I read a very interesting article today from one of my favorite columnists, Jason Whitlock of MSN sports.  He writes what he thinks no matter how people will react to it.  I often agree with his viewpoints, and though I don’t totally disagree with this article, I have some points of contention with it.  He writes about how Favre has proved Ted Thompson, the GM of the Packers, wrong for allowing Favre to walk away.  I don’t see it that way.  Favre is having a very, very good year with the Vikings.  He’s not making a lot of mistakes, and he’s making big plays when it’s called on.  That said, Aaron Rodgers is also making some good plays, and has played well since taking the starting job in Green Bay.  Dare I say, I think Rodgers was the right choice because his O-line is not in the same ball park as Favre’s Viking’s O-line.  Rodgers is not very well protected, yet he puts up numbers, and he still makes plays.  Favre has Adrian Peterson in the backfield, ‘nuff said.

Despite the spotty offensive line, and the lack of a strong running game in Green Bay, Rodgers still posts a higher QB rating through week 8 (110.4) than Favre (106.0).   They have about an equal amount of attempts, and almost the same amount of yards.  However, Favre does have more completions than Rodgers.  Another very telling difference between the two players is that Rodgers has been sacked 31 times this year versus 6 times for Favre.  I don’t care how tough Favre was; his body wouldn’t be able to withstand that kind of punishment.  He would have a lot more than the 3 interceptions he has this year, which is by far his best for a very long time.  The Vikings offensive and defensive lines are superior to the Packers.  The Vikings have a potential defensive player of the year in Jared Allen along with the Williams wall in the middle of the defense, and offensive player of the year in Adrian Peterson.  Yes, Favre is having a great season, but I must credit his entire team for that.  Favre doesn’t have to do too much.  He has beaten the Packers twice on his revenge tour, but that’s more a credit to the Vikings defense and lack of pressure from GB’s defense when they played each other.  Still, Rodgers put up very good numbers under that constant pressure.

I do agree with Jason that the Media has largely overlooked the fact that Favre is playing like he found the fountain of youth.  They are very focused on the ratings angle, the revenge angle.  I say that Favre better be doing well with a team like what the Vikings have this year.  Let’s not forget that Elway was on a downward trend toward the end of his career until he was surrounded by some help also in the backfield and a stout defense.  Trent Dilfer won a Superbowl with a Ravens team that had a very superior defense and were able to protect him.  Favre isn’t really doing something that any other decent quarterback put in that position would do.  You can argue that Tarvaris Jackson can’t do that, but we don’t know.  We do know that he carried them into the playoffs last year when he was called upon.  Who knows what improved team chemistry and another off season of training and seasoning would have done for the young QB.  Undoubtedly, the Vikings will be in the playoffs again this year.  It would take a colossal meltdown for that not to happen.  It won’t be because of Favre, it’ll be because of the entire team.

The media hype about everything Favre is fine, it is news, and people read it whether they like him or don’t.  I remember before the season even started he covered his bases in case of failure by mentioning his arm surgery, and then adding on that he may have cracked ribs in addition to that.  Nobody suspects that their rib is cracked.  Even the toughest hombre KNOWS when a rib is damaged.  The point is that when you already give yourself, and the media, an out for bad performances you also set yourself up for near hero worship status when you do succeed.  And succeed he has. So far.  Classically, or should I say recently, Favre usually falters or slows down in the second half of the season.  As teams who are on the bubble or playoff bound start playing faster, and hitting harder, we’ll see how he holds up.  I think this year he’ll hold up very well as the rest of the schedule is not very challenging.  The only tough games I see are against the Giants and Bengals.  Throw in 2 NFC North division games against the Bears (who are very mediocre this year) and that is really only 2 chances at losses in the 2^nd half of their season.  Aaron Rodger’s on the other hand has to face the Cowboys, a surprising 49ers defense, The Steelers and Ravens.  These are very hard hitting defenses who love to get to the QB.  Rodgers will most likely finish with the most sacks in the league, but yet he’ll still put up better numbers than Favre if their current trends continue.

The Packers only have to shore up his protection to make GB legitimate again as a championship contender.  Favre’s revenge tour is done.  Ted Thompson may or may not have been totally at fault for his departure.  Favre sure didn’t help with is diva dance about retiring or not retiring.  What football organization doesn’t want to know if their starting QB is available for the upcoming season?  Favre wanted his way, and in a way he got it.  It took two years, but he got it.  I’m sure he had enough pull with Thompson to just say he didn’t want to go through training camp and they could have listed some phantom injury and got him out of it somehow.  It’s not fair to put all the blame from Favre leaving Green Bay on either him or Thompson.  It’s less fair to say that Favre proved Thompson wrong because when you compare the two QB’s at this stage of their careers, Rodgers is better than Favre.  And yes, stats do tell the story here.  Wins and losses define teams, but stats define individual players.  Favre has a better team than Rodgers has, they’ve both delivered, but Rodgers has had a harder time of it and yet still is delivering.  I for one won’t believe that the best and most important player in a Viking uniform is not named Adrian Peterson.

Ted Thompson made a difficult and unpopular decision that he felt was the best thing to do for his team.  Favre eventually made a decision, but made sure that he did his best to point the finger at Thompson.  He didn’t do the Packers any favors by having a teary, emotional, nationally televised retirement just to start a rumor filled un-retirement change of heart come-back campaign a few weeks later.  Yeah, we can all change our minds, but we also forget that Thompson also had a right to change his mind when it came to Favre.  Green Bay has their quarterback of the future; the Vikings have a hired gun whose services will go down as a failure with anything short of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.