Favre Trade the Best Outcome for the Bears

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Matt Medved - Thursday, Aug 7, 2008

After a ludicrous soap opera that may have filled more sports news cycles than last summer's Vick Watch, Brett is finally a Jet.

And the Bears are breathing a hefty sigh of relief.

Although there was speculation that Number Four could land in Soldier Field, Green Bay's decision to ship Brett Favre cross-conference may actually be the best result for Chicago.

Although his stellar 2007 campaign may have been a fluke, Favre has been the bane of the Bears' defense for more than 15 years. Favre sports a 22-10 record all-time against the Bears and is 12-3 in Soldier Field. So much for homefield advantage.

Perhaps even more importantly, Favre was denied his wish to go to the rival Minnesota Vikings who are a quarterback away from making a serious playoff push. Adrian Peterson and the Viking defense are scary enough for the Bears to face twice a year without worrying about Favre's token fourth quarter heroics.

Now that the NFC North is Favre free, the Bears' quarterback quandary suddenly doesn't look as woeful compared to the rest of the division. Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn have a combined zero NFL starts. Minnesota's Tarvaris Jackson is unproven. And how many good seasons does Jon Kitna have left in him for a Lions team that cannot protect him? Should Grossman or Orton prove to be at least somewhat decent, the Bears have a fighting chance this year to make a dent in the division.

As a Bills fan, I'm less than pleased to see Favre land in the AFC East. But the question still remains of which Favre will don the green and white in 2008. Will it be the 28 touchdown gunslinger of 2007 or the turnover machine that threw 29 interceptions in 2005?

Likely to be somewhere in between, but I'm still not sure the Jets are a playoff team with Favre onboard. There's no doubt he's an upgrade over the soon-to-be-released Chad Pennington and third year pro Kellen Clemens.Their receivers are iffy and although they made substantial investments in their offensive line this offseason, much will depend on how well it gels. The 38-year-old Favre will revert to his mistake prone ways if opposing defenses can get consistent pressure on him.

But the Bears don't care about any of this. For the first time in fifteen years they don't have to see Brett Favre at all unless both teams make the Super Bowl. And there's an even smaller chance of that happening than there was of Favre staying retired in the first place.