Those of you who follow Packernet will certainly know how overcome with delight I am after yesterday outcomes of the NFL’s two conference championship games. I love P. Manning getting another shot at the ring and will probably be rooting for the Colts in two weeks. The Saints are a great story but not a great team, I think the Colts are a great team and certainly they have a great quarterback. Drew Brees may be a great quarterback someday, but his play in overtime only made up for a pretty mediocre game, albeit against a great defense in Minnesota. At this point I like the Colts big time.
I am stunned it took so long for evil Mr. Hyde to show his ugly mug but when Brett Favre threw the game away just as he did two years ago in Lambeau Field, it was awesome! The greatest gift the Packers could have gave the Vikings was even more heartbreak in what is becoming one of sports’ most amazing tails of self-imposed heartbreak. The Vikings have lost five straight NFC Championship games and this one is very reminiscent of the 1998 season NFC Championship game the Vikings lost to Atlanta (of all teams).
The 1998 Vikings also had a retread quarterback who turned back the clock in Randall Cunningham and were within a field-goal of winning the game in regulation. Kicker Morten Anderson missed for the first time all year and the rest is history. Yesterday the only thing Favre had to do was run a few yards and slide. Get up, walk off the field and put on his NFC Champions hat. But nooooooooo! Evil Mr. Hyde shows up and Favre ends his storied career in Minnesota the same way he ended his storied career in Green Bay – a pick on his last pass in the NFC Championship game.
Simply poetic justice. Packers’ fans will never know the pain of Vikings’ fans as the Packers have won three Super Bowls, but Vikings’ fans just got a taste of the pain of Brett Favre that until 2008 had only been felt in Green Bay. He’ll walk you to the doorstep then slam the door in your face. When the Vikings’ play-by-play guys yells “I can’t believe what I just saw” I was dumbfounded. Are you a football fan? Do you know who Brett Favre is? Welcome to my nightmare.
By no means does this loss alone justify Ted Thompson for trading Favre, Aaron Rodgers has already done that by throwing for almost 9,000 yards and 60 touchdowns in his two seasons as starter and returning the Packers to the playoffs this year. Rodgers will start for the NFC in the Pro Bowl this Sunday. All this proves is that the ole’ gunslinger is the ole’ gunslinger. He is one hell of a football player, one of the greatest of all time, but he stuck around too long and he was playing for the wrong reasons. The two-year revenge tour is over and I believe so is Favre. He looked more like Arturo Gatti after a fight last night than an NFL quarterback after a game.
This was Favre’s one last shot at the Super Bowl and he certainly proved me wrong the way he played in the regular season, especially in December, but in the end not even he could overcome the Vikings cursed history of losing the big one. The Vikings remain without an NFL Championship since their inception in 1961. Four Super Bowl losses, five straight NFC Championship game losses including a 41-0 loss to New York after the 2000 season. It is a sad state of affairs in Minnesota, or soon to be Los Angeles.
Looking at the future of the two teams the Packers have a franchise quarterback who is only 26-years old and the Vikings have no clue right now who their quarterback will be next year. I would love to see Favre string the Vikings along all offseason like he used to do the Packers but after that beatdown I think he is done. Every team he plays next year will come after him the same way and at 41 he can’t take that beating for 16 games.
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ offense are still getting better and the emergence of Jermichael Finley and I think the rejuvenation of wide receiver Greg Jennings makes the Packers the most potent offense outside of Indianapolis. The run is done in Minneapolis and the student has become the master.
Let me have it, but I might need plastic surgery to remove the smile from face.