I agree. I think he's done after this year. He can't move around like he use to in or out of the pocket, even though his arm is still strong. It's just time for him to go. Now where he goes - who knows? Maybe another darkness retreat and he can figure things out.
For much of this season, I would have completely agreed with you and Magooch. But lately, I'm not so sure.
I don't know how many Jets games you've seen this year, but I watch most of them on replay on the NFL network... for a couple of reasons. First of all (just as with Favre) I watched almost every snap the man took for 15 years, and developed an appreciation for the way he plays the game. Plus, I know that when he moves on to whatever commune or ashram he ends up in, I'll never see anyone play quite the same way again.
And the guy still has a lot to offer. I agree with Oldschool's assessment that while he's probably still Top 50%, Top 10 in the NFL is probably over - generally speaking. But, damn... the
plays that guy can still make sometimes.
He can't make them consistently, but the other day against Seattle, he still made a number of passes that I don't think any quarterback in the league could make - or would even try. I lost count of the number of times I sat up in my seat and said WOW out loud.
The trouble is, he's obviously aged a lot in the last two years. His mobility is nowhere near what it once was, but he still danced away from a few sacks that a lot of QBs wouldn't have been able to, just because of his savvy. He even got out ahead of a screen play and threw a decent block downfield that made it a first down. He's still playing with fire and intensity.
But his legs, and his footwork, are nowhere near what we used to see. His leg is still stiff from the Achilles injury, plus he's had knee, hamstring, and ankle injuries this season, and they're still affecting him. He still has a rocket arm, but he can't step into some throws the way he used to, and his accuracy is terribly inconsistent by his standards.
He'll throw a 30-yard laser beam directly into a receiver's hands, in just the one place it will fit, and on the next play miss a wide-open man by a yard or more. His completion rate and QB rating are the lowest they've ever been in his career, and he struggles to sustain a long drive without killing it with a bad pass.
I don't see him leading a team into the playoffs the way he's playing now, or lasting more than a weekend even if he does get there, but I can see some teams taking a flyer with him and see if he can catch lightning in that bottle one last time. And I hope somebody does, because I'd really like to have one more year of watching him throw the occasional highlight reel pass.
Not our problem.
