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Thursday, October 10, 1996
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Favre's playing near flawless
The Associated Press
Quarterback has thrown 49 touchdowns,seven interceptions in16 games
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Brett Favre,
who celebrates his 27th birthday on
Thursday, is playing as well as he —
and maybe any other quarterback —
ever has.
In his last 16 games, counting playoffs, Favre has thrown 49 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.
And that hasn't come against the league's lightweight, either.
One of the finest sustained displays ever by a quarterback in the NFL began with an unlikely five-touchdown performance against Chicago at Lambeau Field last Nov. 12. Favre was hampered that day by a bum ankle and a reduced game plan that stripped the rollouts and bootlegs at which he excels.
"In that Bears game last year, he was injured and couldn't do all that wild stuff," said Green Bay Packers coach Mike Holmgren. "I told him to let the system come to him. I'd like to think that helped. I think he said, 'Ah!'"
"If I've heard Mike say it once, I've heard him say it a million times: 'Just let the system work for you,' Favre said. "And if I would do that, I would complete every pass."
The system is Holmgren's adaptation of the West Coast offense he picked up in San Francisco, with its varied arsenal of multiple sets and quickslants.
Add Favre, the cannon-armed swashbuckler who brings cockiness, competitiveness and an uncanny knack for turning busted plays into big gains, and you have a mix that already has spawned one MVP award.
ALL SPORT PHOTO
Favre's play has been so crisp over the last 11 months — even his treatment for an addiction to painkillers hasn't adversely affected his performance — that Holmgren sometimes finds himself sweating the small stuff.
"With Brett, you expect wondrous things every week, every quarter, every throw, every play," Holmgren said. "And we all have to remember that he's just a kid."
Despite starting out slowly in most games this year, Favre has been close to flawless in leading the Packers to a 5-1 start heading into their Monday night showdown against San Francisco (4-1) at Lameau Field.
After throwing an NFC-record 38 touchdowns and winning the MVP award last season, Favre said, "I think I can throw 50 touchdowns in this offense."
He already has thrown 20 touchdowns, the first quarterback to do that in just six games since the NFL-AFLmerger in 1970.
That puts him on pace to throw 53 touchdowns, which would break the NFL single-season record of 48 that Miami's Dan Marino set in 1984.
Most critics agree, defending Most Valuable Player Brett Favre has become one of the most reliable and dependable quarterbacks in the National Football League. He has thrown 49 touchdowns in his last 16 games.
Favre insists it's getting harder as the Packers get better.
"I can remember a couple years ago and we'd go out, we never faced man coverage. We never faced blitz," Favre said.
"Once you understand this offense really to a point where you know where all five guys are going to be, then it becomes difficult because now you try to do too much," Favre said. "You start guessing. And as Mike said, you start seeing ghosts. You drop back and you're so smart in this offense you start going to No. 5 before
Favre said that as he's mastered Holmgren's offense, he's unlocked a hazard.
you go to No.1."
Now Favre faces all sorts of defensive schemes designed to knock him on his back or at least off kilter.
How does he explain getting better as the keeps gets getting tougher?
"I just think I'm doing what I'm coached to do, and I'm doing it pretty well. I'm not trying to do too much, as I have in the past," he said. "And the guys around me are playing great."
used to, but he's still at his best when improvising. Two of four touchdown passes at Soldier Field on Sunday came when he escaped the pocket and launched the ball downfield.
Favre isn't forcing passes like he
"When he breaks the pocket, he sees the field very well and makes good decisions," Holmgren said. "Before, when he broke the pocket, it could be very traumatic for most everyone concerned.
"And now he's doing a great job."
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Injuries,age and attitude harshly diminish starting chances for quarterbacks
By Dave Goldberg AP Football Writer
Steve Young never pulled a groin before.
So it wasn't surprising that for the last two weeks, he had been cajoling George Seifert and the other San Francisco 49ers' coaches to play. But last Saturday a former teammate warned him that it is one of those injuries that can recur if it is tested too soon.
"I don't want to go out, play a half and reinjure it and miss three more games," he said.
So Grbac, who has a minute fracture of a vertebrae, is likely to start Monday night's game in Green Bay. Wis. Young, whose legs are more important to him than most quarterbacks, will continue to rest.
- Young isn't the only one.
Young has missed two games; Miami's Dan Marino is out for a month with a fractured ankle; and Jim Kelly has missed Buffalo's last two games with a pulled hamstring.
So by next Sunday, the seventh week of a 17-week season, half the 30 teams will have started at least two different quarterbacks. Last season, 21 teams changed starters during the season.
Rodney Peete of the Philadelphia Eagles fell on the turf at Veterans Stadium and tore up his knee again.
Ten of this year's 15 changes are because of injury — the rest are for ineffectiveness or for attitude.
said George Young, chairman of the NFL's rule-making committee, which for a decade has changed rules to make life safer for quarterbacks.
"But I don't know how much more we can do. As guys age, they're more susceptible to things. Young, Marino, Kelly and Peete all got hurt without major contact."
The rules already have been amended so that intentional grounding is legal — a quarterback has only to escape the pocket and throw the ball across the line of scrimmage to avoid a sack. Defensive linemen no longer can take more than one step toward the quarterback after the ball is released.
"We monitor these things weekly,"
The injuries are more telling because of the lack of quarterbacks.
Kelly, Marino, Young and John Elway, all of whom finished school in 1983, are 35 or older and Warren Moon is 40. The first-round quarterbacks of the '90s — Drew Bledsoe, Rick Mirer, Dave Brown, Trent Differ, Heath Shuler — have been erratic or worse, and the only top prospect now in college is Tennessee's Peyton Manning.
That's one reason why the New York Jets spent $25 million on Neil O'Donnell, an average quarterback who managed to take Pittsburgh to the Super Bowl last season. O'Donnell, who separated his shoulder on Sunday, is now 0-6, while Mike Tomczak, the journeyman who replaced him in Pittsburgh, is 4-0 since he took over after the first game this year.
Falcons to send quarterback away
Atlanta to waive expensive George
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons traded two first-round picks to acquire Jeff George. They made him the cornerstone of the franchise. Now, it looks like they'll let him go—and get nothing in return.
The Falcons, desperate to unload the suspended quarterback, saw a proposed deal with Seattle fall through on Tuesday — the NFL trading deadline — when George couldn't agree on a long-term contract with the Seahawks.
"From what I understand and hear from the Falcons, I guess I'll be released," George said on Tuesday. "After that, I don't know. I've not gone beyond that."
Because the Falcons have no intention of reconciling with George, it looks as if their only alternative is to waive the quarterback who set a team passing record last season with 4,143 yards.
For now, George remains a member of the Falcons. His suspension lasts for another two weeks.
Coach June Jones ruled out George rejoining the Falcons.
George and agent Leigh Steinberg had been talking with the Seahawks about a reported six-year, $30 million contract. The Falcons were prepared to trade George for Rick Mirer, Seaver's former starter.
However, George thought he was
being rushed into a deal and decided not to sign.
George signed a one-year, $3.64 million contract with the Falcons in training camp, with the provision that he could become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.
George was suspended by the Falcons after a sideline confrontation with Jones during a Sept. 22 loss to Philadelphia.
The seven-year veteran insisted that money was not a factor in his decision to sever negotiations with Seattle.
The suspension was extended to four games after George met with the media to explain his side of the dispute, but it was clear that the added penalty was mainly an excuse to keep him on the sidelines while a trade was pursued.
The Falcons suspended George for one game after he complained about being benched during the third quarter of the 33-18 loss to Philadelphia.
Several teams have said they wouldn't pursue George, who was chosen first overall by the Indianapolis Colts in 1990.
"I know there are people going to say that," George said. "I'm sorry for what I did. I told Coach Jones I was wrong and I knew I made a mistake. I'm a competitor and it was just a situation where I wanted to compete. But I went about it the wrong way."
If released, George will be able to negotiate on his own without having to worry about a trade being arranged.
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