A response to a friend:
Of course the best offenses have both good passing and good running games. That’s always preferable. However, I believe that when you emphasize the run first, you minimize your chances of winning. Tennessee had the league’s leading rusher and I believe led the league in rushing, but didn’t make the playoffs. I could be wrong, but I think a few years ago the top 6 running teams didn’t make the playoffs. You can say that running opens up passing later, but I think it keeps you from scoring and lets the other team hang around. Let me be more clear on Favre’s frustration. He doesn’t do anything selfish or not in the context of the team. Here’s what happens: His team, which has been conservative, is tied or behind as a result, it’s late in the game, and he wants to win (a team goal). He’s frustrated since he knows his team could have been up by 30, but he’s still trying to win. He will do whatever it takes to try to win at the end of the game. Many times it works–the game-winning TD pass in the 49er game and the game-tying TD pass in the bear game, but if he throws an interception, everyone comes down on him. I much prefer to have a QB who hates losing and will do everything he can to try to win, even if it backfires at times. Since he has the most wins ever, he’s done something very right. He’s not selfishly out for stats or personal glory.
I completely disagree with you regarding Peterson. You keep saying Tarvaris Jackson could do what Favre does since teams are overplaying the run. I don’t understand this logic. The Vikings had the same team the last few years with Jackson at QB, Peterson ran much more successfully in the past, and they went nowhere. Now that they are a threat with the passing game with Favre, you are saying that defenses are even overplaying the run more. That doesn’t make sense to me. They never had to worry about Jackson, but do have to worry about Favre. Favre led the NFL in QB rating for part of the season, and due to Childress’ conservative gameplans at the end of the season, resulting in 3 losses in 4 games, Favre finished second. How can you say that defenses don’t care about the passing game when you have the first- or second-rated QB?!!
You say there is nothing wrong with trying to get Peterson going with a run-heavy gameplan early. Well, Childress did that when they were 11-0, and they lost 3 of the next 4 as a result. I previously mentioned that ESPN said the players side with Favre regarding being more aggressive. A new article just came out that I will put up on sportstruths soon, and it quotes Vikings insiders as saying that the reason the team lost those games was Childress’ stubbornness regarding running the ball, and how the organization mostly blamed Childress for the offense becoming “disjointed” down the stretch. They called him “his own worst enemy” and said he should “manage and not meddle.” It also said that Favre might call 6 good audibles, but if he called one that didn’t work, Childress would get upset. It said he’s drawn criticism for his game-management skills and uninventive gameplans, and basically said Childress should defer to Favre. After the bear game, every announcer I heard, local or national, talked about how Childress blew the game by running early. If the Vikings thought Favre was being selfish, they would side with Childress, but they know Favre is right and that being aggressive gives them the best chance to win. Keep in mind that after the first 3 games, they were 10-0 when aggressive, and 0-3 when conservative.
You say Favre won only one championship, so that is a stain on his legacy. I guess Greg Maddux isn’t that great a pitcher, since you think he only won one championship. The fact that his ERA was a full run or more lower than any other pitcher each year has nothing to do with his greatness–the fact that he only won one championship is what matters according to your logic.
I’m not denying the Packer defense played horribly in the Cardinal game, but that’s not why they lost. They lost because the Cardinals were given a touchdown that shouldn’t have counted and 2 penalties were not called in overtime. Of course, the guy was fined by the league for his spear on second down that wasn’t called. As I predicted, a quiet admission of referee error.