I'd say that was actually a little better than a b), with Brett Favre showing his usual zing on passes while not making any critical mistakes. His sacks were largely the fault of the offensive line and his one near-interception came about because of a great play by a Houston defender.
Naturally, however, Favre's ex-QB coach and MNF Official Cheerleader Jon Gruden couldn't assign any blame to Favre for a second-quarter pass that glanced off the fingertips of Percy Harvin in the back of the end zone. Gruden twice said that Harvin had to catch the "perfectly thrown" ball, while ignoring the possibility that, instead of Harvin reaching out another three inches, perhaps Favre could have thrown it three inches less. Truthfully, neither player was at fault -- it was a well-thrown ball and Harvin was grabbed ever-so-slightly by the defender -- but it's not like Harvin's play was an egregious error by the receiver.
Then there was "the hit." There was doubtless no malicious intent on Favre's part, but there are a few problematic things to consider:
1) “I will be 40 years old in October and (was) weed-eating 13 days ago,” Favre said. “I wasn’t thinking about throwing blocks.”
Putting aside any obvious "weed" jokes, this is exactly what I don't want to hear from Favre or anyone associated with bringing him in. Why weren't you in training camp 13 days ago? Were you not thinking about avoiding interceptions? Would you use that if you threw one? Let the media come up with the excuses, Brett.
2) As the analysts pointed out, near-40-year-old quarterbacks shouldn't be throwing a block in a preseason game, especially when they supposedly have cracked ribs. Oh yeah, he's just having fun out there.
So, yeah. Three quarters of preseason football against a mediocre defense isn't enough to get me fully on the Favre bandwagon, but I might be holding back the trigger on the TNT to blow the whole thing up. This week.
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3 comments:
There were a few plays nullified by dumb penalties, any of which would've pushed Favre's passing yardage to 150+. That almost-TD to Harvin would've made for 2 TDs on the night. I'm not trying to make excuses for Favre, but the performance was very close to the 150 yards and 2 TDs you were looking for.
Harvin needs time, flags need elimination, and Favre needs much better pass protection (or at least a consistent release valve when nothing opens up). If health holds up and INT-slinging stays away (five 'if' statements for those keeping score), the Vikings are an awesome team.
My projections were also based on two quarters of play. I would have increased them a touch if I thought he'd play three, but IIRC, he had about 110 yards passing in the first half.
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