Displaced Cleveland Fan

These are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting. You can read my recap of the Browns week 12 game here.

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I typically post these recaps early Monday morning, even though there is still a game yet to be played on Monday night. But this week, I wanted to wait because of the game - New Orleans vs. New England. The Saints were trying to stay perfect against an always tough Patriots team.

What did we learn from last night’s game? The Saints are legit.

If there was ever any doubt, even after winning their first ten games, it was erased after their eleventh. The Saints piled up 480 yards of offense. Much of that came off the arm of Drew Brees who was 18 for 23 (78.3%) for 371 yards and 5 touchdowns.

When you have a team that plays this well against another one of the league’s top teams, especially this late in the year, you have to be thinking about their Super Bowl chances. If this team stays healthy, watch out. They’ve got to be the favorites right now.
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These are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting. No Browns update this week. Thankfully, they weren’t playing.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into this week’s game against Green Bay as the league’s only remaining winless team (0-7). Desperate times call for desperate measures. So the Bucs made a bold move to try to turn things around.

Old school uniforms.

Call me crazy, but I like the retro uniforms we’ve seen this year. Even the creamsicle jerseys.

Rookie quarterback Josh Freeman, in his first career start, led the Bucs to a 38-28 win over the Packers. He threw for 205 yards and 3 touchdowns. The win was also the first for 33 year old head coach Raheem Morris.

The loss drops Green Bay to 4-4, making their playoff chances much more difficult. They still have Dallas, Baltimore, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Arizona remaining on their schedule.
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These are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting. You can read my recap of the Browns week 8 game here.

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Brett Favre was victorious in his highly anticipated return to Lambeau Field.

Favre’s 4 touchdown passes led the Vikings over the Packers 38-26. Minnesota is now 7-1 and has won both match-ups this season against Green Bay.

Losing like this has got to be tough to swallow for Packers fans who cheered for Favre during his 16 years as the starting quarterback in Green Bay. Surely there are many of them that are upset about the team getting rid of Favre a year and a half ago. But whether they see it now or not, the team made the right decision in choosing Aaron Rodgers over Favre for the 2008 season. Why? Two reasons:

1. Brett Favre is old. Sure, he’s still playing well. But how much longer can he continue? One or two more seasons, tops. Who knows, this season might really be his last. If the Packers still had Favre, Rodgers likely would be gone. After Favre finally really retires, what then?
2. Aaron Rodgers has proven he is a good quarterback, and he will only get better. In the loss to Minnesota, Rodgers threw for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns. After seven games thus far, he is averaging 284 yards per game, has thrown 14 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions. Compare that to Brett Favre’s 240 yards per game, 16 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. Rodgers is just about even with him.

So while it’s somewhat possible the Packers would be better this year with Favre, in the long term, they’ll be happy they have Rodgers under center.
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