I made the mistake of tuning in to Colin Cowturd's show on ESPN Radio this morning. I have to stop doing that; my blood pressure sky rockets every time he opens his mouth. At any rate, he was up to his usual BS, praising Vick (and McNabb) while badmouthing Brett Favre. He continued his old schtick that Favre should retire, he is costing his team wins, blah blah blah. So I thought it would be interesting to run an actual stats comparison of Favre v Vick, and Culpepper, just for fun.
First, let's look at Favre's first five years in the NFL, compared to Vick's first five:
Favre = 63 games, 2,149 ATT, 1,342 COMP, 14,825 YDS, 108 TDS, 66 INT; RUSH YDS 797, TDS 7
Vick = 47 games, 1,032 ATT, 556 COMP, 7,114 YDS, 40 TDS, 28 INT; RUSH YDS 2,456, TDS 14
Favre played in 16 more games over 5 years, or one whole season more than Vick, because of his durability.
Favre's completion percentage was 62.4%, or 7.6% higher than Vicks. Favre's INT % was .03 per attempt, while Vick's is .027 per attempt, almost as high yet despite throwing the ball less than half as often as Favre.
Favre gained 15,622 yards combined passing & rushing; Vick has gained 9,570 combined. Put another way, Favre gained 247.9 yds per game, Vick 203.6.
Favre earned 1.8 TD per game; Vick 1.14.
Now, let's look at Favre's LAST five years, since Vick has been in the league:
GAMES 68
ATT 2,231 COMP 1,410 or 63%, YDS 16,069
TDS 130, INT 77
RUSH YDS 217, TDS 1
So, in the LAST five years of his now washed-up career, Favre has outgained Vick 16,286 total yards to 9,570; he has 131 TDS versus 54 TDS combined for Vick; and his INT per attempt is .034, which is the only stat in which he is actually worse than Vick, but again, this is in more than twice as many attempts.
Now, let's take a look at Culpepper's last five years. How many times have you heard someone say Culpepper should retire?
GAMES 61
ATT 2,050 COMP 1,329, or 64.8%, same as Favre's, YDS 15,680
TDS 100, INT 68
RUSH YDS 1,927, TDS 22
TOTAL YDS 17,607, TOTAL TDS 122, INT % .033
So in his last five years, the starting QB of the Minnesota Vikings, with Randy Moss and crew, threw for more yards, but less TDs and the same INT % as Favre.
If you throw in fumbles, Culpepper turned the ball over more than both Favre and Vick, despite all the negative publicity that Favre receives for throwing INTs.
But Favre should retire, right? He is not what he used to be, I'll grant you that, but he is still as good as Vick and Culpepper, easily.
Even at the end of his career.