Brett Favre, Jets might be stuck with each other January 2
New York Daily News columnist Filip Bondy
"All of a sudden everything is Brett Favre's fault, the whole Jets' nightmare, and he is supposed to get out of town faster than he arrived. He is not only blamed in some quarters for missing the playoffs and for getting Eric Mangini fired. Favre is already getting fingered for any trouble the Jets will have lining up a decent coach for next season.
We love our scapegoats around here, preferably a coach or quarterback. And nobody can pretend that Favre had a decent ending to his season. He was terrible down the stretch, with those nine interceptions in the final five games. A couple of the errant throws were as good as punts, but several cut the heart right out of the offense.
His teammates saw the same thing everybody else saw; what Thomas Jones saw when he told Hot 97, "I don't like it." What Mangini saw when you could read his lips along the sideline muttering, "What was that?"
The unraveling was painful to watch, sure. But Favre's biceps tendon apparently was torn, and nobody was forcing Mangini to keep the guy out there, throwing downfield. Favre tried his hardest, and here's the truth that you don't want to hear: The Jets probably can't do better right now. Favre is their best bet for 2009, until they maneuver themselves out of this high-stakes gamble that they lost in 2008.
Don't kid yourself. If the Jets thought Kellen Clemens was a starter, he'd be starting. If they thought they could get a younger, stronger, cheaper version of Favre, they would have done that.
It's all very easy to play fantasy football in early January. But Matt Cassel likely will be franchised in New England. And by the time the Jets pick 17th in the draft, Sam Bradford and Matthew Stafford will be gone. That leaves the Jets with ... Favre, hopefully, plus possibly a young draft prospect from a smaller college, like Nathan Brown from Central Arkansas, who can develop for a season behind a future Hall of Famer.
But only if they're lucky, and patient. Favre would like to announce his decision soon this time, one way or another, but his own medical rehab may cloud the picture. How is he supposed to know now whether his 39-year-old arm will respond to arthroscopic surgery? Should that disqualify him from trying? If he participates in those offseason workouts that teammates believe are so important, he may aggravate the problem all over again.
He still has the potential - or had it, very recently. Here are some stat lines from Favre, not so long ago:
Nov. 9, vs. St. Louis: 14-of-19 for 167 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, a quarterback rating of 117.7.
Nov. 13, at New England: 26-of-33, 258 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, a quarterback rating of 119.4.
Nov. 23, at Tennessee: 25-of-32 for 224 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, a quarterback rating of 103.6.
Those were three games in two weeks when Favre was still healthy, and very much Favre. That span ended six weeks ago, no
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