Favre Fallout and Subsquent Results

Now that the season is over for the teams and players “involved” in the Brett Favre debacle, it’s time to step back and take a look at the success, or failure, of each teams experiment.  The teams and the quarterbacks I am speaking of are as follows, TEAMS: Packers, Jets, Dolphins and Lions (just wait I’ll get there), PLAYERS: Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, Chad Pennington, and Dante Culpepper.  We all know the drama that the Packers and Favre went through, so I will not belabor that point, but what I want to do is provide an opinion on each teams decision, how it effected the team, grade each teams season, and long term prognosis.

 

At the start of the 2008 season, the Packers had traded Favre to the Jets for conditional picks (ended up with a 3^rd round pick because Favre stunk the last 5 games and missed the playoffs).  With Favre at Jets camp, they no longer needed Pennington, hence his arrival in Miami.  Not sure what Culpepper’s status was in Miami, at the time, but he was either gone, or soon to be exiting and moving up to Detroit; all this while the Packers were giving the keys to the 14-4 sports car to Aaron Rodgers.  As for where each team stood when the 2007 season ended, the Packers were 14-4, the Jets were 4-12, the Dolphins were 1-15 and the Lions….well who cares.  This season, there were some changes.  The Packers went 6-10, Jets 9-7, Dolphins 11-6 (made playoffs & won their division) and the Lions ceremoniously went 0-16.  At first glance you’d have to say that the Dolphins were the biggest winner in the Favre drama, which for 2008 is true, but let’s look at this a little further. 

 

The Jets, being 4-12 in 2007, took a risk and brought in the aging, drama-queen Brett Favre.  They structured the deal to limit their risk, and in my opinion, did an OK job at that.  The trade was looking REALLY good for Mangini and the Jets when they were 8-3 and then they go and lose 4 out of their next 5 in December.  A little too cold for you Mr. Favre?  Experiment result – FAIL.  Now, they only had to give up a third round pick for the risk, but with Favre’s recent comments telling the team they may need to go in a different direction, who do they have to take his place and what piece of the puzzle could that third rounder have given them?  I hope the Jets fans appreciated a winning season this year, as sour as it was, because 9-7 will not be seen by that franchise next year and possibly in years to come (assuming they have a typical Jets off-season). 

 

The Dolphins, with their complete and utter joke of a 2007 season turned into the Cinderella story of 2008.  They go from 1-15 in ’07 to winning the division in ‘08?!?!?  I realize there’s parity in the NFL, but a 10 game turnaround?  Unbelievable!  Now I know cleaning house, and hiring a new coach has some benefits, but other than Atlanta, this was the story of the season.  Unfortunately they saw what Jets fans saw much of Chad’s career, in their latest playoff loss, and honestly will probably see a lot more of in 2009 and beyond.  All in all a great story, one that would not have been possible if not for Pennington’s consistent, calming play.  The problem is, Chad still has a weak arm, he is not a spring chicken, and the Dolphins have a decent amount of holes to fill to make playoff appearances and division championships a regular occurrence. 

 

I cannot in good conscience spend too much time on the Lions, because they are just too pathetic.  0 and 16 (NFL record for most losses in a season – I believe) is deplorable, especially for a franchise that is not an expansion team.  They, in gross desperation, took Dante Culpepper off of the scrap heap, hoping to do “SOMETHING”.  Too bad Dante’s best days are, and have been, long gone.  I can’t blame the Lions for going after Culpepper, and for Dante accepting their offer, it’s just that neither party was going to be successful.  In turn the whole thing looked unbelievably horrible.  I’m not sure where that franchise is going, and as a Packer fan, that has attended a game in Detroit, I DON’T care.  Side Note: I’ve been to Chicago and their fans, as much as they hate the Packers, are not nearly as jerkish as Detroit fans, so kudos to all of the Detroit opponents.  I applaud each and every team that beat them (even Minnesota and Chicago) because it warms my heart that the collective group of Lions fans paid good money (either in person or on TV) to see THAT team play each week and got to see history – good for them!

 

Now for the Packers; for clarity sake (if you hadn’t figured it out yet) I am a Packer fan, but one that is realistic.  I predicted a 7-9 season after this whole Favre thing, and came within one game of that prediction.  I’ll also tell you I can’t stand Ted Thompson.  His handling of the Favre mess was unprofessional, arrogant, and stupid.  I realize he saw something in Rodgers and wanted to get him out on the field, but how he got there was embarrassing.  I do believe that Brett Favre would have been, albeit slightly, better than Rodgers this year for the Green and Gold, BUT I also believe that Aaron Rodgers will be a better long term QB for this franchise for the foreseeable future.  His statistics were significantly better than I expected.  His poise, leadership, toughness and athletic ability were much better than I imagined, and I am very confident in his ability to lead this team to great success, especially in the unbelievably weak NFC North.  Rodgers is the real deal.  I am certainly not going to go on and say that this is equivalent to Young taking over for Montana; I’m just saying that I am happy with his ability and future, especially when you compare it to the teams in the North.  Rodgers in the next 2-3 years will be in that tier of QB’s like Philip Rivers, Jay Cutler, etc.  He can, if given the weapons, protection, and coaching reach that Pro Bowl level.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

 

This all leads me to the grades for each team.  I will measure them on the decision to make the change, the result of that decision and the long term ramifications for each team.

 

INITIAL DECISION

Packers            B          (would have been an A, had it not been for Ted Thompson’s joke of a management style.)                                           

 

Jets                  B          (can’t blame them for bringing in a HOFer who just came off of a                                              14-4 season KNOWING the team he was under contract with,                                          didn’t want him)

 

Dolphins           B          (Had to do something with the QB “pen” they had.  They picked                                               up a guy who had career numbers and made the coach and Parcells                          look like geniuses.)

 

Lions                F          (just because they went 0-16)

 

RESULT

Packers            D         (I realize going 14-4 in 2007 was not a true reflection of that team                                             – they were a .500 team then as well, but going 6-10 is bad, period)

 

Jets                  F          (After going 8-3 and in the drivers seat, they go and lose 4 out of                                               their last 5 and miss winning the division AND the playoffs.  Bye                                           bye Mangini and Favre.)

 

Dolphins           B+       (Would have received an A if it were not for Pennington’s 4 INT                                               playoff appearance, but considering they were 1-15 last year,                                        Dolphin’s fans should be ecstatic.)

 

Lions                F          (Does it need to be said, again?)

 

FUTURE

Packers            B+       (Jury’s still out on many positions, but at the skill positions, they                                                 are young, talented, and improving)

 

Jets                  D         (Favre’s gone – more than likely – coaching position is vacant,                                      several holes to fill, and their receivers are getting older and less                                                effective.  I’m not too confident.)

 

Dolphins           C         (I’m impressed by the Sparano/Parcells team, Pennington probably                               has another decent year or two in him and you never know what                                          can happen….)

 

Lions                F          (Even though they have nowhere to go but up, going 2-14 next                                      year will still be 2-14.  There are so many holes to fill I wouldn’t                                            even want to start to analyze their “future”.

 

Good luck to all (except of course Detroit) and always realize, this is the NFL – anything’s possible.  Just ask the Dolphins!