Brett Favre: Proof That He's the Best New York Jets O.C. Since 1998

The truth is that the best offensive coordinator the Jets have had in the past 12 years was Brett Favre in 2008.

You think I'm crazy?  Well let me ask a couple of subjective questions based on production and production only.
 
Who knows more about running an offense? Brett Favre or Schottenheimer?

Brett Favre or Mike Heimerdinger?

Brett Favre or Paul Hackett of all people? Paul Hackett...eesh.

I'll take Brett Favre's play calling and offensive philosophy over all those guys, and based on offensive production, you would too.

When Favre was a Jet, he arrived during the 2008 pre-season, barely knowing two pages of Schottenheimer's playbook. If anyone remembers that 2008 Monday night game against the Chargers, it was obvious that Number 4 was lost in Schottenheimer's offense. 

You'll also remember that during that loss to San Diego, the Jets went to a new 4 wide receiver set with consistency for most of the second half of that game as the Jets tried to play catch up and simultaneously figure out what worked from a passing standpoint.

Later on during the season when the Jets were scoring points at a near record clip (for the Jets), Favre pointed back to that Monday night game saying (and I'm paraphrasing), "We found something during that Charger game."

"We found something."  To me, that implies that they found something that wasn't being done before he arrived. The result was one of the most prolific offenses in New York Jets history.

One has to go back to 1998, the year the Jets went 12-4 and lost to the Denver Bronocs in the AFC Championship,to find a more prolific Jets offense than the one lead by, and coached by, Brett Favre.  That year, the Jets finished 5th in the league offensively,averaging 26 points/game and scored 416 total points. 

By forcing Schottenheimer's hand to change his pedestrian offensive system during the one year he was there, the Jets offense scored the most points than they had since 1998!  The Jets scored 406 total points and averaged over 25.3 points/game with a QB that barely knew the offense and was playing with an injured shoulder for the last several games of the season. 

By forcing Schottenheimer to change his system, and score points with such success, in my eyes, Favre became more of an offensive coordinator than Marty's son was.  To this day, I don't recall seeing any of the pass plays that were successful during Favre's one year with the Jets.  Didn't you learn anything while Favre was with the team Brian?

In 2008, players like Thomas Jones grumbled that with Favre's arrival, "the offense was being tailored to fit one guy."  Jones shouldn't have been complaining, he should have thanked Favre for bringing change with him.

One of the changes that Favre made to the offense was killing all the pre-snap movement.  He told Schottenheimer to 86 all the useless shifts because it gave him a better read on what coverage the defense was in. Hmmmm....
 
When you have a QB that has played all of 19 professional games and had only played 16 Division I college games, wouldn't the offensive coordinator want to make things as simple as possible for the kid?  All that pre-snap motion on offense does is potentially confuse a quarterback who is trying his best to learn to read defenses, because, as Favre pointed out, the defense doesn't get set.

Now if a 20 year veteran hall of famer who has passed for more yards than anyone that's ever played the game sees the benefit in that, why wouldn't Schottenheimer see the benefit in that for a 2nd year QB in Mark Sanchez?

I'll ask the question again:  Didn't you learn anything while Favre was with the team Brian?

I'm not splitting hairs, I'm just saying that Favre seemed to know more about offense than our current coordinator does, and the offensive results from 2008, compared to 2006, 2007 and 2009 bear that out. Although it was just one game, 2010 is not off to a flying start either.
 
The offense scored at a near record clip when Favre was healthy, didn't it? Until the 2008 season,
Schottenheimer lead offenses finished 18th (316 total points, 19.8 points/game in 2006) and 25th
(268 total points, 16.8 points/game in 2007) respectively. The Jets bring in Favre, allow him to severely tweak the passing game and the Jets finish 9th in the league offensively by scoring 405 total points and averaging 25.3 points/game.

Since Favre left, Schottenheimer's offense has dropped back down to what his offenses usually do: in 2009 the Jets scored 348 total points and averaged 21.8 points a game and finished17th in the league, the Jets best offensive league ranking under Schottenheimer.

But let's not forget that the Jets led the league in RUSHING in 2009.  Whatever offensive success the Jets enjoyed in 2009 was due to Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene, not what Schottenheimer orchestrated through the passing game.

Despite having to work with a turnover prone, rookie QB, had Favre been the offensive coordinator of the 2009 Jets, one can make an argument that Sanchez and the Jets' passing game would have been more successful.  Think about it: Brett knows turnovers better than anyone. 

Let's not forget, it's not like Favre was the poster boy for efficient quarterback play in 2008.
He did throw 22 picks (2 more than Sanchez did in 2009), but also threw for 22 touchdowns
(10 more than Sanchez in 2009). When you can pass the ball, it enhances your ability to run the ball because defenses have to play you honestly. He would've helped Sanchez immensely.

After the Jets' offensive debacle this past Monday night against the Ravens, Joe Namath complained that the Jets don't have a deep threat. I disagree because the Jets have Braylon Edwards.  Remember that Favre put up those 2008 numbers without a deep threat, unless of course, you consider Laveranues Coles, Jericho Cotchery and rookie tight end Dustin Keller deep threats. 

The bottom line is that a very valid case can be made that the best offensive coordinator that the Jets have had since 1998 was their quarterback:  Brett Favre.

When he came to the Jets, he forced changes to be made in the offense. He installed new pass plays that he was comfortable with, had a profound effect on receivers (Dustin Keller still gushes over him) and allowed Thomas Jones and Leon Washington to flourish. 

The team scored more points despite Favre's 22 interception than it had since 1998.

With Schottenheimer as the offensive coordinator?  Well, let's just say I'll pass on the Jets' passing game.

If Santonio Holmes is reading this article, he has to be wondering what he's gotten himself into.