Aikman changes his tune

Heatherthepackgirl

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On Oct. 14, after the Green Bay Packers had defeated the Washington Redskins to improve their record to 5-1, Fox Sports game analyst Troy Aikman, from his vantage point in the Lambeau Field press box, was not convinced Green Bay was for real.

He said he didn't know how good the Packers were and he said the Packers didn't know how good the Packers were.

But after Green Bay beat the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, Aikman took the occasion to update television viewers about his opinion about the Packers.

His doubts, whatever they were, have evaporated.

"This team is legitimate," Aikman said

"You just look at this Packers team and what they have been able to accomplish," Aikman said. "Beating Washington and then last week, regardless of whatever kind of team Denver is, winning that on Monday night at Denver, that's hard to do. Now to come here, this is not an easy place to play either."

Fox studio analyst Jimmy Johnson, who criticized the Packers for not killing the clock at the end of the first half which led to a touchdown by Kansas City, was handing out some atta-boys by the game's conclusion.

"Every single week, everybody says they are pretty good . . . but," Johnson said, referring to the Packers. "Mike McCarthy, second-year head coach, my coach of the year. The guy is 9-3 on the road since he has been in Green Bay. He rebuilt the defense. Because Brett Favre is playing under control, even though he had some interceptions today. He is doing an outstanding job. Without a running game, they are now maybe the best team in the NFC."

Before the game, Johnson was marveling at the effectiveness of the Green Bay passing game this season.

"They have the highest percentage of the offensive plays as passes, higher than even the pass-happy Detroit Lions," Johnson said. "You look at Brett Favre. He has adjusted his game. To his credit now, he doesn't force the ball in there. He's really not the riverboat gambler that he has been in past years and given them all kind of problems. This year he's got the highest completion percentage he's had and a lower number of interceptions he has had his entire career."

When a team is 7-1, observers spend more time talking about the beauty marks and ignore the blemishes.

Aikman saw plenty of Packers beauty during the telecast of the game he called with Joe Buck. A few examples:

• "I'll tell you what, I think Donald Driver does not get near enough respect for what he does as a receiver," Aikman said. "Time after time, Brett Favre will lead him and some of these other receivers into some pretty dangerous areas. Yet Donald Driver always goes after the ball. He always catches it. He always takes a big hit. He has been a good player for this organization."

• "I remember going back to when I was playing with the Cowboys. (Al Harris)was playing nickel corner for the Philadelphia Eagles then," Aikman said. "I thought probably he should have been one of those starters. I always thought he was a terrific player."

• "Green Bay likes to run a lot of those kinds of routes," Aikman said. "For whatever reason, defenses just have not given the respect to Donald Lee that he rightfully deserves based on how he has played this year."

• "There was a lot made last week about Brett Favre's arm strength," Aikman said. "I'm not sure where that came from. I mean Brett Favre is going to be 55 years old and he is going to have enough arm strength to play in the National Football League. That is going to be the last thing that ever leaves him. So why anybody would ever question whether or not Brett Favre has enough arm to play in the NFL is unbelievable to me."

• "This wide receiving corps that looked to be maybe one of the weak spots for this offense coming into this season, has really matured over the last couple of weeks," Aikman said.

But the Hall of Fame quarterback turned broadcaster was not handing out praise to Green Bay at the end of the first half, when Favre attempted a pass on third down, had his arm hit by tackle Alfonso Boone and threw an interception.

"Green Bay (was) not willing to just run the clock out or punt, trying to pick up a first down, which in all likelihood they would not have been able to get into field goal position," Aikman said. "And a poor throw by Brett Favre. All of a sudden now you're looking at Kansas City, which hasn't done much offensively, coming into the first half with a one-point lead."

Fox studio analyst Howie Long put the blame for the Patrick Surtain interception on Favre and blamed the second one on the Packers' coaching staff, which made a "poor decision," by not running the clock out with a six-point lead on the road.

On ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown," Steve Young handed out his "energizer bunny" award for a quarterback in the first half of the season to Favre.

"Everyone thought (Favre had) diminished skills, no arm strength anymore," Young said. "You know what? The only thing he was missing was a team. He's got all of his skills and all of his wits."
 

mike_donnelly

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good to see, but I think if he was originally judging the Packers from what he saw in the Redskins game that would be foolish. He also realises what Brett is doing without the luxury of an Emmett SMith like Aikman had.
 

de_real_deal

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mike_donnelly said:
good to see, but I think if he was originally judging the Packers from what he saw in the Redskins game that would be foolish. He also realises what Brett is doing without the luxury of an Emmett SMith like Aikman had.

And 5 starting pro bowl O-lineman and Irvin, Harper, Moose and Novacek. Put Aikman in his prime on these packers and he would never have made the Pro Bowl let along playoffs or hall of fame.
 

Raider Pride

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de_real_deal said:
mike_donnelly said:
good to see, but I think if he was originally judging the Packers from what he saw in the Redskins game that would be foolish. He also realises what Brett is doing without the luxury of an Emmett SMith like Aikman had.

And 5 starting pro bowl O-lineman and Irvin, Harper, Moose and Novacek. Put Aikman in his prime on these packers and he would never have made the Pro Bowl let along playoffs or hall of fame.

De Real.... I enjoy your posts, however I must disagree on this.

Troy was a Great NFL QB, and a great NCAA QB. He made the transition from the promise of college to the big time. To say that the only reason he was successful is because of his cast , well I have to disagree. If Troy did not have the cast he would be in the H.O.F. right beside Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly.

Note: I am not a Troy fan, but I respect what he did, his arm and his talent.

R.P.
 

brennan1884

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Raider Pride said:
de_real_deal said:
mike_donnelly said:
good to see, but I think if he was originally judging the Packers from what he saw in the Redskins game that would be foolish. He also realises what Brett is doing without the luxury of an Emmett SMith like Aikman had.

And 5 starting pro bowl O-lineman and Irvin, Harper, Moose and Novacek. Put Aikman in his prime on these packers and he would never have made the Pro Bowl let along playoffs or hall of fame.

De Real.... I enjoy your posts, however I must disagree on this.

Troy was a Great NFL QB, and a great NCAA QB. He made the transition from the promise of college to the big time. To say that the only reason he was successful is because of his cast , well I have to disagree. If Troy did not have the cast he would be in the H.O.F. right beside Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly.

Note: I am not a Troy fan, but I respect what he did, his arm and his talent.

R.P.

I agree with real deal....aikaman had the best offensive line maybe in the history of the NFL, all time leading rusher in emmit smith(who woldnt be the all time rusher without that line) deion sanders, irvin hall of famer, and a stacked defense,,,,,, favre for the most part has had a sub-par o line and average to slighlt abover average talent around him


bottom line- how many guys from all of the teams Favre has ever played on will make it to Canton. Maybe 2 at most and thats counting Brett

Thats not the case with Aikman ,
 

Greg C.

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mike_donnelly said:
his numbers were nothing exciting either :

career passing TD's

troy is right at the bottom at #50, with such legends as Chris Chandler and Kerry Collins ahead of him.

Aikman was a great QB who would've had better stats if he played on a worse team. Because of the Cowboys' running game, he did not need to throw as often as most QB's. I still think Aikman is one of the best big game QB's I've seen. He was always calm under pressure. He was a big reason the Cowboys won those three Super Bowls.

I would take Favre over Aikman, but Aikman is right up there with the best QB's in recent history, as far as I'm concerned.

I also think Aikman has a pretty good read on this Packer team and what they're all about. He gives the Packers a fair shake. Being an ex-Cowboy, there's no guarantee he would do that.
 

Raider Pride

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Is Brett Better all time than Aikman: YES

Is Brett Better all time than Marino: YES YES

Is Brett better all time than Fouts: YES YES Way YES.

But just because this is a Packer Forum and the world revolve around Brett does not mean that Aikman does "NOT" deserve to be in the H.O.F.

It does not mean that the only QB in the H.O.F. should be Brett.

I think Brett deserves his own ******** wing in the H.O.F. Really I do.

Fouts was known as the toughest QB in the game. Brett is tougher.

Marino was known to have a gun. Brett throws harder.

Aikman was known as a leader. Brett is a better leader.

But again.. This is a Packer Forum, so no one should be in the H.O.F. but Brett and Packers.

Edit: Oh.... By the way.... Because of this thread I am sure someone is going to call me a Brett hater within the next 24 hours. Most likley that little cream puff I ignore from where ever he may be, so I will not see it when he does start bashing.

RP

R.P.
 

brennan1884

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ahhhhh..... Aikman looks like a mule, and I hate the cowboys, hes a decent quarterback that was lucky to lead one of the greatest collection of talent assembled since the 49ers of the 1980's
 

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I'm not a huge Aikman fan but I still gotta give him his due. You can have a great cast but still need the QB to make it tick. If it weren't for concussion problems he would of finished with a lot better numbers too. I think Troy is a HOFer but I also wouldn't be able to put him in the greatest QB's of all time debate. I'm actually one of the odd ones who finds Buck and Aikman one of the best duo's in the booth. To be honest till the Denver win I didn't know if we were for real or not either
 

DakotaT

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ahhhhh..... Aikman looks like a mule, and I hate the cowboys, hes a decent quarterback that was lucky to lead one of the greatest collection of talent assembled since the 49ers of the 1980's

Yeah, he's right in there with Young and Terry Bradshaw in my book, and none of them make the top ten of all time. They were decent quarterbacks who led powerhouse teams, that quite frankly would have won their titles with another leader just as easily.
 

brennan1884

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brennan1884 said:
ahhhhh..... Aikman looks like a mule, and I hate the cowboys, hes a decent quarterback that was lucky to lead one of the greatest collection of talent assembled since the 49ers of the 1980's

Yeah, he's right in there with Young and Terry Bradshaw in my book, and none of them make the top ten of all time. They were decent quarterbacks who led powerhouse teams, that quite frankly would have won their titles with another leader just as easily.

exactly
 

de_real_deal

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Raider Pride said:
de_real_deal said:
mike_donnelly said:
good to see, but I think if he was originally judging the Packers from what he saw in the Redskins game that would be foolish. He also realises what Brett is doing without the luxury of an Emmett SMith like Aikman had.

And 5 starting pro bowl O-lineman and Irvin, Harper, Moose and Novacek. Put Aikman in his prime on these packers and he would never have made the Pro Bowl let along playoffs or hall of fame.

De Real.... I enjoy your posts, however I must disagree on this.

Troy was a Great NFL QB, and a great NCAA QB. He made the transition from the promise of college to the big time. To say that the only reason he was successful is because of his cast , well I have to disagree. If Troy did not have the cast he would be in the H.O.F. right beside Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly.

Note: I am not a Troy fan, but I respect what he did, his arm and his talent.

R.P.

I agree with real deal....aikaman had the best offensive line maybe in the history of the NFL, all time leading rusher in emmit smith(who woldnt be the all time rusher without that line) deion sanders, irvin hall of famer, and a stacked defense,,,,,, favre for the most part has had a sub-par o line and average to slighlt abover average talent around him


bottom line- how many guys from all of the teams Favre has ever played on will make it to Canton. Maybe 2 at most and thats counting Brett

Thats not the case with Aikman ,

Reggie White, Sterling Sharpe maybe?? Sean Jones maybe?? Leroy Butler possibly. Thats about it.
 

de_real_deal

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Raider Pride said:
I think Brett deserves his own ******** wing in the H.O.F. Really I do.

I agree, they shoul dhave a super hall of fame to eliminate some of the crap that gets in ther some times.
 

brennan1884

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they should actually have a brett favre hall of fame in green bay,,, that would be sweet
 

evad04

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de_real_deal said:
Raider Pride said:
de_real_deal said:
mike_donnelly said:
good to see, but I think if he was originally judging the Packers from what he saw in the Redskins game that would be foolish. He also realises what Brett is doing without the luxury of an Emmett SMith like Aikman had.

And 5 starting pro bowl O-lineman and Irvin, Harper, Moose and Novacek. Put Aikman in his prime on these packers and he would never have made the Pro Bowl let along playoffs or hall of fame.

De Real.... I enjoy your posts, however I must disagree on this.

Troy was a Great NFL QB, and a great NCAA QB. He made the transition from the promise of college to the big time. To say that the only reason he was successful is because of his cast , well I have to disagree. If Troy did not have the cast he would be in the H.O.F. right beside Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly.

Note: I am not a Troy fan, but I respect what he did, his arm and his talent.

R.P.

I agree with real deal....aikaman had the best offensive line maybe in the history of the NFL, all time leading rusher in emmit smith(who woldnt be the all time rusher without that line) deion sanders, irvin hall of famer, and a stacked defense,,,,,, favre for the most part has had a sub-par o line and average to slighlt abover average talent around him


bottom line- how many guys from all of the teams Favre has ever played on will make it to Canton. Maybe 2 at most and thats counting Brett

Thats not the case with Aikman ,

Reggie White, Sterling Sharpe maybe?? Sean Jones maybe?? Leroy Butler possibly. Thats about it.
Don't kid yourself. Reggie, for sure (that's not even debatable, as we know he IS in the HOF and one of the best ever). Nevertheless, Jones wasn't "great", Sharpe didn't play NEARLY long enough, and Butler, while a great Packer, was not a HOF caliber player.

Since 1992, there are two HOF Packers: White and Favre. Case closed.
 

Fuzznuts

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Aikman was great.

Laser arm. Accurate passer.

A mule? I don't know about that.

Helluva player though.
 

PWT36

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brennan1884 posted"--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
they should actually have a brett favre hall of fame in green bay,,, that would be sweet "

The Packer Hall of Fame in Atruim at Lambeau Field will give Brett Favre a huge display in the Packer Hall of Fame in Atrium at Lambeau Field. Brett will be in there with all the other great players in 86 year of Packer History. The retirement of Brett #4 jersey. The induction of Brett Favre into the Pro Footbsll Hall of Fame in Canton, Oh. There also will be huge celebration here in Green Bay to celebrate Brett Favre's Great career with the Packers at time of his retirement.

But lets not rush his retirement, He and the Packers have many important games to play before he retires.
 

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