Brett Favre's Only Weakness - Eric Mangini

Age is a meaningless number, and Brett Favre is walking proof. Down by a field goal to the Raiders with 1:07 remaining in regulation, Favre showed us just how meaningless. Pinned on his own 5-yard line on 3rd and long, Favre should have just rolled over and died. But if you know Brett Favre, you'd know that curling up in a corner has never been one of his fortes. So even at the tender age of 39, why would we expect any different from Favre?

Favre completed a huge 37-yard pass to Chansi Stuckey to escape third down. The Jets were out of timeouts, and Stuckey was unable to get out of bounds. Favre was forced to waste a down in order to stop the clock. After accepting a careless Oakland penalty, Favre found Brad Smith for a medium gain, and immediately downed the ball again the stop the clock. Raider and Jet fans alike were on the edge of their seats, apprehensive and hopeful, respectively, that this white-bearded old man could possibly have another miracle in his back packet...

26 seconds left, another 3rd down. Favre again found Brad Smith, this time for a considerable 18-yard gain. Smith, unable to get out of bounds again, forced Favre to down the football again. He had done it. The Jets were within Feely's field goal range, and Favre had given his team a chance to send the game to overtime. Feely missed the 52-yard attempt, but was given a second chance as interim Raider head coach Tom Cable had foolishly called time out in an attempt to freeze Feely. Feely nailed the second one. The score was notched at 13 apiece.

Eric Mangini was satisfied with the tie. Or that's how it seemed. On the Jets opening drive, it became clear that Mangini had abandoned the strategy that sent the game to overtime: trusting his veteran quarterback to make plays. From their own 22-yard line, Mangini called for two consecutive running plays with Thomas Jones. Mangini finally let Favre throw on third down, and Favre did his best to show Mangini the error of his ways. 17-yard completion, first down. Unfortunately, Mangini didn't get the message, and gave the ball back to Thomas Jones. The Jets eventually punted the ball away at midfield.

After holding the Raiders to a 3-and-out, the Jets got the ball back. Once again, Mangini pounded the ball on the ground with Jones on two consecutive snaps, and yielded six total yards. Brett Favre is a legend, but you can't expect him to bail you out of every third down hole you dig yourself into. This time he failed, and the Jets punted the ball back to the Raiders. But the Jets defense continued to take care of business. Another 3-and-out for the Raiders, another chance for Favre and the Jets (or should I say, Thomas Jones and the Jets). Again, two consecutive running plays, which finally yielded a first down. Then a third, resulting in a two-yard loss. On 2nd and 12, Favre was finally given the green light, but was again unable to dig his team out of the hole Mangini had dug. On the ensuing Raider drive, JaMarcus Russell would uncharacteristically complete two big passes, allowing Sebastian Janikowski to kick a miraculous 57-yard field goal to seal the game.

Even at the age of 39, Brett Favre's greatness is undeniable (when was the last time Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Drew Brees threw for six touchdowns in a game?). But when your own head coach is doing everything in his power to contain that greatness, there really isn't much you can do, is there?