As Favre flops, 'savior' Pennington carries Dolphins

Dec 29, 2008 - 3:31 AM By Bob Birge PA SportsTicker Staff Writer

The final game was a microcosm of the entire season.

While New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre was throwing three more interceptions in Sunday's 24-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins, Chad Pennington turned in another nearly flawless performance with no picks.

That's why the Dolphins are going to the playoffs and the Jets are going home.

"This organization, the Miami Dolphins organization, has been unbelievable," Pennington said. "My teammates and my coaches, they've accepted me from the get-go and it's been an unbelievable ride. We're enjoying ourselves right now and having a good time."

"(Pennington) was our savior," Miami linebacker Joey Porter said. "They talk about everybody else getting MVP and they just overlooked him. He totally outplayed Brett Favre and he did it all year."

The Jets unceremoniously dumped the 32-year-old Pennington when they acquired Favre from the Green Bay Packers in training camp.

Favre was brought to New York for one purpose - get the Jets into the playoffs. It didn't happen.

New York finished 9-7, a five-game improvement from last season, but it wasn't good enough - not after the Jets were 8-3 and coming off wins at New England and Tennessee.

That's why the Favre experiment has to be considered a failure.

Seven times this season Favre had multiple interceptions in a game, including the last three. The three-time league MVP finished the season with a league-high 22 picks.

"Obviously it's disappointing because we expected to not be done at this point," Favre said. "It's a tough pill to swallow, but I had a blast working with these guys."

"Blast" is probably not the word most Jets' fans are using. This was a team with a league-high seven Pro Bowl selections, including the AFC's top running back in Thomas Jones.

In the other locker room, Pennington and the Dolphins were celebrating perhaps the unlikeliest division title in NFL history.

Miami (11-5) set a record for most victories following a one-win season, and the 10-game improvement matched the 1999 Indianapolis Colts (13-3) for the greatest single-season turnaround in NFL history.

The Jets didn't even try to trade Pennington to a team outside the division. They merely shrugged when he signed with the Dolphins, having no idea that he would come back to Giants Stadium to exact the ultimate revenge.

"It's not a revenge factor, it's really not," Pennington said. "This week was so much different than the first week. The first week was extremely emotional because everything was so fresh. With this being the 17th week of the season, it was a different week. It was strictly about winning the championship and knowing we controlled our on destiny to be AFC East champions."

Pennington won the division title at the stadium he called home for the first eight years of his career.

"(Pennington) is not the one who will brag about it, but I'm going to brag for him today," Porter said. "I'm going to brag for him because he's not going to say anything. He's just a humble old country boy, but I'm going to brag for him."

The difference in the teams and the play of the quarterbacks was striking. While Favre couldn't stop making mistakes, the ever-efficient Dolphins set an NFL record for fewest turnovers in a 16-game season.

Pennington did lose one fumble Sunday, but drove the Dolphins 80 yards for a touchdown after the Jets had taken a 17-14 lead in the third quarter. He finished the season with only seven interceptions.

"Chad did exactly what we thought he would do," Miami coach Tony Sparano said. "He did exactly what he's done for the last 15 weeks, and he threw the ball well here today and he guided the team and he just feels good for the team."

The Dolphins completed the year with only 13 turnovers, besting the previous NFL mark of 14 in a 16-game campaign set by the 1990 Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

Pennington was the better quarterback Sunday, just as he was the better quarterback throughout the season.

Favre does have one consolation - he'll be going to the Pro Bowl. Of course, Pennington is going to the playoffs.

"It's always a sweet feeling to be a champion - and that's what we are, we're AFC East champions," Penington said.