For a sub-.500 team, Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings certainly generate a lot of headlines.
Favre’s record streak of 291 consecutive starts is in jeopardy due to injury and ineffectiveness when the Vikings visit the New England Patriots on Sunday.
It took a private plane full of teammates to drag Brett Favre off his ranch this summer, and he is probably wishing he had resisted right about now. Little has gone right for Favre or the Vikings (2-4) so far this season, as the future Hall of Famer has looked every one of his 41 years while tossing 10 interceptions through the first six games.
Favre complained of elbow troubles after a failed comeback a few weeks ago, but it was a balky left ankle that had him limping at the end of last week’s 28-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
It was revealed later that Favre had a stress fracture in the ankle as well as an avulsion fracture in his left heel.
Favre sounded like a man who wanted to play, but even if he says he is ready to go, there is no guarantee that head coach Brad Childress will let him take the field after openly criticizing his quarterback’s decision-making following the loss to the Packers.
Childress was most upset by a pass Favre attempted to force to Randy Moss in the third quarter instead of going to an open Percy Harvin on the other side of the field.
That pass was intercepted by Desmond Bishop and returned 32 yards for what turned out to be the deciding touchdown.
Favre also still has a league investigation hanging over his head for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to a Jets employee when he was with the team in 2008.
If Favre is unable to go on Sunday, Tavaris Jackson will get the call. Jackson is 10-10 as a starter in his career but has not started since 2008.
Either way, the Patriots will be looking to take advantage of the Minnesota quarterback. An injured Favre would be a sitting duck against the pass rush, and one of Jackson’s biggest problems has always been a struggle against the blitz.
New England (5-1) is breaking in eight first-year starters on a defense that has begun to come together over the last two weeks, forcing four turnovers last week at San Diego after holding the Baltimore Ravens to three points in the second half in an overtime win the previous week.
Jerod Mayo, one of the grandfathers of the defense as a 24-year-old, third-year player, has made 45 tackles over the last three games - 35 solo.
The Patriots have a pretty famous quarterback of their own in Tom Brady, who has thrown for 1,362 yards and 11 touchdowns against four interceptions this season. He threw a touchdown pass to rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski last week and has completed passes to 13 different receivers in 2010.