Between nice-looking overall numbers and the never-ending in-game tribute from Tony Kornheiser you’d assume that Brett Favre had a successful Monday night, but that’s far from the case. New York went into halftime trailing 31-14, at which point Favre had thrown for just 70 yards while being picked off twice, including a 52-yard return for a touchdown by Antonio Cromartie.
San Diego defenders also dropped at least two other catchable interceptions, as Favre frequently looked out of sync with receivers and made risky throws. With the Chargers content to sit back with a big lead in the second half the Jets went almost exclusively to four- and five-receiver sets, allowing Favre to pad his stats with what basically amounted to a series of seven-yard completions.
While Favre was racking up short gains, Philip Rivers was going deep all night despite seeing his first throw picked off and run back for a score. He recovered to go 19-of-24 for 250 yards and three touchdowns after that, averaging 10 yards per attempt to increase his NFL-leading mark. Five of 19 completions went for at least 20 yards, including a fantastic 60-yard strike to Vincent Jackson.
With 914 yards in three games Jay Cutler has received most of the attention, but Rivers has quietly been just as impressive in a far more balanced offense. Cutler has completed 68 percent of his throws for eight touchdowns, two picks, and an average of 8.5 yards per attempt. Rivers has completed 67 percent of his throws for nine touchdowns, two picks, and an average of 9.9 yards per attempt.
While Rivers joins Cutler in seemingly making “The Leap” even if all the Monday Night Football crew wanted to talk about was Favre, here are some other notes from around football .
* Drew Brees and the Saints passing game showed Sunday that they’re perfectly capable of thriving without Marques Colston. Brees sliced up the Broncos for 421 yards, completing 81 percent of his passes for an average gain of 8.8 yards per toss. Unfortunately, they’ll now go forward without Colston and Jeremy Shockey, who’s expected to miss at least 3-6 weeks with a sports hernia.
King5.com
9/22/08
Magnolia Tribune
