Favre keyed the Vikings' great start and is crucial to the team's finish

November 9, 2:26 PMMinnesota Vikings ExaminerJoseph Oberle

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Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers exchanged "pleasantries" after the Vikings swept the Packers.

(AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

The Green Packers suffered a very bad loss yesterday at the hands of the Tamp Bay Bucs, the last winless team in the NFL this season. It became a new nadir for a team with such high hopes and lofty expectations during the preseason in which they greatly outscored their opponents. This loss serves as the very counterpoint to the fortunes of the Packers' biggest rival--the 7-1 Minnesota Vikings. It must be tough for Green Bay fans to endure the ever-growing elephant in the room, which is how increasingly bad was management's decision to jettison Brett Favre after the 13-3 2007 season. Now, it is also clear the problems are deeper than just that move alone, but that is for Packer ownership (i.e. the fans) to debate. Here we can simply enjoy the ultimate benefits of the decision, as Favre certainly is a big part of where the Vikings team is today.

While the Brett bandwagon is getting more crowded by the day, none of Favre's most ardent supporters here in Minnesota, if they are truly honest with themselves, could have imagined that he would play this well when they started petitioning the Vikings personnel staff to bring him aboard. Because for every time we envisioned the Miracle Comeback Man that he's been in his career, there was someone nearby or across the border to remind us of how (they say) he has finished the past few years, and that he won't hold up all season (even when he has held up for 18 seasons). No one expected him to be sitting at 16 touchdowns and only three interceptions, second in the NFL in quarterback rating and enjoying his best start as a pro. Those aren't the numbers we were thinking about--the number 40 more often came to mind.

With the completion of the second Packers-Vikings game culminating in a Purple sweep last weekend, and the Vikings off on bye-week, there was plenty of time for people to revisit the whole retire-unretire saga and the internet was rife with stories and comments. Ultimately, despite all the speculation and recalling of what happened, no one who knows the whole story (Favre, Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy) is saying anything. Thompson usually sits silent in his booth watching Packer losses, while McCarthy said "We have moved on," and tries to save the Packers' season. Meanwhile, Favre said about the only thing that makes sense and that is admitting to mistakes being made by both sides: "we both could have handled the situation a little better."

That, while being quite an understatement, is probably pretty close to the truth. The details behind those mistakes and the timeline for them may never be known--until, perhaps, one of the principles needs to write a book one day. So, it is best then to use McCarthy's logic and move on. There is no going back and probably won't be for a long time. The best thing to do is move forward, especially if you're a member of the Vikings or a follower of their team.

As a Viking, Favre has evolved this season from a game manager (Cleveland and Detroit) to a game changer (San Francisco) to a legacy re-arranger (Green Bay and Green Bay) to a real danger to the rest of the league. Combined with Adrian Peterson and a tough defense, he is playing like the final piece of the puzzle for a team on the cusp of greatness. His performance has risen to the challenge of the rest of the league that has said "we're going to stop AP and see if the old man can beat us." And so far he has, consistently and convincingly.

But Favre and the Vikings are only about halfway home. The stats of his past few seasons do indicate a decline in performance when things get tough and cold in November and December, and that won't cut it for this team in the second half of the season. While they are the second leading team in scoring (30.5), they have given up a lot of points as well (ranked 17th at 21.5 ppg.), so few of their wins have been of the early New Orleans Saints' blowout variety. For the Vikings to win their games in the second half of the season and have a chance at stealing home field advantage through the playoffs from the Saints (whose second half schedule is easier than their first half), consistent and convincing has to become solid and dominating.

The key to the second half is a Brett Favre of the first half. And the key to that is getting out ahead of teams they should beat early so Favre can spend some time on the bench in the fourth quarter. That will lower his "pitch count," decrease the number of hits he takes and get someone else some reps as signal caller, just in case the unspeakable happens.

Doing so, however, is not just on Favre. The running game has to step up because in November and December is when it become most important. The line has to run block better than it has while keeping their passer on his feet like they did during the second quarter of the season. The defense has to dominate in the second half of games like they often have in the first half of games. They must cover and tackle better in the secondary, and the defensive line has to increase the disruption of opponents' quarterbacks. Teams that can't get started usually don't finish.

The Vikings, ultimately, have to turn it on the second half of the season like they did last year when they turned an 0-2 team into a division winner. They have to keep getting better each week and peak in the month of January. They have to see that the window is wide open for them to win now--that is why Favre joined them. And they have to stay healthy and motivated through the most grueling part of any NFL season.

The team has a true leader at quarterback in Favre, one who wants the same thing they do. This group of players has never been more of a team than with No. 4 behind center, and it will take a team to reach their goals. And thanks to one of the most unconventional and intriguing side stories in NFL history, the Vikings have a chance to do so.