In only a 16 game regular season, I would say durability does matter. What has every Texans fan said for the past 2 seasons and this one? If... If Schaub can stay healthy... And I never said Favre is the best QB in the league. I'm not saying Favre is great now, but he had a great start last year and the year before he was a game away from the Super Bowl with also 13 wins in the regular season. I rather back the argument of winning games and being able to stay on the field over the Player A and Player B stats.
they were 1-3 against the colts and titans last year. sure - but i would guess titans fans could probably say the same thing about their power-running team trying a deep pass on 4th and 1 last year, sealing houston's lone win against the colts and titans........... if they go at least 3-3 in the division, i would think they'll be in playoff contention.
The Vikings are probably one of the worst destinations for Favre. Their QB's were a little raw and turnover prone. They needed a "game manager" type QB to turn and hand the ball to AP (or Chester Taylor)...make the occasional 3rd and 5 throw. If it isn't there punt and rely on your top notch defense. They sign on a legendary "gunslinger" with an ego the size of Rushmore who thinks he HAS to win every game on his own if necessary and that he can and will still make every throw. Vikings will be 9-7...Texans will be 10-6. We'll win a playoff game..but the networks will interrupt the fourth quarter of our game to report that the GREAT Brett Favre is mulling over retirement again.
From my vantage point: O-Line pass protection is a B, run blocking is a C. And Slaton needs better than that if he's going to replicate or build on his production from last year. Chris Brown might get some himself but likewise needs some help at the line. Shaub isn't erasing my concerns - he's a fantastic QB 90% of the time, but his interceptions are going to be an issue. His durabilty.....and now Orlovsky and his routine brain lock are backing him up......uneasy feelings for sure. Secondary looked okay last night, two-hand-touch tackling skills aside. Demeco is an animal out there. I really hope Cushing can help take some burden off him. The D-line's pass rush is a B (and so nice to see one exist), run defense is still an F. Maybe Cody helped eek them up to a D. That first play, with them parted like the red sea....ugh. The defense looked a lot better after the Peterson depantsing, but on the flipside, the Vikings weren't playing a regular season game. If you tore holes like they did on the initial run, wouldn't you milk the cow? Instead, they used last night to work through their playbook. Trying out the wildcat, getting Favre reps across the various screens and formations. They didn't challenge the Texans to stop them on the ground, they walked through their offense to dry run plays. I remain worried about our DTs and Smith against the run. I don't know that they're able to hold their own. They were collectively knocked out of the play on a 3-and-1, and Ryans & Co aren't going to be able to prevent first downs when the D-Line is wet toilet paper. First 3 games are all going to be against running offenses. Thankfully, the rest of the schedule leans more towards passing teams, which this defense seems to be better suited for. Other thoughts: Favre is a real douche for that crackback - diving right at the knees when he easily could have checked Wilson in the ribs and taken him out of the play. Even more telling was Favre not even checking on Wilson after the play. His line after the game was also interesting; how he hoped it didn't "look as bad on film." Seriously? Usually, we hope that it wasn't as bad as it looked. Favre hopes it didn't look as bad as it was? (granted, I doubt he meant it the way it came out, but I don't believe he cared one bit about what he did). Favre is going to cost the Vikings some games. I'm certain of it. He didn't look good at all on his deep balls. I can't wait till the Vikings hit their Ravens-Steelers-Packers 3 game stretch. I expect their season to tailspin right there.
You can't be serious. Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson - these are Super Bowl winners from the past decade. Rex Grossman, the Texans' third-string quarterback, was the quarterback of a team in the Super Bowl. Vince Young, the whipping boy of the entire league, actually started at quarterback in a playoff game. To attribute wins/losses exclusively to a QB is a pretty weak argument, especially in this day and age. And if you think it's not, then do you think the Texans should start Grossman? After all, he's "taken" a team to a Super Bowl. No one's saying durability isn't important, but there are two factors you have to consider. One, because it's happened in two years doesn't mean it's going to happen every year for the rest of the guy's career -- especially given that last season's major injury came as a result of an extremely illegal/dirty hit. But perhaps more importantly, when you're talking about a discrepancy as wide as Schaub/Favre, I'd honestly prefer 12 games of Schaub and 4 of Orlovsky (or whoever) to 16 games of Favre. And it's not a tough decision. I'd much rather back the stats in which the individual himself is mostly in control of as opposed to numbers (wins/losses) that are the cumulative result of 50+ players and coaches.
The Cat. You act like such a pompous know it all it is sickening. You roll your eyes and act like its the worst thing you've ever heard for someone to say that the NFL's all time leading passer is a better quarterback than Matt freaking Schaub. If you remember, when the Jets beat the undefeated Titans last year it looked like they were the top team in the NFL at that point in time and then... Favre got injured among other things and they went downhill from there. What, they were 8-3 at that point? What do you honestly think their record would have been without Favre? Maybe 3-8? Wins and Losses CAN be directly tied to a quarterback if you can see how badly the rest of the team sucks. In cases like Trent Dilfer, Rex Grossman, etc... those teams had dominating defenses, some of the top all time defenses actually. I can give you more examples of a good QB leading a bad team to wins as opposed to your favorite Trent Dilfer argument. HE HAD THE FREAKING RAVENS DEFENSE! And you are in sports journalism?
What difference does it make to the current, 2009 Brett Favre what he did 10+ years ago? Overall career statistics are great for Hall of Fame discussions, but in terms of figuring out what a player is right now, anything beyond three years or so is worthless. Let me ask you, would you prefer Matt Schaub or Joe Montana as your quarterback, right here, right now? I'm hoping, like any sane person, you'd pick Schaub, considering Montana is 53. But, by the logic of "all-time blah blah blah" you proposed, you'd have to say Montana. You can make a lot of players look good if you pick and choose certain segments of their season. Favre, at 40, is unlikely to stay healthy the entire season. He might be tough enough to play, but whether he's effective is a different discussion. The Jets had the 9th ranked rushing offense in the NFL and the 16th ranked passing offense, and you're seriously making the argument that the QB carried the team? Are you kidding me? On a broader basis, the Jets had the 16th ranked offense in the league, and the 16th ranked defense in the league. So, relative to the league, the Jets defense was as valuable as its offense, and its rushing attack was superior to its passing attack... yet everyone sucked except for the QB, who was great?!? Yes, because I analyze the actual data with depth, as opposed to a casual, topical observation of SportsCenter talking points.
I don't know where else to share this, but it's really funny. I am a teacher in South Auckland, NZ at a school with a large Polynesian population. It's probably one of the few places left in the world where being an American helps you out. Anyway, the kids are really getting into the NFL, to join their rugby obsession. The other day this year 9 student, about 14, came up to me and started talking smack to me about how the Vikings were going to kick the crap out of the Texans. (Whoops) He even mentioned Jered Allen! He just came up to me and taunted me over the game. How funny is that?
And he kept playing and led the team to 10 points in the last five minutes of hte half. What's your point?
Lol, youre arguments in this thread are really weak. Not sure what exactly you are trying to prove. Schaub at 12 games is better than Favre at 16. End of story.
And its preseason, do you really think he'll be able to do that in the regular season when teams won't just be playing their base defenses. I mean really... do you? And don't go throwing top 5 offense crap at me from last year, go look up where they were in scoring and in the red zone. And I repeat... HE HURT HIMSELF RUNNING OUT OF BOUNDS!!! OUT OF BOUNDS!!! HE WAS NOT TOUCHED!!! JUST RUNNING WITH A BALL!!! OUT OF BOUNDS!!! OUT OF BOUNDS!!! HE WAS NOT TOUCHED!!! And I don't care if their weak, its true. Its a fact. Not a opinion... like "I rather have blah blah blah for 12 games over Favre for 16." But keep backing Schaub and the Texans, it will be another season of "If we would of... If he was healthy..."
First of all, he got injured last season on a dirty & illegal hit from Jared Allen. I hate to repeat myself but Allen got fined $50,000 for the hit. If you've ever played sports, you would know that it's easy to roll an ankle. Heck, I'm just coming off a sprained ankle/foot myself. It happened on a rebound tip and was very bad. It's been about a month and I still can't sprint. Things like this just happens sometimes and you really can't explain it. Anyways, Schaub will be fine for the opener. He does need to get the ball out of his hands a bit quicker. We saw Allen get him a couple of times last night. Ok gnite. Go troll somewhere else now
You're not even making sense. Considering he hurt himself without being touched, what difference would it have made if the defense was in a different scheme? The injury was unrelated to the defense, and you admit that, so I have no clue what you're getting at. By the way, the same injury has happened to probably 50,000 or so professional athletes. He took a step onto a different surface, his ankle turned a little bit and he limped for a while. Do you not realize how much of a non-event this is? He kept playing and there is zero long-term risk. He just turned an ankle while running. Anyone who has played sports at all has had that happen to them dozens of times, I'm sure. It stings for a little bit, you walk it off, and life goes on. I've never in my life seen someone go some nuts over a minor ankle sprain after which the guy kept playing, and quite well at that. Schaub = 15 TD, 10 INT, 8 yards per attempt, 92.7 rating Favre = 22 TD, 22 INT, 6.6 yards per attempt, 81.0 rating Oh, and one of them is about to be 40 and already has A BROKEN BONE - i.e. AN ACTUAL INJURY. There's your facts -- deal with it. Some folks were mighty humiliated after they suggested Favre > Schaub before last season, but I'll be happy to laugh at y'all for a second straight year.
He was pushed out of bounds by Ben Leber. Its a stupid non serious injury that does happen to directly inhibit the abilities of a quarterback. Orton cut his finger and left the game, but surely his skin isnt more gash-prone from now on.
The ratings are in for the Texans game. ESPN got a 6.0 rating which made it the most-viewed program of the night (broadcast or cable). It also was the most-viewed preseason game ever on ESPN. To put that rating in perspective the game was the third highest-rated program on ESPN for the year. It's amazing to see the power of the NFL when a meaningless preseason game gets the same numbers as an NBA Conference Finals game or MLB League Championship game. http://www.espnmediazone.com/press_...tFootballESPNsMostViewedPreseasonGameEver.htm
Post these numers at the end of THIS SEASON and I'll bet you Favre's are better. We can do $100. The loser can paypal the money to the winner. Also your guy must play in a minimum of 7 games or you automatically lose that way we can factor in injuries. Will you take the bet?
