Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham
The Elias Sports Bureau never fails to unearth fascinating numbers.
Here are some I'll bet you didn't know about Brett Favre and his Jets predecessor, Chad Pennington:
Favre is known for his grenade launcher, while Pennington has been ridiculed for a throwing arm that dangles like a wet dishrag.
But take a gander at their stats over the past four years on attempts 20 yards or longer.
| Player | GS | Att | Comp | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Pct | Int | Pct | Rating | | Pennington | 40 | 108 | 39 | 36.1 | 1331 | 12.3 | 13 | 12.0 | 4 | 3.7 | 107.7 | | Favre | 64 | 290 | 82 | 28.3 | 2963 | 10.2 | 32 | 11.0 | 35 | 12.1 | 66.9 | | From the Elias Sports Bureau |
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Pennington didn't go deep as often, but he was much more effective when he did. His amazing passer rating of 107.7 dwarfed Favre's 66.9.
The main reasons for the disparity were Favre's interceptions and Pennington's judiciousness. Only 3.7 percent of Pennington's passes got picked off. Favre's daredevil antics helped inflate his interception rate to 12.1 percent.
Favre threw more than twice as many touchdown passes of 20 yards or more. But Pennington, the infamous soft-tosser, had a higher completion percentage and yards-per-attempt average.
Who'd a thunk it?
Graham joined ESPN.com in 2008 after covering the Miami Dolphins for the Palm Beach Post. He previously spent eight years at the Buffalo News, where he was an award-winning NHL and boxing writer. The Baldwin-Wallace College grad also has worked for the Las Vegas Sun and Boston Herald.
