Vikings' postseason run in Favre's uncertain hands

So, I was wrong about Brett Favre.

Grossly, painfully wrong.

I thought the aging gunslinger would drag an otherwise innocent Vikings team into the bowels of disappointment — exactly where he left the New York Jets last season.
Instead, the stubbly veteran turned in the best season of his career and, if Peyton Manning hadn’t become a supernova around week 10, Favre would have been a shoo-in MVP.

And, thanks to the wonders of Internet anonymity, people with names like LazerNinja69 excoriated me for my wrongness on DailyLobo.com. (My favorite: “This is just a little college-student angst after reading too many liberal portrayals of the evil white man.”)

But despite Favre’s resurgence, despite the emergence of Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin, and despite that, by most accounts, Adrian Peterson is still alive, I still don’t believe in this experiment.

It’s all but impossible to predict the length of a playoff run in the NFL — just ask Tom Brady. However, Favre’s late-game, all-or-nothing heroics don’t bode well for the men in purple.

In short, Favre puts his teams in a Favre-sized hole: A parade of
3rd-and-13s that only he can salvage. When he comes through, like against the 49ers this year, he’s transcendent, briefly making his drooling devotees seem sane. But when he doesn’t, like against Pittsburg and Carolina, no amount of hand-wringing from Brad Childress can save the Vikes.

And that’s where the seams burst for this messianic Minnesota team. Back in the summertime, the Vikings were Peterson’s team, and Favre was billed as an addition that would simply stabilize the play under center, opening up more big-play opportunities for Purple Jesus.

Except that’s not how it shook out. Peterson’s numbers are down across the board from last season, with 49 fewer attempts and almost 400 fewer yards. Furthermore, the team’s identity crisis didn’t reach critical mass until the Vikes started losing, and then started losing to teams like Chicago.

It’s a fact Packers fans and Jets fans know all too well: When you get Favre, he doesn’t play for your team; you become Favre’s team. And, accordingly, the Minnesota Favres will live and die by his legendary crunch-time courage.

Of course, the man is a living legend, and the myth of Favre is built on January miracles. But going into these playoffs, the Vikings need to accept one thing: All of their lofty dreams are in the hands of a 40-year-old journeyman who has left two franchises with few friends to show for it.

It might end with a trip to Disneyland, or it might end with Childress in the unemployment line. But, no matter what, this season belongs to Favre, with all the brilliance and frustration that entails.