Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
1994 GREEN BAY PACKERS Young QB Favre is still struggling under pressure
Editor’s note: This story was published Sept. 12, 1994.
At first, the Miami Dolphins were diplomatic in their assessment of Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre.
“He’s still young in a sense and he’s still learning,” Dolphins safety Michael Stewart said Sunday. “Any time you’re at the quarterback position, I’m sure there is a tremendous amount of pressure anyway, especially ... in Green Bay. They’re expecting a whole lot, I’m sure.”
When pressed further, Stewart was succinct.
“The goal is to come out and be consistent,” he said.
Favre, after 31 regular-season and two playoff starts, is still working on facets of his game.
In Green Bay’s ugly 24-14 loss to the Dolphins at County Stadium, Favre was so erratic that Packers coach Mike Holmgren contemplated sitting him on the bench.
“We talked about it at halftime,” Holmgren said. “We thought we’d start the second half with Brett. He came out and functioned pretty well, so we didn’t make a change.”
Favre, who will turn 25 on Oct. 10, made two huge mistakes Sunday and was wild early with his passes. And while he was missing open receivers the Dolphins were mounting a 24-0 lead.
Although much has been made about his young age, the 24-year-old Favre still completed 31 of 51 passes for 362 yards, second only to his 401-yard performance in a playoff defeat last season at Dallas. He also threw two late touchdown passes to make the final score look competitive. But early on, when it counted most, he looked extremely shaky.
Favre is entering his fourth NFL season, and the Dolphins thought they could rattle him early Sunday.
“If you put pressure on him and take away [Sterling] Sharpe, you’re in good shape,” said Miami cornerback Muhammad Oliver, who spent five weeks with Green Bay last season. “He’s always looking for Sharpe. If you make him go to his No. 2 or No. 3 [receiver], he has a hard time doing that.”
Holmgren considered going to Ty Detmer partly because it appeared that Favre was indeed rattled.
“It seemed like it,” Holmgren said. “Everything was quick. We were out of our rhythm.”
On the third play of the game, wide receiver Robert Brooks ran a precise deep route and had a step on J.B. Brown. A nice pass and the Packers would have been up, 7-0, on a quick strike.
But Favre lofted the ball too high and Brown was able to catch up to Brooks and bat the ball down.
“That’s just football,” Stewart said. “Some days, he’s going to hit that on the money. Other days, it’s going to be overthrown, underthrown, whatever.”
Favre would like to have that throw back.
“I would not say that he was wide open,” Favre said. “He had a couple of steps on the guy. It’s something that we worked on. I just underthrew him a little bit. I underestimated, I guess, the guy’s speed chasing him. Next time hopefully I’ll get it [to] him.”
Holmgren accused his team of coming out flat. That may account for Favre’s pitiful start, but the quarterback doesn’t think so.
“I don’t think I came out flat,” Favre said. “I was ready to play the game. I studied hard this week. I finished strong. I think maybe the first six passes you could call not one of my better performances, but after that I felt pretty good.”
Favre’s poor start sabotaged the Packers’ game plan on offense.
The Packers watched New England’s Drew Bledsoe bomb Miami’s secondary for 421 yards and four touchdowns last week. They were certainly hoping that Favre could do the same.
“We only ran the ball four times in the first half,” quarterbacks coach Steve Mariucci said. “Our plan was to throw the ball around a little bit.”
After the Dolphins went ahead, 10-0, Favre drove the Packers to the Miami 37 but then dropped the ball while cocking his arm to pass. Miami’s Jeff Cross recovered the fumble.
“I just dropped back and the ball slipped out of my hands,” Favre said. “One of those freak things that happen.” Another mistake wasn’t a freak thing. Favre tossed an interception while trying to force a pass to Edgar Bennett. The ball was tipped by Cross and Craig Veasey made the interception.
“[Bennett] would not have scored, but he would have made the catch and he’d been tackled on the 1-yard line,” Favre said. “It was an easy throw. One of those deals where the guy tips it and they made a play.”
Favre summed up a dreadful afternoon best by saying, “Just one of those days.”