Brett Favre Reality

In response to an e-mail that said that Brett Favre isn’t that good anymore and just manages games, and that the Jets beat the unbeaten 10-0 Titans today because they ran for a lot of yards, which gave them a big time-of-possession advantage, I had to respond with the facts.

It is true that the Jets got a lot of first downs when they ran on first down. However, almost every one was the result of a pass, since the first down run put them in second-and-long. Yes, Favre did complete most of these as he did in the first half of the New England game last week, but why must the coach put him in must-pass situations every series? So, Favre completes all his passes when the other team know he has to pass, and the e-mailer still credited the run! The time of possession difference was not due to the runs, but to Favre completing the second- and third-down passes for first downs. I will prove this below. The game was 10-3 at halftime, which is exactly what I say happens when his coaches gets conservative and let the other team hang around. The Jets could have been up by 21 at halftime, not 7, but for the idiotic coaching. The Titans could have come back, only being down 7, but didn’t due to Favre.

Before I get to the gameplan, it was mentioned the Titans were 39 for 192 rushing, which allowed them to control the clock and have a huge time-of-possession advantage. They had a 61-yard TD run, which doesn’t run clock, and this is no different than a long pass. Aside from this play, the Jets were 38 for 131, which is an average of ONLY 3.45 yards/carry. This means that the entire game, other than the one big play, they ran for very little yardage per play and wasted 38 plays!

I’ve always said a team can set the tone of the game in the first half and take a big lead if they are aggressive, so let’s look at the Jets’ first 5 possessions, which was most of the first half. After reviewing this, it is obvious that the conservative gameplan cost the Jets dearly and that had they let Favre throw on first down, they would have put the game away early.

First, I will repeat because it is very important, even though the Jets ran on first down most of the time, those runs went for little to nothing, and it was Favre’s passes that kept these drives alive. By the way, Favre completed his first two passes for first downs. These were the first two plays, so they couldn’t have been play-action set up by the run, but were successful! (Another criticism is that the running is effective because it sets up the passes, which I disagree with.) Here are the facts:

First possession:

Series 1) Pass for 16 yards and a first down.

Series 2) Pass for 13 yards and a first down.

Series 3) Run for 1, pass for 7, pass for 5 and a first down

Series 4) Run for 3, pass for 21 and a first down

Series 5) Run for 0, pass for TD

Second possession:

Series 6) Pass for 9, pass for 8 and a first down

Series 7) Run for 5, resulted in a sack and punt

Third possession:

Series 8) Run for 1, pass for 16 and a first down

Series 9) Run for 4, run for 7 and a first down

Series 10) Pass incomplete, false start, run for 0 on 2nd-and-15, pass for 2 and fumble

Fourth possession:

Series 11) Run for 0, interception on deep pass (notice the interception after the first-down run and the conservative gameplan)

Fifth possession:

Series 12) Pass for 6, run for 0, pass for 6 for first down

Series 13) Run for 7, run for 7 and first down

Series 14) On first-and-15, pass for 25 and a first down

Series 15) Run for 14 and a first down

Series 16) Run for 0, pass for 5, get first down on pass interference

Series 17) Run for 5, run for 1, incomplete pass, get FG

Even a brief review of this will show that my points have been conclusively proven. If anything, the passes set up the runs. This is Favre managing a game?! Had they let him throw on first downs, it would have been a blowout early. If Favre would have had coaches throughout his career who understood this, they would have waived the rule and already put him in the Hall of Fame because his records would be so ridiculous they would have had no choice. Favre would have been MVP last year if he had Moss, as the only reason Brady won it was because he had Moss. Favre finished second last year, and will be one of the top candidates for MVP again this year. But, I guess he just manages games!