NFL: Are the Vikings Making a Deal With the Devil?
For the past month or so the Vikings have made no real secret about their desires to have Brett Favre as their quarterback next season. The team seems to think it can win the Super Bowl with Favre under center and the fans are getting revved up at the prospects of having the ‘Ole Gun Slinger’ under center next season. But, the question is, is this really the best move for the Vikings? They are reaching the point of no return where they could be damned if they do and damned if they don’t land Favre.
The consensus going into the 2008 season was that the Vikings had the best running back in the game and a Super Bowl caliber defense and the only thing they were lacking was a capable signal caller to lead them to the promised land. They started the season with Tarvaris Jackson under center only to have Head Coach Brad Childress bench him in favor of veteran journeyman Gus Frerotte after an 0-2 start that saw Jackson struggle to complete 50% of his passes and throw for 300 yards.
Frerotte managed to stabilize the offense leading the Vikings to seven wins over the next ten games until he went down with an injury forcing Jackson back into action. To Jackson’s credit he overcame and conquered leading the Vikings to wins in three of their last four games and a NFC North divisional crown. Then the wheels feel off the cart in the NFC Divisional Playoff round.
Philadelphia used a swarming defense to bottle up Adrian Peterson and force the Vikings to throw the ball to beat them and Jackson wilted under the pressure completing just 15 of 35 passes. Jackson’s failure in the playoffs lead some to believe he is not the answer at quarterback for the Vikings completely disregarding how well he played leading up the playoffs throwing 8 touchdowns to one interception and completing over 64% of his passes in the last four games of the year. It seems rather short-sighted to completely write Jackson off for failing to deliver in his first career playoff game against one of the best defenses in the league when it comes to confusing young quarterbacks.
The light seemed to go on for Jackson after his benching and he seeemed to really be grasping the offense and keeping up with the flow of the game. He was throwing with more confidence, was not throwing the bad interceptions, and was not pulling the ball down and taking off as much as he had in the past. He had the look of a young quarterback who was finally starting to turn the corner and at least deserved the chance to win the job in camp this summer.
Prior to all of the rumors and innuendo about Favre possibly coming to Minnesota the Vikings’ players all toed the line and said how they felt they could win with Jackson and as far as they were concerned Jackson was their starting quarterback. This even continued when rumors first circulated that Favre was considering not retiring after all. Team leaders like Jared Allen and Peterson still went to bat for Jackson saying he was their quarterback and they were not even thinking about Favre and whether he was coming to Minnesota or not.
Now come reports that those same players are being encouraged to reach out to Favre and have done so encouraging him to sign with the team. With this being the case the Vikings may as well go ahead and trade or release Jackson now whether Favre comes to town or not. The fact that team leaders are stepping out and trying to coax Favre into playing for them has to strain if not ruin any of the confidence and trust he had in his teammates, the same teammates that were backing him as their guy three months ago. How does this make Jackson, whose confidence was probably tenuous at best, feel about being a Minnesota Viking? He can’t be terribly thrilled about this. Surely he was looking forward to taking the next step of progression in his career and becoming a good starting quarterback. It is not as if Favre has a good track record when it comes to mentoring young quarterbacks either. He barely spent any time working with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay and he generally sees them as the enemy trying to take his job from him. Which leads us to other potential locker room issues.
There were reports in New York towards the end of last season about how Favre’s presence divided the locker room a bit and how he was a diva of sorts. He generally did not co-mingle with his team mates and had his own personal, private office where he spent most of his time. There were some on the team who felt as though he was not interested in being a part of the team and Favre has admittedly said he has lost his taste for the ‘minutae’ of football meaning he does not feel compelled to have to show up to minicamps and team meetings. He basically just wants to roll out of bed for practice and games.
Then there is the question as to whether he really has it any more. His play last season was a bit up-and-down and he broke down towards the end of the season. He did complete over 65% of his passes but saw his passing yards drop from 4155 to 3472 despite only throwing 13 fewer passes and he threw 22 interceptions. Favre has the look of an aging fastball pitcher who thinks he can still throw by hitters when he wants to and it simply is not the case. One really wonders if he still has the zip in his arm to be able to throw the ball down field. His arm finally started giving out on him towards the end of last season.
When one considers that Vikings QBs threw for a higher ratio of touchdowns, a lower ratio of interceptions, and had a higher yards per attempt average than Favre did are they really getting a significant upgrade at the position? Is Favre really giving them more than Frerotte and Jackson did? Also consider that the Vikings allowed 43 sacks last season which does not bode well for an older quarterback playing on turf. Granted the Vikings do have some better downfield threats than the Jets did but their talent at the position is arguably roughly on par with what the Jets had. It can be argued that due of Lavernaues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery is better than that of Bobby Wade and Bernard Berrian. The Vikings did go out and draft Percy Harvin who should provide something of a boost for the passing game but it remains to be seen how they intend on using him next season.
The final thing to consider after how Favre played last season is the fact that Brett Favre has been a rather mediocre performer in the playoffs the past ten years. Consider that he is just 3-6 in playoff games dating back to 1999 throwing just 16 touchdowns against 18 interceptions. Favre was once the guy everyone wanted under center in a big game but lately he has failed to deliver the goods in big games .
The Vikings have to ask themselves whether the notion of Favre still being a good to great quarterback who still has the goods to deliver a championship is fact or fiction, is it real or Memorex? Is the notion of Favre riding in on a white horse to lift up a franchise that has floundered for several years believable or is it just a machination of the ESPN hype machine that refuses to believe Favre has little to nothing left in the tank? Ultimately, they have to ask themselves is it worth it to make a deal with the devil to win a Super Bowl just this one year if it means potentially setting you back to square one once Favre rides off into the sunset yet again next winter?
