Don't Fire PK, but Let's Think about Firing Brett Favre

More PK, in the bite-sized form of MMQBTE.

Anyone who has consistently read Peter King’s work knows that he carries a lot of water for the quarterback with the misspelled name, and his most recent opus is no different, focusing on why Favre should keep playing for the Packers, how the Packers let him down with bad drafting, bad talent, hell, probably bad Gatorade.

Let’s start with a reader’s letter:

Steve Brown of Burke, Va., writes: "If you were Brett Favre, would you stay another year with the Packers and why?''

That, Steve Brown of Burke, VA, is not the right question. (A hint to figure out the right question: swap “Brett Favre” with “Packers” and add a let into the ordinate, what some may call independent, clause)

Peter’s response:

Hmmm. I believe Steve means through 2008, because Favre has already said he'd stay this year. And the more I think about it, the more I say: Heck yes ... with an asterisk.

Right, unfortunately for Packers fans who want to win games, Favre is going to play this season. What the hell am I talking about? Packers fans love Brett Favre so much that they don’t care if they win as long as Brett is slinging the ball around (too often into double coverage, but who cares? He’s just a great guy.) And surely PK’s asterisk will involve the quality of Favre’s play in ’07 (it wasn’t good in ’06—more on that soon).

And the asterisk has to do with one thing -- Green Bay's record in 2007, and whether the four-game winning streak at the end of 2006 was a mirage or the mark of real progress, which we'll find out around the end of September.

Oh well, I guess if everyone else on the Packers is better, Favre doesn’t have to be. What a leader.

Last season, I remember talking with rookie coach Mike McCarthy after a game and asking him about a report from Jay Glazer that day on the FOX pregame show. Glazer said McCarthy thought Favre could certainly play another year. And McCarthy told me then that there was no doubt in his mind that Favre could not only play and play well in 2007, but also in 2008; that's how physically on top of his game and at one with McCarthy's offense Favre was.

Let’s get one thing clear: Brett Favre is not a good NFL quarterback anymore. He’s not an Aaron-Brooks-level abomination, but he is certainly not good. PK, however, is about to try to convince his readers that Favre isn’t so bad by cherry picking some statistics and ranking them against other QB’s in the league.

As far as his play and his comfort with McCarthy, there's no reason other than physical decline why Favre couldn't play two more years. Check out how he ranked against his own career bests in the significant passing categories in 2006:

What? He’s going to cherry pick stats and rank them against Favre’s own career? Does that make much sense in assessing his effectiveness today?

Attempts: 613 (first)
Completions: 343 (fourth)
Percentage: 56.0 (15th)
Yards: 3,885 (seventh)
TDs: 18 (14th)
Interceptions: 18 (10th)
Sacks: 21 (third)
Completions of 20 yards or longer: 49 (sixth)
Rating: 72.7 (13th)

Note that, if one ignores raw-number stats largely dependent on play-calling (Attempts, Completions, and Yards) or on some arbitrary definition (Completions of 20+ yards), Favre had a very bad year for his career, which has been truly great.

PK makes excuses, of course:

But I believe the numbers don't show a very important element -- the sketchy talent around him.

Of course the numbers don’t capture everything because then anyone would have to say that Favre isn’t very good anymore, and we know a priori that such is not the case. Just look at the guy in those Paxil ads. Oh, and Favre is part of the sketchy talent at this point.

Bubba Franks had one of the worst years I've ever seen a tight end have. Remember when Steve Sax couldn't throw to first base anymore, and when Chuck Knoblauch did the same with the Yankees? It essentially ended their careers. Bubba Franks had the worst case of stone hands I've seen in a good player last year. That killed Favre. He needs his two tight ends to catch more than the 46 balls Franks and David Martin combined to snare last year.

Remember when Peter King used in a metaphor two decent players who ceased to throw the ball with any accuracy and then compared them to a guy trying to catch the ball even though the whole focus of the column is on a guy who throws a ball with less and less aptitude every year? It will most certainly not end his career.

And just to make my point about Favre’s not-goodness, let’s compare him to PK’s favorite whipping boy, David Carr, on whom Peter routinely cracks. (Don’t believe me? Check the archives. PK was on his case almost every week.) The stats are last season’s, and the number in parentheses is the rank among 32 NFL quarterbacks.

Completion % Carr 68.3 (1^st) Favre 56% (26^th)

Passer Rating Carr 82.1 (15^th) Favre 72.7 (25^th)

Interceptions Carr 12 (T-19^th most) Favre 18 (T-4^th Most)

YDs/Attempt Carr 6.3 (23^rd) Favre 6.3 (23^rd)

Sacks Carr 41 (8^th) Favre 21 (20^th)

The numbers, of course, don’t show a very important element—the superlative talent on the Houston Texans.