Favre Doesn't Deliver For Vikings

Brett Favre's effort to take the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl came up short yesterday mostly due to Favre's inability to avoid costly turnovers. All the elements seemed to be in place for the Vikings to win on the road in a noisy Superdome.

The Viking defense slowed down the high powered Saint offense limiting them to 257 yards of total offense. New Orleans averaged 380 yards of offense during the regular season and rolled up 418 in their previous playoff game against Arizona.The Saints could only muster 68 yards on the ground and converted on only 3 of 12 third downs. Add to that a strong running game led by Adrian Peterson who had 122 yards and 3 touchdowns and all the elements of a win seemed to be in place.

The only piece of the puzzle missing for Minnesota was their quarterback taking care of the football in clutch situations. Instead Favre turned the ball over 3 times. He fumbled an exchange with Peterson late in the 1st half inside the Saints 5 yard line taking sure points off the board. He was also picked off twice. The second interception cost the Vikings a chance to try a possible game winning field goal. Favre was lucky to avoid a third interception when Saints defender Jabari Greer droppped a Favre throw that hit him right between the numbers.

Favre's unspectacular performance wasn't all that surprising when considering his recent playoff history. It wasn't the first time he has under performed in the post season. Since the 1998 season Favre is only 4-7 in playoff games. In those 11 games he has thrown 20 interceptions, not to mention some fumbles along the way. He had a 6 interception game against St. Louis in 2001 and a 4 interception game against his own Vikings in 2004, so his 3 turnover game yesterday should come as no shock.

Teams have put up with Favre's prima donna act for the last several years on the premise that he can deliver the goods that other QBs can't when it matters the most. For the most part he has been unable to hold up his end of that bargain. When Favre retires( for good) he will quickly take his place in the Hall Of Fame where he rightfully belongs. He has done more than enough throughout his career to put him in that class. He has accomplished feats few QBs in this game ever have. Unfortunately for Brett and his team mates he hasn't accomplished them in the post season often enough.

Favre Up To His Old Tricks

A heated discussion on the sidelines between Brett Favre and his head coach Brad Childress during Minnesota's 26-7 loss to Carolina has led to further revelations. According to recent reports Childress privately blasted Favre behind closed doors after the game, and has allegedly considered removing Favre from several games earlier this season. It seems that Farve has been disregarding the coaches instructions and disregarding the offensive game plan at times. This doesn't surprise me in the least. I have subscribed to the theory that it isn't Favre's aging body that would be the Viking's biggest problem, but his over inflated ego and sense of entitlement. The writing has been on the wall for a few years now about Favre's attitude. For the last few seasons Favre has left teams hanging in limbo during training camp while he decides whether or not he would like to come out and play, oblivious to the fact that teams are actually trying to put together N.F.L. offenses while he is at the fishing hole. Favre's constant pre-season stalling may have been a ploy to skip the majority of training camp, which I'm sure was not appreciated by his dozens of teammates laboring in the summer heat. The Vikings were willing to roll the dice on Favre and may have lost. It seems that Favre has spent too much time reading his own press clippings. Yes, Favre is a great player with a giant mountain of stats to prove it, but Favre's need to make himself bigger than the coach and the team over the last few seasons is more destructive than his arm is productive. Favre believes he is entitled to play by a different set of rules because of his past success. If he can't get his teammates and coaches to buy into that philosophy the Vikings will be in trouble down the stretch of the season. A true leader puts the team first and down plays distractions rather than creates them. Correct me if I'm wrong.