The guys from 1996 Packers are a little annoyed at some of the hype surrounding their old teammate Brett Favre [1] and his current Vikings team. "To say that the team he's on now, after seven games, is better than the '96 team -- that's just preposterous," says Leroy Butler [2]. "Not only did we have the No. 1 defense in 1996, but we had No. 1 special teams."
DVOA would like to agree with Mr. Butler. After seven weeks, the 1996 Packers had a DVOA of 54.0%. The 2007 Patriots are the only team in the DVOA Era with a higher rating through Week 7. The 2009 Vikings are at 24.6%, which isn't even in the top five for this season. Butler's wrong about one thing, though -- the current Vikings actually have darn good special teams and a Desmond Howard-like return weapon in Percy Harvin (2 TD so far). It's their offense and defense that have been merely good, not great.
Links:
[1] http://www.footballoutsiders.com/player/15811/brett-favre
[2] http://www.footballoutsiders.com/player/19299/leroy-butler