Brett Favre is wearing a different shade of green this season, and that was the thought on everybody’s mind when we entered week one of the season. A few weeks down the road and it’s no surprise; he’s still got it. But he’s not the only reason Jets fans are whispering “division title” for the first time in years. Check out these ten stats, trends, and observations.

1. Let’s start with Favre. Thanks to a brilliant game against the Arizona Cardinals, one that will undoubtedly be looked at as being significant when this season is over, Favre is now leading the NFL is leading the NFL’s best passers in several signifcant categories. His 110.8 quarterback rating is the best this season, and, thanks in large part to his 6-touchdown performance this weekend against the Cardinals, he’s also leading the league in touchdowns with twelve. He’s also second in completion percentage and ninth in yards, while averaging just one interception per game.

2. How about I throw some more numbers concerning Favre at you: his completion percentage in individual games has never been lower than 68.2 percent; he’s on pace for 48 touchdown passes; he now has 454 touchdowns, which basically means that if continues to play at a high level for the remainder of this season and carries it into the next, he could, without too much trouble, hit 500 career touchdown passes; he has four times as many touchdown passes as Peyton Manning this season; he has six times as many as Chad Pennington; he’s averaging one touchdown per 10.33 passing attempts - Tom Brady averaged one per 11.56 when he broke the NFL record last season.

3. Okay, so Favre is great; that’s settled. What about the rest of the offense? Thomas Jones started the season in exceptional form, rushing for 101 yards and a touchdown in the season opener. Unfortunately, his yard per carry average has dropped significantly every week since, bottoming out at 2.6 yards per carry last week against Arizona. Worse, he hasn’t scored a touchdown since then, nor has he rushed for at least fifty yards in the past two weeks. What’s the big picture? Basically, his numbers are looking eerily similar to last season’s when he rushed for 1,119 yards and one touchdown. Even his receiving numbers are paced out to be about the same.

4. The Jets rushing game as a whole has suffered this season. Averaging just 3.8 yards per carry as a unit, New York ranks 22nd in the NFL. And because Brett Favre is passing the ball so often, the offense also ranks 23rd in carries. Put those two together and you wind up with the 28th ranked rushing offense (in terms of yards) and the NFL’s worst scoring running game (one touchdown this season).

5. The big question before the season was, who will benefit most from Favre’s presence - Laveranues Coles or Jericho Cotchery? Prior to Sunday it appeared to be Cotchery, who led the two with 14 receptions, 176 yards, and two touchdowns; Coles had 10 catches, 152 yards, and just one touchdown. My, how much things can change in a week. Both players are now strikingly similar (both have 18 catches) but Coles is leading by a bit in both yards (257-243) and touchdowns (4-3). So who will benefit more when the season is over? How about both?

6. Anybody talking about Chansi Stuckey? The second-year wide receiver from Clemson averaged 40 receiving yards and a touchdown in each of the first three games of the season, scoring once per start. His number of receptions was also growing in each game, though it dropped off again this past week. He still has 14 receptions, 134 yards, and 3 touchdowns … and almost no one recognizes his name.

7. Want to know why the Jets are 2-2, despite a pretty strong offense? Let’s talk about this team’s defense. It’s allowing 29 points per game (and the Jets are scoring 28.2), which means that the Jets have bee outscored this season (albeit by one point), in spite of the Cardinals game in which the team outscored Arizona by 21 points.

8. The good news for the defense is this: they have stopped the run at most points on the field. Most any way you slice it, this has been a great run defense so far, allowing just 75.5 rushing yards per game (5th) and 3.1 yards per attempt (tied-4th with Ravens). But here’s the catch: New York has managed to allow six rushing touchdowns this season (tied-25; worst teams have allowed seven). In other words, near the endzone this team has trouble stopping the run.

9. Now for the defense’s key weakness: pass defense. They’re 30th in yards per game, tied for 27th in touchdown passes allowed, tied for 29th in opponent completion percentage, and 23rd in opponent passer rating. But here’s the silver lining: the Jets are also tied for 4th in sacks and tied for 5th in interceptions. This defense makes plays.

10. Here’s a little-known fact that should excite Jets fans: the last Brett Favre started the season with 12 touchdown passes in four games was 1996 - the last time the Packers won a Super Bowl.

Tags: Brett Favre, Data, Fantasy Football, Jericho Cotchery, Laveranues Coles, Statistics, Trends

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Entry posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 6:43 pm. Filed under tags: Brett Favre, Data, Fantasy Football, Jericho Cotchery, Laveranues Coles, Statistics, Trends,
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