Picking the End of the Game
Posted by admin - 25/01/10 at 01:01 amHere is what was written in a comment earlier this afternoon, prior to the NFC conference championship game.
Can Favre finally end his career on something other than a pick? Or will he throw one, retire, mow the grass for a while, miss the game terribly, and then go “You know Deanna, why not give it one more try…”? Here’s hoping he is not in that position…
Well, apparently, he is in that position. And on this one, it is his doing, and his doing alone.
After a donkey like 12 men in the huddle penalty (itself, in the waning moments of a tie game, following two lame ultra conservative “run” attempts that both failed miserably) moved the Vikings back to the Saints 38 yard line, and now with 19 seconds left on the clock and third down upon them, Favre scrambled right. He bought some time. He had open grass in front — enough to give the Vikings perhaps 7-10 yards, and put them in position where Ryan Longwell, who had an exceptional record this season on long field goals, could kick for the win and a trip to Super Bowl .
Instead, Favre threw the ball. (Earlier in the game, Favre had apparently hurt his leg, but in moments like these, that is all but inconsequential, let alone for the player who holds the NFL record for consecutive quarterback starts.)
And not only that, he threw it somewhat long, which in general reduces the chances for success — which here, looking at a 56 yard field goal attempt if it falls incomplete — is a strategically bad call since a mere 5 to 10 yards radically increases the Vikings chances to win the game outright.
So surely Favre had a wide open receiver and relatively easy throw to make up for the lower odds of going for a middle range pass, right? (Which if successful would result in an even easier field goal attempt, why if it is an easy throw to an open receiver it is a good move.)
Nope. Neither one. It was actually a pretty hard throw, across his body — the types of throws that NFL quarterbacks routinely botch, and that even good ones, such as Favre, can botch. Combine that with a tight, rather than wide open throwing window, along with the fact that Favre had free real estate for some decent scramble years, and it was a bad decision.
And it resulted in a pick.
As the Saints, winning the overtime coin toss a few game seconds later, got the ball and moved down the field and kicked the field goal themselves for the win and Super Bowl trip, it was, also, apparently, just as it was two years ago, the last pass Favre will throw in the NFL.
That is, unless the man who has had more coming out of retirements than George Bush did excuses for why our federal debt ballooned under his watch, now, at the age of forty-one, decides one more time that he just can’t take mowing the grass with that feeling still in his mind.
And if he got “that close” this season, why can’t he do it again.
Favre takes a lot of criticism for not just “retiring.” (Or for not staying retired). But in one sense we wouldn’t blame him. A person should play a professional sport so long as they want to, and the team wants them to play. It may be disappointing for some fans, who don’t want the image muddled (though in this case its hard to know what could muddle it worse than throwing a pick a few yards shy of a field goal attempt that would have sent the Vikings to their first Super Bowl in over thirty years); but the truest of athletes, ultimately, as much as they love the fans, sometimes just love the game itself even more.
Favre seems to be just this type of athlete.
But he still made a super Donkey play on that, ostensibly, last pass of his career; just as we worried about when writing the block quoted comment above, shortly before the game itself.
Something short about the blog and or author(s). The heading and/or photo could be linked to the about page.