Holy crap - ESPN says that Brett Favre is retiring. Apparently due to the ankle not recovering from off season surgery as he hoped.  This is not confirmed by a press conference at this point. Adam Schefter is currently speaking to this. He's waitng for the Vikings to come off the field from morning workouts to get a statement. This would change everything from  the Vikings point of view concerning their gameplan for the season. Wow - who would have guessed....

Why is it that the blame goes to ONLY the LAST mistake made in a game? Was it in fact, the last mistake? I'm speaking of the Favre INT, if it's not obvious.

What about the pass catches the D allowed ( or non-catches 'refs') that moved the ball upfield for a FG? Those defenders didn't do their job - so they lost the game since those were the last mistakes?

Now I may be crazy to do this, but I'll stick my neck out and speak of other 'non last mistakes' in the game (don't worry, the wife called and the white coats are on their way to get me) :

The poor tackling that gave up too much YAC, yet again?

The fact that we had the ball in the redzone 2x and lost opportunities of a minimum 6 points, as much as14-16 if  2 point conversions were attempted/succeeded?!?

AP - need I say more here?

How 'bout the miserable ST coverage that gave a short field up twice?

The D did a great job overall in the 2nd half - but what about the fact that they gave up  28 points - are they no part of this blame game you throw at only one guy?

 ALL these things had a much bigger impact on losing the game when it counted - earlier in regulation. Turn all those mistakes around, and Favre and all the top shelf guys are on the bench high five-ing the last two minutes, confirming reservations in Miami.

Lastly, the fact that this game wasn't in MN because of losses during the year that were not the fault of Favre, save for perhaps AZ - maybe Pittsbugh (and only partially)? That alone was enough to change the outcome of this game before the season ended. 14-2 means the game would have been at the Metrodome.

Let's not flose sight of the fact that w/o Favre, the team had all but no chance of winning this game, or even getting a division championship this year. Haters, your hate can't protect you from this truth.

I understand Vikes fans being hurt/depressed over the loss, but very few of them have misplaced this loss' blame, comparitively. I'm glad Favre came to the Vikes. He proved over the course of the year that it's about giving your best and enjoying the ride w/ the people you're with. And that no amount of hate can stop the people he calls his peers ( BTW - YOU GUYS ARE NOT HIS PEERS) from respecting him and being grateful for him this year. Ask them where to place blame instead of proclaiming yourselves worthy of the task.
 

Many Packer fans/Favre haters should should be grateful Brett took them as far, as long as he did ( and kept them in it when the team around him wasn't as good as the Favre haters try to say they were) - but they are hateful people whom I'm glad I don't have to deal with on a personal level.

Haters can say anything they want in response to this, and I know they will spew their venom - it's who they are. But it doesn't change the fact that they are wrong - about hate and blame placement. The wear of their attitude over the whole season has been harder on me than all the losses combined.

Thanks very much Brett Favre - football is a better thing because of guys like you, and it won't be as fun w/o you when you choose hang 'em up. You are appreciated and respected by me. May God bless you, sir. - Shep

in my opinion, should be considered ahead of media hype and fan hype - both of which do nothing but agitate other fans - even fans of the same team. According to NFL.com stats, here's how  Brett Favre stacks up against the top 5 QB's of the NFL. Oops, I'm sorry - even after a performance that had Vikes fans here calling for him to be benched and speculating of his impending late-season faceplant - he IS in the top 5 in all the NFL.

Other than being behind Manning in yardage (the 1st 3 games of the season, when passing was correctly made a small part of the offense- are the reason for this)  Favre is standing  on par with ALL of the QB's said to be the 'best of the best'. I'm really glad that the Vikings chose him and have loved watching it all come together very quickly to provide great football and lots of wins. I'm standing behind the whole team based on what they've done this year - not on any hype, negativity or pessimism spewed about it or it's players based on the past. Lots of great football ahead!

The Facts:

This is the best summation of the whole "Favre traitor saga" I've seen. Perspective from a Packer fan no less. Like the author, I hope they end up 'getting' this - because it will ultimately be their loss if they don't. Thought it worthy of a read. Enjoy - Shep

'Brett Favre handed Packer fans the only Super Bowl win they have ever had since Vince Lombardi.  He is one of the greatest, if not the greatest football player to ever play the game.  He is fearless, he plays hurt, he leaves it on the field every week, and he is a Green Bay Packer Legend in every sense of the word.  If I remember correctly, Vince Lombardi left the Packers and served with the Redskins or somebody for a couple of seasons before he retired.  Green Bay still adores Lombardi as does every real football fan.  Brett Favre will be the same. 

My fellow cheeseheads will ultimately look at the Jets and Vikings sagas as just footnotes to Packer lore and legend, even when Brett does lead the Vikes to the Super Bowl win they have always sought.  They deserve it and so does he.  Quit beating up on a football hero and just sit back and enjoy the drama and thrills he brings to the game.  Can you imagine how boring it would be right now without him?  Like it was for years after we lost Dale Eanrhardt until Tony Stewart became and owner this year.  It will be a long long time before you see another Brett Favre so you better enjoy it while you can.  They only happen every 30 years or so.'

I'm curious if you all think Karl Paymah will continue to try to fill those big shoes, or if maybe Asher Allen gets moved over,  or how they might all get shuffled around. What are the possible options in your mind? This is one of the biggest question marks of the game - I'm glad it's not up to me to provide a working solution for filling this obvious gap...

On a positive note - Looks like the temp is not going to factor in with a high of 60.

 I looked at a number of fanposts (maybe 8) and all were closed to further comment. Why is that? I can understand if people get totally out of control over an issue - but I'd think it better to do something like lock them out of a particular fanpost than to close it completely. But that is only in one case scenario. Maybe it's just me, but it seems a bit too 'under control'. Can anyone shed light on this? Thanks, Shep

I consider this an anamoly of sorts... How is it in the 1st 3 weeks, the O'line opens up holes consistently (Great job!!) for AD that put him atop of the league rushing, but Favre sports bruises, and a sore butt from being on it too much.

Week 4 shows an anemic rush block effort against a lame rush defense, yet Favre goes unscathed (Great job!!). It doesn't seem they've quite gotten both sides of the offensive game 'right' in the same game. This will be key to poduction against the better teams up the road.

Where do the weaknesses lie in each facet, in your view?