Posts Tagged ‘Vikings vs. Texans’

Brett Favre Shakes Off The Rust in Vikings’ Win

While certain analysts and columnists are jumping all over Favre as “old and slow”, this writer saw something else on Monday night.

I saw a true gamer. Yes, he’s 39, going on 40, and probably isn’t as nimble as he once was.

But he’s still got it. Boy, does he ever. (Cue over-hyping and under-hyping here)

Still, Favre was an impressive 13-18 for 142 yards and a touchdown in just under three quarters, while leading the Vikings to 10 points, and also watching as Adrian Peterson scampered 80 yards for a score on the opening play.

Some nay-sayers are already nit-picking the future Hall of Famer’s prime-time performance, citing his two taken sacks in only 20 drop-backs, while offering the fact that he’s not athletic or quick enough to elude defenders.

Plain and simple, that’s a bunch of bull.

If these so-called “experts” actually were watching the tape, they’d see that both of the sacks Favre took had absolutely nothing to do with his athleticism or anything to do with his decision-making.

His first sack came on a blown blitz pick-up, as a Texan defender blew threw a gaping hole and crushed Favre, who had no chance to make a play.

The second sack was actually a result of Favre making a smart play, as a defender nicked the ball from behind while Favre was in his throwing motion, forcing Favre to tuck the ball down and take the sack, rather than force a bad throw or fumble the ball.

Add in Percy Harvin’s dropped touchdown pass (a beautiful pass by Favre), and some shady line-blocking, and Favre’s performance was actually borderline flawless.

The Favre-haters can keep jumping on the bandwagon all they want, but this small showing in pre-season action went a long way in assuring Minnesota fans everywhere that Favre brings more to the team than they originally thought.

Besides, with the way Adrian Peterson was playing on Monday, will it really matter if Favre isn’t his old vintage self?

In one over-used cliche’ expression: probably not.

On that same note, Favre wasn’t over or under-used, as Head Coach Brad Childress began with the run (which resulted in a touchdown on the first offensive play), and did a fine job of sprinkling Favre into the offense, rather than force the issue.

While it’s still extremely early (and just the pre-season), it’s clear Favre has at least shaken off the rust, and is already showing signs of making a significant impact for the Vikings.