Dec 2011  add Anthony Cavillo (CFL)

Dec 8 2010 gen'l update

in 2010 season, Favre will pass the stats below vs McNabb/Jurgenson/Unitas/Krieg

realistic milestones are (as of Nov 16) to +2 TDs, +4 TDs more than INTS, and 2 more wins

 

Here are some interesting facts about Brett Favre as of Oct 12th 2010 (records, stats over career, games of record)

 

1st in:  pass completions, pass attempts, total QB TDS, most game victories, passing yards, total QB YDs, total INTs, consecutive QB starts,

             seasons with 3000 pass yds, games with at least 4 TDs, games with at least 3 TDs, most winning seasons, total QB points,

             consecutive starts (300+), games played vs the most different teams and in most different NFL stadiums

             career playoff interceptions thrown, career playoff losses as starting QB

             consecutive playoff games with TD passes (4 ahead of Brady*), career playoff yards gained (83 ahead of Montana)

             career playoff pass attempts (791, 57 ahead of Montana), 481 career playoff pass completions (21 ahead of Montana)

             most Pro Bowl selections (QBs) (1 ahead of Manning), career playoff passing yards (ahead of Montana)

             most games with 4 or more TDs (2 ahead of Marino)

            seasons with most passing TDs (4) tied with Young/Manning/Dawson/Unitas

            QB sacks

            passing yards

 

2nd in:  (TD-INT) differential (2nd behind PManning)

            most 300+ yard games (2 behind Marino)

            consecutive games with TD passes (behind Unitas)

            TD% leader in single seasons (4), behind Dawson (5)

            career playoff passing touchdowns (2nd behind Montana)

            career playoff games started ( tie w/ Gene Upshaw), playoff games started any posn

3rd in:  seasons, career game-winning drives

4th in:  career yards lost to sacks 

 

5th in:  pass attempts/game , career rating (mine)

          seasons leading the league in attempts(3) behind Marino(5),and Blanda/Unitas/Baugh each with (4)

           pass compl per game (21.0)

6th in:  single season passing TD, any season

           playoffs games played in

           career comebacks 

7th in:  games played 

8th in:   passing yds/game

11th in:   

13th in:  

17th in:  career pass compl %

18th in:  

19th in:  adjusted net yds per pass att,  NFL's career passer rating

 

this next puts Favre's longevity in perspective:

Favre has completed more passes than all but 7 QBs have attempted passes...4 of whom are in the HOF 

Favre has won more games than all but but 8 QBs have played (started) ...5 of whom are in the HOF 

        (Unitas,Manning,Bledsoe,Moon,Testaverde,Elway,Tarkenton,Marino  respectively  186,192,193,203,214,231,239,240  vs Favre's 183 wins)

Favre has thrown more INTs than all but 3 QBs have thrown TDs    (Marino,PManning,Tarkenton) 

Favre total YDs (36810) is at least twice that of all but 14 QBs...8 of whom are in the HOF (respectively 2nd-13&McNabb (39422))

Favre total TDs is at least twice that of all but 11 QBs...9 of whom are in the HOF  (respectively **)

Favre attempts are at least twice that of all but 14 QBs...8 of whom are in the HOF 

Favre completions are at least twice that of all but 10 QBs...6 of whom are in the HOF

Favre has been sacked at least twice that of all but 48 QBs...

Favre is the only QB to amass 70000 total yards, 3000 TD points, and 500 total TDs in the NFL (Moon is close considering NFL+CFL)

 

For example we have:

career completions                                 career pass TDs

4967    Marino                                          420  Marino

4218    PManning    (active)                       349 PManning (active)

4123    Elway                                            342 Tarkenton

3988    Moon                                           300 Elway

3839    Bledsoe                                        291 Moon

3787    Testaverde                                   290 Unitas

3686    Tarkenton                                    275 Testaverde

3409    Montana                                      273 Montana

3297    Fouts                                           261 Krieg

3279    Collins    (active)                           255 Jurgenson

3150    Favre (1/2)                                   254 Favre (1/2) 

 

 

Or another way, here is Montana vs half of Favre's:

                     completions   attempts      TDs       yards

Montana           3409            5391           273       40551

Favre (1/2)        3150            5085           254       35919

 

Now EXCLUDING PManning, among active QBs, here are Favre's numbers vs the next closest (as of 12/26/2011)

                     completions   attempts      TDs       yards(pass)

Favre               6300          10169          508          71838

closest             3487           6261           297         40922     (respectively Collins,Collins,Brady,Collins(TN))

Difference~     2813           3908          211         30916

 

The "difference" numbers alone are on par with a HOF QB ....for contrast, here are Bradshaw's and Young's numbers:

Bradshaw             2025           3901          212         27989

Young                  2667           4149          232         33124

 

And for giggles, here are Favre's 1995 vs 2009 seasons (passing only, seasons 14 years apart):

                 compl   attempts        TDs  INT      yards   % compl    TD-INT   TD/INT   YG   rating

2009              363         531          33      7        4202       68.4       26           4.7      263   0.451 (reg season)

1995              359         570          38    13         4413       63.0       25           ~3      276  0.505 (reg season)

 

Note that Elway's ratings also were higher in his last 5 years compared to the year 10 years previous ('88 vs'98,'87vs'97,etc)

For full seasons, Jim Hart, Gannon, Griese and Testaverde show the same pattern (better with age)

 

As an aside, many of these records likely will be broken by Peyton Manning should he remain healthy ...

Manning is already 3rd in career rating (mine), 1st in (TD-INT) diff'l, 1st in TD/game started, 2nd in YDs/game, 4th in total points,

3rd in TD/INT ratio, 1st in points/game avg, 5th in W-L %, 3rd in % completion, 3rd in total TDs, 4th in career pass yards (almost 3rd)

 

Here is an interesting comparison against the great Warren Moon (as of 11/16/2010) and CFL QB Anthony Cavillo (as of Dec 26 2011):

                               completions   attempts      pass TDs       pass yards

Moon (NFL+CFL)            5357            9205           435            70553

Favre                             6300          10169           508            71838

Cavillo (CFL)                   5444            8686           418            73412

 

using pro-football-reference stats on 4Q comebacks (4QC) and game-winning drives (GWD), we see:

               4Q comebacks /  GWD

Elway               35     46

Favre*              29     43

Marino            36     51

Montana          31     33

Moon               26     37

Tarkenton          30     34

Unitas               36     40

 

This gives order for GWD as Marino,Elway,Favre,Unitas  and 4Q come-backs as Marino/Unitas,Elway,Montana,Tarkenton

 

ref:  http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/

 

oddball notes:

Favre never has had the highest NFL rating in any season, very rare among HOF QBs.  The list of QBs who have includes Steve Young,Staubach,KAnderson,Unitas,Starr,Warner,PManning,Brady,Griese,JKelly,Marino,Esiason,Montana, Brodie,Cunningham,Dawson,Tittle, Van Brocklin, Tittle,Otto Graham,Jurgensen,Tarkenton

 

Favre has never achieved the highest passing yds/game avg in any season he has played.