazing at his age.

[a kennedy]

1. and I can't wait for that "break down" to happen......

I'm thinking, hmmmmm during the NFC championship game??? or how about the big one, the Super Bowl....yeah, that's it. Let him throw the INT in the big game and see how the queens love him then. Been there done that. He's great and so much fun to watch but he'll kill ya with a bone head pass, and you can count on that. GO PACK GO.

[JonLP24]

2. By the numbers

he is having one of the best years of any QB. You could argue who is playing better when it comes to the top 10 but he is certainly playing better then Roethlisberger, Rivers, Brady, and Romo.

[trumad]

3. Yep---

but he started strong last year with the Jets.... and then he fell apart. I think the Vikes are better than the Jets of last year---certainly the Vike's O-Line is... during one play last night Favre had 7.3 seconds in the pocket---- that's fucking amazing.

Let's see how he does against the Ravens and the Steelers in week 6 and 7.

[JonLP24]

4. I believe that was the part of the season he had a torn bicep

I'm not sure as one of two times I did watch the Farve-Jets was when they played the Cardinals last year and he burned them for 6 fucking touchdowns so my position was that he still had it. The final score of that game was closer then it indicated as the Cards went into the half trailing 34-0. Kurt Warner came out firing and he himself set the franchise record for passing yardage in a game.

But if there is anything that is true about the NFL is that it is a team sport. If the Vikings go deep in the playoffs it's likely because everyone on that team is playing well which they are so far.

[BOSSHOG]

5. I'll take

Drew Brees right now and at the end of the season.

[JonLP24]

6. I didn't say he is playing better then Brees

Brees is obviously the exception along with Peyton Manning who those two are playing the best right now judging from the numbers.

[PVnRT]

7. Well, when you face virtually no pressure from a defense

It's a hell of a lot easier to look good. 7.3 seconds....even I could complete passes with that kind of protection, and McCarthy's insistence on playing nice, soft zone coverage last night helped as well.

I find it more amazing that BrettFavre was able to play well despite the Packers shutting down Peterson. He's always been at his best when he has a reliable ground game, despite what the pundits seem to think. When he has no rushing to back him up, that's when he starts throwing to the other team.

[trumad]

8. Well the week before he was scrambling for his life

when he threw the game winning TD. And it was a perfect strike.

[Upton]

10. He may have hit the game winning pass

but Favre admitted himself it took some luck, plus it was a great catch by the receiver. Up until that finally pass he was only 23-46 against the 49ers...below average by NFL standards.

[trumad]

11. I contend the throw was as good as the catch...

and those numbers against a good SF defense isn't bad at all.

[eyepaddle]

9. I think Peterson's performance and Favre's are more closely linked than that,

The Pack had to chose: Are we going to stop Peterson or Favre? They picked Peterson. When you load up on the run it opens things up for the passing game. After six or seven years of Vikings quarterbacks being unable to capitalize in situations like that, this represents a substantial shift.

If you give Frerotte, Brad Johnson or T-Jack 7 seconds to pass they are still likely to throw behind the open man, or maybe overthrow him. Or if it is Troy Williamson, you'll hit him in the hands and he'll drop it.

When it is Favre looking at Rice, Shiancoe, and Berrian it is a different story. (edited to add Harvin!)

I was totally grooving on the improvement from the right side of the VIkings O-line last night.

[Auggie]

12. +1

Favre isn't facing much pressure -- the O-line does look good. But is it because many defenses are playing it too conservatively?

[BlooInBloo]

14. Yep. My speculation is that the GB honest-to-gawd didn't think Favre...

had that kind of game in him, and deliberately chose to stop AP, and force Favre to lose the game.

If that speculation is correct, GB coach chose wrongly.

[eyepaddle]

16. Well, GB lost the game, but I'm not sure concentrating on Peterson was a mistake

Sometimes you are damned if you do, and damned if you don't. AP has lit them up in the past--at least this had the virtue of novelty for them!

[BlooInBloo]

17. Sports is a case where "mistake" is largely a retrospective matter...

If my speculation is correct, I wouldn't call the choice a *stupid* one though, that's for sure.

Still, betting *against* Favre doesn't seem like the best possible decision. Guess we'll see what happens in round 2.

[Auggie]

21. Why can't you do both?

Bring an extra pass rusher or two to pressure Favre while playing the run. So it means you have man-to-man coverage -- if Favre has to hurry the throw there's a better chance it won't be complete. Or -- gasp -- he might even get sacked.

[BlooInBloo]

23. Opinion from someone who has never played football, noted...

You can't take away everything from an offense.* And a distressing number of teams can't take away *anything*. :rofl:


* With the possible exception of the Raiders offense.

[Auggie]

24. I'm not saying you take everything away

The trade-off is you're in man-to man coverage. But Favre doesn't have all day to find a receiver either.

[BlooInBloo]

25. That's why the phrase "you live by the blitz, you die by the blitz" exists...

Last night, Favre was pwning on single coverage.

[Auggie]

26. I guess I don't get it. I've been "lucky" enough to see the Vikes play three games

this season and it looks to me like teams are purposely giving Favre time to throw the ball in must scoring situations. Only the San Francisco defense consistently harassed him until they turned conservative late in the fourth quarter. It was then Favre had time to consistently move the ball down field and eventually won the game.

[BlooInBloo]

27. "teams are purposely giving Favre time" - hahaha! Um, yah - that "purpose"...

Has a name: Adrian Peterson. Combined with the fact that I initially mentioned: you can't take *everything* away from an offense. Sounds like teams are choosing the best of evils in MN's case.

That's why Favre wanted to be on the Vikings. Having the best RB in the world makes live sooooo nice for a qb.

[JonLP24]

28. Experienced QBs are better against blitz then any coverage

The reason being that they know where the receivers are going to be and who is blitzing. Basically recognizing something they've seen before.

Brett is 16/26 61.5% 1 TD against the blitz. He appears to struggle to most when there are only 3 on the D-line with no blitz. 21/42, 50% and 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

The reason why I pay attention to that kind of thing is Warner is awesome against the blitz while pundits will say they need to attack Warner. No the answer to Warner is go a 4 man rush leave everyone else in coverage. That's what the 49ers and the Colts did very successfully. For the numbers Warner is 16/21, 147 yds, and 1 TD against the blitz. He is 25/36 2 TD, 1 INT against a 4 man rush. But those numbers aren't bad. Here's how is he killing the Cardinals. 3rd down stats 15/30 1 TD, 2 INT.

[Auggie]

29. Thanks

That makes a lot of sense.

[BlooInBloo]

13. It was extra-hilarious because people were hating on him AS he was throwing...

td after td.

:rofl:

I'm not particularly a "Farve fan", but damn he came through last night.

[trumad]

15. I think most can't stand the guy because of how he handled his retirement

non retirement...

[Forkboy]

18. I actually like the guy.

One of the few players in the League that could have played in any era and done well.

What I don't like is the endless and nauseating fawning over him by broadcasters and sportswriters alike. It's way overboard, and none dare utter a critical comment about their beloved.

But he's fine by me.

[BOSSHOG]

19. Terry Bradshaw and Mike Lupica

have uttered lots of critical comments about Favre. They don't like the fact that he has unretired twice after saying he has retired. I don't find it an issue. And no one held a gun to the heads of the Jets and Vikings.

[Forkboy]

20. I can't stand either Bradshaw or Lupica, so I never hear it.

I don't really care about the retirement stuff either. He loves the game, and lots of athletes have troubles leaving it behind, and because of his stature he just gets far more attention over it. And hey, he's clearly getting the job done, for now at least.

[BOSSHOG]

22. I didn't want to

retire from the Navy but I had no choice. I think Bradshaw does a good job on Fox pregame Sunday Show, I can take Lupica in short doses, like the 1/2 sports reporters on Sunday Morning. The Favre "haters" got trashed today in the Gulfport paper.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

30. The dude was throwing bb's.

One of his incomplete passes might have been the hardest pass I've ever seen thrown.


Eta: By "hardest" I mean "fastest."