Chad Pennington's Performance Brings Clarity: Brett Favre the Right Move

The same people who praised the move when it happened and had the Jets going to the Super Bowl after they crushed the Titans in Tennessee—do you remember what you screamed as you helplessly watched the Jets offense drop its transmission on the 50 yard line of a snow-drenched Qwest field?

You remember, when your stomach was in a knot, drive-after-drive, punt-after-punt, and pick-after-Brett Favre-pick, what you yelled?

"We should have kept Chad; this guy (Favre) is killing us!"

"Is he blind?"

"Pennington never would have done this to us."

"Favre needs to retire, again!"

Oh, I know it was a lot worse than that. I know there were a couple of #$%#$s and a few &*#$#*s mixed in, but you get the point.

I know this is true because I am one of you. Yes, I bleed green and white. I loved the Favre move when it was made.

Although I loved Chad, I was happy to see him and his noodle arm get on a bus to Miami. Now, we have a quarterback, I thought. Now we have a chance to be great.

We added Faneca, Jenkins, Pace, and Woody. Gholston was going to lead the league in sacks. We beat the Patriots and the undefeated Tennessee Titans in their houses to go 8-3. It was over—we were finally going back to the bowl.

Do you remember how you felt that week? Do you remember what they were saying about our beloved Gang Green in the media? Do you remember looking at the final five weeks of the schedule? Do you remember when you foolishly and blindly took that leap of faith?

You know the rest.

Loss to Denver at home: It was the rain.

Loss to the sub .500: Oh, it was the trip to the West Coast.

Loss to the Bills: Ooh wait a minute! Elam knocks the ball loose, Ellis picks it up, rumblin', bumblin', he could go...Thanks to horrible coaching and an opportune defense we steal a win.

Loss to Seattle—a three-win team: It was the West Coast, the snow. It was the demise of Favre and the Jets.

Lose to Pennington and the Dolphins: Season over.

Meanwhile, during all of this, our former quarterback, who we released in order to make room for the Golden Boy, leads the Dolphins to an 11-win season and division title.

He does this by managing the football. Two hundred yards, two touchdowns, and 0 picks. Mix this with a solid run game, the wildcat, and a little tuna and you get every announcer, analyst, writer, and especially Jet fan, forgetting how horrible Pennington had become before being released by the Jets.

We all bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Releasing Pennington to sign Favre could possibly be the dumbest football move ever. Jets owner Woody Johnson and GM Mike Tannenbaum decided to fire head coach Eric Mangini the day after the season ended.

After all, they had to have something to take attention away from the Favre debacle. Fire the coach, set up the smoke screen, and no one will notice that our old quarterback is hosting a playoff game and we are calling for tee-times.

Guess what, Woody? The smoke screen didn't work—not yours anyway.

You see, Chad Pennington's act had smoke and mirrors. We had been hypnotized to forget.

Chad's traveling magic act was a success. People around the country were giving it rave reviews. "Pennington is just a winner," "Chad leads (1-15) Dolphins to division title," etc....

We all knew that Chad could have taken the Jets to the playoffs, and maybe the Super Bowl. If only Favre had only thrown only seven picks for the entire year like Chad, who knows?

It wasn't after Pennington's first interception against the Ravens on Sunday that our memory was jarred.

Even when Ed Reed picked one and took it to the house, we were not fazed.

As Pennington's interception total reached four, and his passes were hanging in the air longer than some punts, it was then that the smoke began to clear and we began to remember.

We began to remember that Chad's arm was adequate when the score was close and there was plenty of time on the clock. We also remembered that if we needed two scores in six minutes that the game was over—over for us, anyway.

Pennington is a heck of a competitor and as classy as they come, but class doesn’t orchestrate fourth quarter comebacks. Superstars with cannon-like arms do.

So after this roller coaster ride of a season for all of us Jet fans, after double and triple guessing Favre or Pennington, I leave you with this.

Brett Favre is hands down going to give you a better chance of winning a championship than Chad Pennington or Kellen Clemons will. Period, end of story!

Favre didn't work out for the Jets (yet) but neither would have Pennington, so at least they gave it the old college try.