The Viking Age » greg lewis

Vikings Season Review – Top 10 Stories: #6 Brett Favre Returns…Again

Dan Zinski — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:58:44 +0000

Brett Favre provided the media and fans with many a wacky day in his roughly two years as a Minnesota Viking, but few were wackier than August 4th, 2010. That morning began with reports that Favre had sent messages to several Viking teammates indicating he was set to retire from the NFL rather than return for a second season as Minnesota’s quarterback. “This is it,” Favre reportedly texted Ryan Longwell, Visanthe Shiancoe and others. By lunchtime ESPN had begun the wall-to-wall Brett Favre retirement coverage, comprised of endless tape loops, stat graphics and emotionally-overcome talking heads. Finally, after weeks of speculation, it appeared the 2010 edition of The Yearly Favre Retirement Drama had reached its resolution, and the Vikings would have to go ahead with Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels as their starting QB.

And if you were one of those who truly believed Favre was done that day, just because of a few texts and some ESPN eulogizing…I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

***

January 24th, 2010. Brett Favre leads the Minnesota Vikings to the brink of the Super Bowl, only to see the dream evaporate with one ill-advised across-the-body pass in the general direction of Sidney Rice. Instead of heading to their first Super Bowl since the glory days of the 1970s, the Vikings are going back home, also-rans once again. Instead of finishing a stellar season with a miraculous second Lombardi Trophy, Favre limps off the field and into an uncertain future.

Despite having played well through much of the second half, Favre receives a good deal of the blame for the latest in a seemingly endless string of big game failures by the Purple. Fans ask why he didn’t take advantage of a seemingly open field to scramble for yardage on the interception play, setting up Ryan Longwell for a potential game-winning field goal. In response to the criticism Favre releases a photo of his bruised thigh and ankle, illustrating just how hobbled he was after taking a number of big (and some would argue dirty) hits during the game. The ankle will remain at the center of the Favre drama throughout the summer and into the preseason.
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Vikings’ Frustrating 2010 Season Turns Awful Against the Bears

Dan Zinski — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:37:45 +0000

It’s difficult to imagine even the most optimistic of Viking fans believing the team still has a chance to make the playoffs after Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears. It isn’t just that the Vikings fell to 3-6, it’s the way they lost the game. The team’s two alleged great strengths – the running game and the pass rush – both failed to show up in a must-win contest. Adrian Peterson had his most unproductive performance of the year, rushing for only 51 yards on 17 carries. And the defensive front, despite playing against an offensive line that had been dominated for much of the season, failed to get a consistent rush on Jay Cutler, who spent much of the game standing in the pocket, tearing apart an unbelievably soft Vikings secondary. Had it not been for one idiotically bad pass attempt into the endzone, Cutler would’ve had a brilliant day against the Vikings; as it was, he had a very good day – certainly good enough to defeat a Vikings team that, despite being able to move the ball with fair efficiency at times through the air, found itself once again stymied in the red zone.
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Percy Harvin “Extremely Limited” in Practice

Dan Zinski — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:52:12 +0000

We know the Vikings won’t have Randy Moss this weekend, and we have learned they almost certainly will not have Sidney Rice even though they just removed him from the PUP list and he has begun practicing. And now it looks like they will be without Percy Harvin who injured his ankle against the Pats and was “extremely limited” in practice Friday according to Brad Childress.

No Randy. No Sidney. No Percy. With the season on the line Sunday against Arizona, Brett Favre will have Bernard Berrian, Greg Lewis and Greg Camarillo as his top three targets. And of course he will also have Hank Baskett, who is expected to take Randy Moss’ place on the active roster.

But hey, at least we won’t have to worry about any more caterers having their food criticized. That’s something.

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