Brett Favre's effort to take the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl came up short yesterday mostly due to Favre's inability to avoid costly turnovers. All the elements seemed to be in place for the Vikings to win on the road in a noisy Superdome.
The Viking defense slowed down the high powered Saint offense limiting them to 257 yards of total offense. New Orleans averaged 380 yards of offense during the regular season and rolled up 418 in their previous playoff game against Arizona.The Saints could only muster 68 yards on the ground and converted on only 3 of 12 third downs. Add to that a strong running game led by Adrian Peterson who had 122 yards and 3 touchdowns and all the elements of a win seemed to be in place.
The only piece of the puzzle missing for Minnesota was their quarterback taking care of the football in clutch situations. Instead Favre turned the ball over 3 times. He fumbled an exchange with Peterson late in the 1st half inside the Saints 5 yard line taking sure points off the board. He was also picked off twice. The second interception cost the Vikings a chance to try a possible game winning field goal. Favre was lucky to avoid a third interception when Saints defender Jabari Greer droppped a Favre throw that hit him right between the numbers.
Favre's unspectacular performance wasn't all that surprising when considering his recent playoff history. It wasn't the first time he has under performed in the post season. Since the 1998 season Favre is only 4-7 in playoff games. In those 11 games he has thrown 20 interceptions, not to mention some fumbles along the way. He had a 6 interception game against St. Louis in 2001 and a 4 interception game against his own Vikings in 2004, so his 3 turnover game yesterday should come as no shock.
Teams have put up with Favre's prima donna act for the last several years on the premise that he can deliver the goods that other QBs can't when it matters the most. For the most part he has been unable to hold up his end of that bargain. When Favre retires( for good) he will quickly take his place in the Hall Of Fame where he rightfully belongs. He has done more than enough throughout his career to put him in that class. He has accomplished feats few QBs in this game ever have. Unfortunately for Brett and his team mates he hasn't accomplished them in the post season often enough.
Monday, January 25, 2010
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While many, including yourself will certainly and accurately underscore Favre’s turnovers as a reason for the Vikings loss, the way your article was framed is somewhat misleading. Certainly Favre’s interception with 18 seconds left was completely ill-advised, however, had one of the Vikings’ players or coaches not had an extra player in the huddle which added a 5-yard penalty to the third down play, then maybe Favre’s throw never occurs. Either way, it should be noted that there were OTHER factors that contributed to the Vikings’ not attempting a field goal to win the game in regulation.
ReplyDeleteSecond, the inference that it was “mostly” Favre’s turnover’s which caused the Vikings to come up short is again very misleading. Adrian Peterson fully acknowledges that it was He, not Favre, who was ultimately responsible for the fumble before the half. He failed to properly have his hands ready to receive the ball; though statistically, the fumble is credited to Favre, one can clearly see that AP wasn’t ready – though it was his responsibility to be ready.
Further contributing to the loss was Harvin’s fumble on his own 27 yard line and Berrian’s miscue on the Saints 8 yard line. After Harvin’s fumble, the Saints scored a TD 3 plays later, and had Berrian not fumbled, most likely the Vikings would have had 3 more points. This is a 10 point swing.
Bottom line; while Favre is certainly not blameless in the loss, the fact is that this was clearly a TEAM loss if ever there was one. So to infer that the “only missing piece:” was to have their QB take care of the ball is/was certainly misleading – to say the least. Two critical fumbles by other players resulting in a 10-point swing, an inexcusable penalty by having too many in the huddle after a time out no less, and AP not holding the ball during a handoff all are all equally critical when analyzing the outcome. And not for anything, but to say that Favre’s performance was “unspectacular” is a bit harsh. Had it not for the last interception, his performance would have been hailed as one of the gustiest of all-time. The beating that he took, yet being able to move them into a potential game-winning field goal is impressive. So while the interception was costly, I don’t think that one play fully encapsulates the overall performance – not by Favre or the entire team for that matter.
Besides, just like Elway gets credit for “the Drive”, the fact remains that the drive didn’t “win” the game, it merely sent it to overtime, and the Brown’s actually had the ball first in overtime. Similarly speaking, Favre’s interception didn’t help, but it isn’t as if the player returned the pick for a TD to win it. The game went to OT because they didn’t get to attempt a 55 yard field goal (and there is no assurance of making it); and moreover, Minnesota’s defense in OT allowed a third and six conversion, a third and 10 and a fourth and one conversion and also allowed a 12 yard gain on second and 15 to put the Saints in field goal position at the end. So consequently, the D could have done something in OT to help their own cause.
Like I previously noted, this was clearly a TEAM loss for the Vikings.
Dear Doc O. , Football certainly is a team game no doubt. Again you may have missed the point of my article. I was simply trying to illustrate that over the last 2/3 of Favre's career his post season performances have been more dissappointing than inspiring. The 4-7 record over the last 13 years speaks for itself. He has turned in some good performances and some of the worst in playoff history as well. Favre likes to roll into town and say" let me do things my own way and I'll get you to the promised land". The problem is that he hasn't gotten anyone there in 14 years! Why teams keep catering to Favre and buying his line I'll never know since he hasn't been able to back it up in a long time.
ReplyDelete...by the way Doc I don't think I was too critical of Favre's ability to protect the football. If you consider throwing an INT on the possible game winning drive protecting the ball I only wish Elway had taken such good care of the ball against our Browns. Last minute drives in big games are where QB legends are made and broken. Favre did nothing to help his legacy yesterday. He was officially credited with 3 turnovers yesterday, and that's not good enough in a game that important.
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree that Favre needed better judgement. My point was that he is not alone in his carelessness. 5 team turnovers is 5 too many in a game of that magnitude.
ReplyDeleteAnd forgive me, but if you watched the game (and I trust you did), then lets get away from the "offically he had 3 turnover" comment. Clearly the fumble was the fault of AP. Even AP himself said so.
Again, when you said "the ONLY peice of the puzzle" missing for a Vikings victory was better care from Favre - I found that to be overly presumptuous as it relates to the analysis of the outcome. As previously mentioned, Favre's turnovers led to ZERO points by the Saints; only Harvin's led directly to points (7) for the Saints. And to say that "the only peice missing..." implies that NO ONE else was guilty of a turnover. We know that was not the case.
And what we also know is that you are very good at looking at ALL of the facts as they pertain to the cause and effect of a game's outcome. And there are certainly additional facts in this instance.
Doc. O, I disagree that the fumble was clearly Peterson's fault as does the NFL. But to humor you we will blame the fumble on Peterson. But as always I was factually correct in saying he officially had 3 turnovers. Here are a few more facts. Favre committed 2 turnovers on Minnesota's last 5 possesions on decisions and throws that can only be blamed on him. If that is your definition of clutch play so be it, but it isn't mine. I am not blaming Favre for every one elses mistakes, just his own. I wish the Favre apologists could do the same.
ReplyDelete... even though Favre's INTs didn't officially lead to any Saints points(he can thank his defense for that) your fooling yourself if you think those late turnovers didn't severely hurt his teams chances of winning the game. I never implied that none of his teammates made mistakes during the course of the game, only that Favre's were costly ones late in tha game. If you feel that 2 T.O.s in the last 5 possesions isn't damaging to his teams chances of success you're being dishonest. Football teams always win or lose as a team. I have never questioned that principle. But if you're asking me if Favre made good plays in the clutch yesterday my answer is no.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I am NOT saying Favre's interceptions weren't the most costly of turnovers, they certainly were. The last one was the costliest.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the only thing I take issue with is the inference that "The only piece of the puzzle missing for Minnesota was their quarterback taking care of the football in clutch situations".
That is just ONE of the MISSING pieces; perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT piece; but lets not believe it is or was the ONLY MISSING PEICE.
If you would have said Favre's decisions ("bad ones") were the primary reason for defeat, I'd agree. But I cannot agree with the belief that it was "the ONLY missing piece". Call me technical, but the word "ONLY" is quite strong in this case. Too strong if you ask me.