I will start my first blog with the Packers since they are obviously the hot topic this week. This is something I did a post regarding but seems more appropriate for a blog. I hope you enjoy.
This is not a charmed season for Brett Favre or whatever else you want to call it. Further McCarthy has NOT reigned in Favre. I keep hearing these things and it is the most ridiculous nonsense I have ever heard.
Listen folks, Favre is playing pretty much the same way he has always played and i see no difference in HIS play this year than what I saw last year or even the year before that when he threw those 29 intereceptions.
So what is the difference then you ask??? Well it is pretty simple, it's the team and talent around him. When Favre threw 29 INT's his defense was subpar, he was stripped of his OLine by the GM, his TE's sucked, and he lost all of his WR's and runningbacks to injury. In essence he was trying to win games all by himself, and the funny thing is if you actually watched that season, is that he practically kept him in ball games all by himself. Some naysayers think he lost some games by himself with all those INT's but trust me folks, the only reason they were even in those games in the first place waas because Favre was the only decent player on the field.
Last year the OLine got a little better, the defense slowly got better, and the WR's were a tad better than the year before and hence the team record and Favre's numbers were a little better than the year before.
This year the defense is great, the TE's have really stepped up, the runnign game has gotten better, his OLine has progressed alot through the season and let's face it, this years WR's are as good as Favre has ever had as a whole. Let's illustrate this another way, during the 29 INT season Ruvell Martin was a starter, on this years team Ruvell Martin is the #5 receiver of the 5 receivers on the team. If that doesn't say it all I don't know what does.
Favre has always been able to elevate the level of the team around him BUT let's face it, sometimes there is a water mark. IMO the 4-12 year would have been 1-15 or 0-16 without Favre, with him it was 4-12 so he did elevate that team it's just that that team had a water level of 4-12. Last year Favre noted that this was the most talented team he had ever been on but it lacked experience and a couple of key positions, so their water mark was 8-8 (IMO without Favre they would have been 5-11).
So finally this years team seems to be coming together and finally has enough experience and depth to have a 13-3 season, and home field advantage in the playoffs. This is not magic, this is not Favre having a "charmed" season. McCarthy did nothing special to completely change the play of a 17 year vet who has played the same way his whole career. No, what McCarthy and TT did was FINALLY put a team AROUND Favre and it has paid dividends. Further reason for me to know/believe this i no charmed season is that if/when Favre returns next season, assuming no major injuries or defections in free agency, I actually expect he might have an even BETTER season next year than he had this year.
Anyway wanted to clarify and get that off my chest.