Favre Versus Rodgers: Week 10

This dual hasn't been discussed for a bit, so let me get you up to date.  After the Vikings beat the Packers in Lambeau, Brett Favre took the head to head series 2-0 and weekly match play 6-2.  That is, Brett got the weekly quarterback pick six times in the first eight games.  So much for the first half of the season.  Brett and the Vikings got a bye week, while the Packers played down in Tampa Bay. 

By the rules of this competition, Aaron Rodgers automatically won Week 9; however, it was arguably the worst game of his career.  Rodgers threw three interceptions versus two touchdowns and a mediocre 57.6 QB rating, and the Packers lost to the lowly Buccaneers. No matter, Aaron picked up a game on Brett to make the score 6-3.   

On to week 10, where the Packers took on the Cowboys and the Vikings hosted the Lions.

Brett Favre 20 of 29 for 344 yard 1 TD / 0 INT

The Vikings hosted the Detroit Lions in Minneapolis.  Brett Favre started the game hot and didn’t let up.  He hit his first three passes to get the Vikings to the Lion’s 31 yard line before the drive stalled.  Favre was accurate and hit big plays throughout the day.  He threw three long bombs that were snagged by Sidney Rice for 43, 43, and 56 yards.  Rice caught two more passes longer than 20 yards.   Brett also hooked up with Percy Harvin for 22 yard and Visanthe Shiancoe for 21 yards.  Favre completed the game with 344 yards and a QB rating of 120.5 and got to sit out the last six minutes.

As a key note, Brett Favre started his 300th consecutive game and has the highest QB rating in the league (107.5) through week 10.   The bad?  The Vikings overall started out flat in the game.  They only got a field goal on their first drive and Brett missed a couple of passes and could have improved his 69% completion rate.  Favre feasted on the Lions padding his incredible statistics, but the Vikings should have crushed the Lions even worse.  The Vikings didn’t hit their average scoring of 30 points per game; but then they didn’t have to.

Aaron Rodgers 25 of 36 for 189 yards 1 TD / 0 INT

The Packers hosted the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field. The entire game was a defensive struggle. Aaron got some much deserved help from the Packers defense as they shut out the Cowboys for most of the game because Dallas couldn’t run the ball or protect QB Tony Romo.  Coach Mike McCarthy said he gave his quarterback more responsibility at the line of scrimmage than he ever has in an effort to help the Packers’ problems in pass protection.  The first half was scoreless until Aaron used the two minute offense and a 24 pass to Donald Driver to drive for a field goal.

Rodger led the Packers on a 15 play 80 yard drive extending from the third to the fourth quarter capped off with a quarterback sneak for a touchdown.  Aaron completed 6 of 8 passes on the drive.  Later in the fourth quarter, Rodgers hit Spencer Havner for a two yard touchdown pass capitalizing on a fumble by Romo.  The Packers defense dominated this game shutting out the vaunted Cowboy offense for 56 minutes of the game.

The Packers committed 12 penalties costing them 100 yards including an intentional grounding by Aaron on the opening drive.  Rodgers got sacked four times and was harassed consistently by the Cowboys pass rush.  Rodgers got really lucky that 2 fumbles were recovered, and a 3rd one, the only one he lost, was overturned on a penalty.  In the first half, the Packers offense struggled, punting 5 times and missing one field goal.  The Packers only averaged 4.5 yards per pass attempt. 

The Pick

Aaron Rodgers gets the pick in Week 10.  Yes, statistically Brett Favre beat the snot out of Aaron – QB rating of 120.7 versus 91.1, 344 versus 189 yard.  BUT, Aaron got a big win for the Packers.  It was ugly for Aaron, but he committed no turnovers and hammered out a couple of drives in a hard fought defensive struggle.  The Packers beat the NFC East leaders, ended Dallas’s four game win streak, and ended Tony Romo’s perfect winning streak in November.   Brett beat the 1 and 8 Lions.  The quality win gets Rodgers the nod.