Favre Watch 2009

Day 140

Favre Watch 2009

Day 134

Pre-Training Camp Power Rankings

1) Pittsburgh Steelers - The reigning champs have a nearly impoosible road ahead to a repeat, but they face a much easier schedule on paper then they faced last season.

2) New England Patriots - The team missed the playoff without Tom Brady, but he is back and appears to be healthy.

3) Baltimore Ravens - With Joe Flacco entering his second season teamed with that smothering defense is very reminiscent of Ben Roethlisberger's second season in Pittsburgh, which by the way ended in a Super Bowl championship.

4) New York Giants - The defense was good in 2008 but should be scary good with off-season additions, hopefully they will be able to find a replacement for Plaxico Buress.

5) San Diego Chargers - With a watered-down AFC West, the Chargers should breeze their way to division title ala 2008 Cardinals.

6) Indianapolis Colts - The loss of Tony Dungy will hurt, but with Peyton Manning and the offensive weapons they are always a contender.

7) Philadelphia Eagles - The team was one win away from the Super Bowl last season and made some nice offseason additions.

8) Tennessee Titans - Replacing the production of Albert Haynesworth is the key to the Titans success, a superior running game will keep the defense rested.

9) Chicago Bears - The addition of Jay Cutler will account for additional wins next season.

10) Carolina Panthers - With that running game they should be higher on this list, but with Jake Delhomme under center and uncertainty with Julius Peppers makes us worried.

11) Arizona Cardinals - Kurt Warner is back, Anquan Boldin is still there and Matt Leinart is maturing and will push Warner for playing time. But will they be able to shake off that devastating Super Bowl loss?

12) Minnesota Vikings - The Williams wall appears to be clear of legal troubles and Adrian Peterson is a beast.

13) Atlanta Falcons - The "Dirty Bird" shocked everyone last season, don't expect Matt Ryan and the Falcons to sneak up on anyone this season.

14) Miami Dolphins - Parcells and Sparano did a marvelous job in their first season with the team and Pat White will make the Wildcat even more dangerous.

15) Dallas Cowboys - I am not ready to by into the no T.O = no Drama non-sense, this team has struggled to win a playoff game long before Owens arrived.

16) New Orleans Saints - We all know how good the offense is and the defense looks better on paper, stop us if you've heard this before.

17) Green Bay Packers - Aaron Rodgers and the offense will be improved but how will the defense adjust to the scheme change?

18) Seattle Seahawks - Matt Hasselback is back and will attempt to steal back the division from the Cardinals.

19) Houston Texans - The Texans really need to break their 8-8 streak with a winning season, they may have the pieces to pull it off.

20) Washington Redskins - The spent a boatload on Albert Haynesworth whose presence will be felt of the defense, but may have ruined their quarterbacks confidence by chasing every available QB out there.

21) New York Jets - Rex Ryan will whip the defense into shape with the pieces he brought with him from Baltimore, let's hope he can help Mark Sanchez channel his inner Flacco or geographically appropriate inner Joe Namath.

22) Cincinnati Bengals - Could be higher on this list by the end of the season, assuming the Palmer/Ochocinco sleepover goes well in July.

23) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - With what is expected to be an explosive offense and a shaky defense the Bucs may have entered "Bizzarro World".

24) Buffalo Bills - Terrell Owens needs to find his groove and a place to live soon or he will be an even bigger distraction in Western New York.

25) San Francisco 49ers - Mike Singletary will make them tougher, but without a QB they are at least another year away.

26) Jacksonville Jaguars - Will Maurice Jones-Drew be able to shoulder the load on offense without Fred Taylor and very inconsistent QB play? No longer the Super Bowl favorites they were just one year ago at this time.

27) Cleveland Browns - Unsettled at quarterback position aside, head coach Eric Mangini is banking on the same first-year success he had in New York. Don't get your hopes up.

28) St. Louis Rams - This team has a several positive pieces to work with but are a few years away from completing the puzzle.

29) Denver Broncos - It may be time for Owner Pat Bowlen to step in and stop the bleeding, Josh McDaniels is tearing this team apart from within.

30) Kansas City Chiefs - A one-hit wonder QB was brought in via trade, and a new regime is changing to a defensive scheme which does not the rosters strength troubles a brewing in Kansas City.

31) Oakland Raiders - Al Davis needs to step back and bring in a personnel evaluator before this team can improve.

32) Detroit Lions - The Lions will remain at the bottom until they register a notch in the win column.

Favre Watch 2009

Day 130

For the 130th day of Favre watch I found this article by Bruce Ciskie @ NFL.Fanhouse.com

The Minnesota Vikings are still awaiting a final determination of Brett Favre's playing status for 2009. All indications are that they want him, and he wants them.

However, the potential of signing Favre this late in the offseason doesn't sit well with all the players, nor do stories of Favre's relationship with his teammates. Defensive end Ray Edwards has been the most outspoken on the matter, and he was at it again this week during a stop at ESPN headquarters.

While there, Edwards made it clear that Favre's presence would be a good thing, but then he was pressed to clarify, and he did.Q. I'm curious to whether you're being politically correct right here because there are a number of stories on the Internet that have you saying that most of the guys on the team do not want him as the team's QB.

A. "I never said we didn't want him. We just don't want him to bring his prima
donna attitude to our team. Because I feel that will break a team apart."

Q. What do you mean by prima donna attitude?

A. "Wanting your own locker room and not signing autographs for your teammates and things like that. That's kind of prima donna-ish to me."

Q. So if he does come in with not signing autographs and needs his own locker room how does that play out with you guys?

A. "I don't think it will divide the team but it will divide us from him. Having his back and things like that. Like I said, you've got to trust each other in this game we call football because it's not an individual sport. So him not having our trust [means] it will definitely be hard for us to trust him."

Give Edwards credit for honesty. Stories of Favre dressing separate from his teammates are out there, and virtually everyone is aware of this by now. While you wouldn't fashion it a big deal, Edwards obviously has a different opinion.

While Brad Childress might not have won Viking fans over with his coaching acumen, there is at least one important thing that he has undeniably done well in Minnesota.

He's brought the locker room together. This is a close-knit group of players. They believe in each other, and they do indeed have each other's backs. While it's hard to imagine Favre being a disastrous presence on this team, as long as they're winning, stuff like this is going to matter if the team isn't successful.

Favre Watch 2009

Day 123

Our latest Favre Watch item is still centered around Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. It comes from Rick Alonzo from the Pioneer Press.

Brett Favre's agent said Friday he believes the quarterback's surgically repaired arm will be fine, but he's still not sure whether Favre wants to return to play football.

The comments came after ESPN.com reported that, according to an unidentified source, a Vikings trainer and a member of the coaching staff will travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., in a few days to work with Favre. The Vikings want to gauge the progress of Favre's throwing arm after he had arthroscopic surgery last month to repair a partially torn biceps tendon.

Favre has started throwing footballs again, but apparently he's still uncertain whether he will be able to play this season.

Favre's agent, Bus Cook, told West Virginia TV station WSAZ: "Whether he plays anymore or not, I don't know. . . . I don't know because I'm not sure that Brett is sure what he wants to do. Physically, I think he'll be fine, maybe a couple of weeks. But we will know one way or the other. Then again, does he still want to play?

"Can he play? Absolutely. He's still as good as anybody in the business, even at 40 years old. It's just whether or not he wants to go play or not."

Cook's comments that Favre should be healthy is just the latest strong indication that the future hall of famer is likely to sign with Minnesota.

Vikings coach Brad Childress was evasive when asked Thursday about wanting to see Favre throw before moving forward.

"I am not that anxious," to see Favre throw, Childress said. "I am not going to lose any sleep or anything. I don't need mood elevators or anything like that. But you always would want to see that, yeah."Asked whether the Vikings had plans to see Favre throw, Childress said: "Again, that is down-the-road stuff. The guy is retired right now and you would have to talk to him about that."

Childress restated Thursday that he did not impose a deadline of this week on Favre to decide whether to join the team, as ESPN.com had reported.

Childress declined to say how long he might be willing to let the Favre saga play out before making a final determination.

A Vikings spokesman said Friday the team would have no comment on the ESPN report.

Favre Watch 2009

Day 120

Favre Watch 2009

Day 111

We've made it to June, and Favre Watch is still going strong!