Saints and Russell; Zygi and Favre; The Williams Wall

Mike Tanier is one of my favorite NFL writers. His latest article focus on the best defense in the NFL and the suck that is QB JaMarcus Russell. 

It's hard to say how good the Saints defense really is. DVOA ranks it as the best in football, but DVOA doesn't know about extenuating circumstances. One thing's for sure: The Saints defense is a lot better than it was last year...So far this season, the Saints have played two rookie quarterbacks, a third quarterback making his first start (Kevin Kolb), and a Bills team that fired its offensive coordinator a week before the season started. You're going to generate some turnovers against inexperienced, unprepared quarterbacks, so the Saints defense probably isn't as good as it currently looks.

JaMarcus Russell's completion percentage is currently 39.8...Russell is just 12-of-40 on first down attempts (30 percent), which is incomprehensible, because defenses can't sell out on pass defense on first down. Because of three interceptions, his quarterback rating on first down is 10.0, far lower than the rating you get just by throwing incompletions...Russell's completion percentage is just nine points higher than that of a single-wing fullback for a 1-11 team that set the record for futility 73 years ago. And you thought comparisons to Akili Smith and Mike McMahon were damning.

And I'm sure he'll show up for all the offseason practices too...A quote from Vikings's owner Zygi Wilf (via twincities.com):

The contract Brett Favre signed with the Vikings in August is for two years — $12 million this season and $13 million next season. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf wants Favre to quarterback the Vikings next season, too. "I would love him to; why not?" Wilf said. "That's what we signed him up for."

Does Congress have anything better to do then look into the Williams Wall case? I guess not:

Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is concerned that the legal issues raised in the case "could result in weaker performance-enhancing drugs policies for professional sports," the committee said in a statement issued to The Associated Press on Thursday.