Let go by the Jets in August after eight years of service, Pennington, 32, is having a career renaissance with the resurgent Dolphins. Winners of one game in 2007, the Dolphins are 10-5 and can claim the American Football Conference East crown by beating the Jets on Sunday at Giants Stadium. Pennington has thrown for 3,453 yards, a career best. He has completed 67 percent of his passes, and his passer rating, 96.4, is the second best in the N.F.L., behind Philip Rivers's 104.0.Sorta.
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I for one am ecstatic for Chad. Ive always liked his game, from Day One (well I never watched him or Randy Moss at Marshall so, Day One Pros). I think his rotator cuff injuries have turned him into the kind of guy who plays best with 20-30 attempts in a ball control, west coast offense but thats still a very valuable and productive role for a QB in today's NFL.
I really pray the Football Gods give him the honor of avenging his dismissal from the Jets by knocking them out of the playoffs and taking the AFCE crown.
And then I pray that he steps in for Jeff Garcia and helms the Bucs in 2009, although thats moreso wishful thinking.
I honestly thought that Chad's best days were behind him because of the injuries but I never thought they gave him the respect he deserved when he was balling and every since they cut him I have been cheering on the Dolphins. Karma says they win the game and get in the playoffs and end the Jets season but unfortunately in football karma doesn't always win out. I think weather might play a factor but if they win the game I think they should truly throw out every other candidate and give Pennington the MVP. From 1-15 and the guy just got to the team the week before the season started to 11-5 is bananas. I hope they pull it out especially in hopes that the Jets snitching ass coach gets fired but I just don't know if there will be a happily ever after this time.
Imma take the opportunity to point out that both Pennington and Rivers got reamed on Pro Bowl voting too.
Pennington had a good season, but watch him let the Dolphins down when it matters most. Like always. Dude can manage a game, but when things get tight in the playoffs, or against the Jets this weekend, and he needs to fit that ball in a tight spot, he simply doesn't have the arm strength to do it.
Pennington is a mediocre quarterback. Matt Cassell is better than the guy at this point.
Right because the guy who has the highest career completion percentage of all active quarterbacks could never be a good quarterback. Could he?
People kill me with that "he has a weak arm" bullshit. That weak arm has guided the Dolphins to a better record than the Jets and their rocket armed qb thats all I know. Jeff George had one of the greatest arms in the game, where did that get him? Don't even get me started on Ryan "Beef" Leaf. Its interesting to me that nobody ever talks about Joe Montana having such a strong arm and yet he is a Hall of Famer. Chad Pennington has been a winner. He won with the Jets and now he is winning with the Dolphins and no matter how many people call him mediocre nothing can take those Ws off the board.
"Chad Pennington has been a winner."
umm... where? The reason they talk about pennington's arm is because he hasn't been a winner and his arm is his most obvious deficiency. His offenses are pedestrian, too.
Pennington is a winner? I second the "ummm....where?" Pennington has never won squat. He's a play-it-safe QB who doesn't win big games. Never has, and probably won't on Sunday.
Actually, you can directly link the Jets' record during Pennington's time in New York to his health. When Pennington was healthy for a full season, the Jets had a good record. When Pennington was injured, they struggled. Pennington has always been a good quarterback, and Jets fans ran him out of town. The man puts the ball where his receivers want it. The man gets no respect, but I can only think of about 5 quarterbacks in football today I'd rather have. The Mannings, Rivers, Brady, and maybe Drew Brees. Yes, I excluded Tony Romo, yes, I excluded Kerry Collins, (I'm a Giants fan, and I remember the 2001 Super Bowl. I fully expect him to that again at some point in the playoffs) yes, I excluded Matt Hasselbeck and Matt Cassel (he's off to SF in the offseason, where he will make the Niners dream wistfully of their Shaun Hill glory days) and every other NFL quarterback. Pennington gets no love, except from Bill Parcells. It's amazing to me, considering Parcells' success, that people don't give Pennington the respect he deserves.
The fact is this - Pennington is 32-29 over his career as a QB. That is the essence of mediocrity.
Check out the Dolphins record this year and with the exception of the win over the Patriots, they haven't beaten good teams.
The suggestion that Pennington - a guy who is 32-29 lifetime and never won anything - is a Top 6 Quarterback in the league (better than Rothlisberger according to Blast! ha ha) is the epitome of duck tales.
It's been fun to listen to talk radio down here in Florida all season long, because with all the New York transplants, half of any radio show during football season is about the Jets and the Dolphins. It's fun because I don't have any skin in the game, and because I find the Jets fans as delusional as any when talking about the quality of their team on any given weekend.
And personally, I think that using won-loss record as a primary standard by which to judge a QB is about as dumb as using that record to judge a pitcher's season in baseball. Want proof? Dan Fouts is a Hall of Fame QB, and I don't think anyone would dispute he deserves that spot. His career record? 86-84-1. He played on some teams with less defense than Bush's presidency, which is why he has a crappy won-loss record. Was Pennington ever on a Jets team that could be considered a powerhouse? That's not to say won-loss record is entirely irrelevant--it's just not a good thing to base an entire opinion on, and I'd say that Pennington's accuracy more than balances out his won-loss record. He's far from a mediocre QB, and at this stage in their respective careers, he's more than Favre's equal.
I went back and re-read that article, as well as this one. Great points.
It brings back this discussion about good/great quarterbacks - I discussion I can seem to have, again and again, without getting bored - and especially, the conversation about Steve Young.
I was looking at Steve Young's stats on football reference - and I never realized that his QB rating, through all the years at San Francisco, was over 100 - higher EVER.
Even with his two horrible starting years,in Tampa Bay, he still has the best overall QB rating, at 96.8. But his rating for the SF years - really from 1990 to 1998 or so - is 101.4.
Given his, for a quarterback, amazing running ability, TNC is right - Young really is THE complete quarterback.
There still is something about field vision, that perhaps Young was missing - but it's hard to argue with the stats.
Whoa! I like Pennington as much as the next guy, but that's just crazy talk. I'd rather have Big Ben, McNabb, Cutler, Palmer, Ryan, Rodgers, Romo, and maybe even Flacco and Tyler Thigpen if I'm gambling on potential.
That said, Pennington's a good player and very solid starting QB, which is much more than most teams in the league have.
Pennington was always decent when healthy, which was not often. This Patriots fan hopes the Jets win because it's hard to envision the Ravens dropping a home clincher to Jacksonville.
To look at Pennington's stats this year and believe that the Jets unloaded another Joe Namath is to not analyze what has been the problem with the Jets since Namath left the game: from top to bottom, they have never been a very good football team. Beginning with coaching, bad decisions have overshadowed any progress made with either Favre or Pennington. Mangini does stuff I've not seen in high school coaching from a logical standpoint.
Their defense is lower-middle-tiered in the league; their OL is a sieve 65% of the time. Besides Favre,a somewhat decent running game, and the emergence of Leon Washington, offensively they have no Mosses or TOs that can occasionally bail out Favre's gunslinger style of passing, much of which is forced on him by that OL.
The Packers, on the other hand,have had great WRs, Driver and Jennings being among the better ones in the NFL. Favre has done what he could and that was far better than what Pennington accomplished on the same team. Put Favre back on the Packers and return Pennington to the Jets and tell me the Jets would even be where they are today since they never were.
Sorry to disagree, but history is the supreme teacher, and history is proving that both GM Thompson of the Packers goofed supremely, while the Jets front office is guilty of jumping on an opportunity that presented itself through no fault of their on.
People weren't stocking up on Pennington jerseys; Favre's stuff is off the shelves. Lets see what happens vs Miami. Favre's ace in the hole is that he plays better in sunshine than snow these days.
With all due respect, there's a lot of wrongness in BG's post. For example...
"Favre has done what he could and that was far better than what Pennington accomplished on the same team. Put Favre back on the Packers and return Pennington to the Jets and tell me the Jets would even be where they are today since they never were."
Really? In the three seasons where Pennington played more than 10 games for the Jets, his records were 8-4, 8-5 and 10-6. Now we're supposed to bow down because Favre is 9-6?
"Sorry to disagree, but history is the supreme teacher, and history is proving that both GM Thompson of the Packers goofed supremely, while the Jets front office is guilty of jumping on an opportunity that presented itself through no fault of their on."
Have you been watching the games? Favre has been beyond awful for a month. As for "goofing supremely", just about everything has gone wrong for the Packers this year...except for Rodgers. He's been better across the board than Favre - more yards, more touchdowns, fewer interceptions, more yards per attempt, better QB rating. Oh, and he's 14 years younger. Unlike the Jets, the Packers don't have to worry about who will QB for them next year, or the following year.
"People weren't stocking up on Pennington jerseys; Favre's stuff is off the shelves."
Well, that's quite an argument. Maybe after Favre skips town they can get Michael Vick, or Vince Young.
"Lets see what happens vs Miami. Favre's ace in the hole is that he plays better in sunshine than snow these days."
First of all, I'm not sure how that's an ace in the hole. You do know where the game is being played, right?
Secondly, it doesn't exactly support the argument that Green Bay goofed in unloading him, unless global warming has been much more severe than I've noticed.
The stupidest NFL argument of the year is Pennington vs Favre. It's a tabloid argument at best, just a grudge match, because neither of those guys is very good.
Favre has basically sucked for 4 or 5 years. Yes, he had a good year last year, because his coach convinced him to "not play like Favre," but then when the pressure was on in the playoffs, Favre decided he wanted to play like Favre again (unrepentant gunslinger) and threw an awful, awful pic that cost his team the game.
This year Favre won some games, but lost some too, and he has been mediocre at best, and at times horrifyingly like his self of the past 5 years - throwing awful picks at the worst possible times. He has not been a good quarterback this year. He's been a mediocre one.
Pennington, there isn't much more to say about. Every time some fool compares him to Dan Fouts or Peyton Manning or even Tony Romo...just stop. It's embarrassing.
Both Pennignton and Favre have good records this year, but that is mostly because their teams sucked so bad last year that they have some of the easiest schedules in the league.
When the Jets and Dolphins play on Sunday, look for the defenses to win the game, and the offenses just try to hold on for their lives.
The Foulness,
I didn't compare Pennington to Fouts. I compared their won-loss records, and did so because you posted this inane comment.
The fact is this - Pennington is 32-29 over his career as a QB. That is the essence of mediocrity.
You want to argue that Pennington is a mediocre QB, you've got to come with something more than just "he's got a near .500 won-loss record," because last I checked, football is a team sport, and Dan Fouts is a perfect example of an exemplary QB being let down by his defense. To flip the script, there are plenty of examples of exemplary defenses being let down by QBs who couldn't get the job done either.
I'm not saying Pennington is the equal of Dan Fouts. much as you seem to wish I would. I'm just pointing out the rather glaring flaw in your criticism of Pennington.
Look, the Jets brought Favre to NY for one reason only: To put asses in seats for the new stadium.
The Jets have had an inferiority complex for years, especially now that the Giants are champs. And management had to find a way to take the sting out of the big ticket increases to fund the new $1.6 billion Jets/Gints stadium. If you want Jets season tix next year, you pay a personal seat license of $1,000 to $20,000 PER SEAT. That gives you the privilege of then spending $85 to $700 per seat per game. Those personal licenses help fund that pretty new stadium. Favre was the bright shiny object Woody Johnson dangled in front of gullible fans and the dog-pack NYC media.
But you gotta wonder what kind of Faustian bargain Woody made to get his man. The Jets are on the line for Favre's old (slightly tweaked) contract of 12 mil this year, 13 mil and 14mil for 2010). The contract states Favre can retire at any time and keep his bonus. The Jets also shelled out over $140 to get Alan Faneca, Damien Woody, Kris Jenkins and Calvin Pace. Plus, they are on the hook for a draft pick -- fourth rounder to the Pack that could go as high as second based on how much Favre plays. It could be a first rounder if Jets...god help us...make the playoffs.
As a Dolphin fan, I take no great joy in Favre's bad play of late. I love the guy. But the supreme irony in all this is that Parcells was the one who snarfed up Pennington when Woody cut him loose and the Jets haven't made the playoffs since Tuna left NYC in 1998.
I have no illusions that the Fish are a good team. But damn, from 1-15 to 10-5? I'll take it. And I'd cast a vote to Tony Sparano as coach of the year.
The Jets have been in the playoffs four times since 1998.
Kurt,
Mea culpa. I meant advanced to the championship game since Parcells left. Thanks for the correction. I gotta lay off the egg nog...
Foulness, Favre did not throw a pick I don't care what any pundit says. WR clearly did not finish his route. If you had a WR in your family you'd get some schooling on when it is your QBs fault or his open man. Jennings usually is pretty good but he made some youthful mistakes the past several years.
WTF are you talking about Favre had a bad year last year? He had a 66.5% completion average. He broke numerous records and the biggest thing is that his old ass was always out there, never resting on a bench. Tell me you have worked every day of your life never phoning in sick. Yeah, that's what I thought...