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The team, the player, their dream: Super Bowl
By Bob Sansevere
September 20, 2009
Soon after Brett Favre announced his latest retirement from the NFL, he sat down on his porch in Mississippi with his 10-year-old daughter, Breleigh, and asked what she thought of his decision. She told him, "Daddy, I wanted you to go back and win one more Super Bowl." Breleigh Favre still might get her wish, along with every Minnesota Vikings fan from owner Zygi Wilf on down.
Calling it "a perfect fit," Favre signed Tuesday with the Vikings for a reported $12 million this season.
"All I want to do is win," Favre said. "That's what I came back for."
And now Favre will attempt to do what no quarterback has ever done: lead the Vikings to a Super Bowl victory.
"He's a legend," tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said. "No question Brett Favre will make this team better."
You didn't have to be clairvoyant to know this is how the Favre soap opera would play out and he would end up with the Vikings. Some of us believed it was Favre's disdain for training camp and two-a-day practices that kept him from showing up sooner. He claims it was hearing he had a tear in the rotator cuff of his throwing arm and "that scared me."
No longer scared, Favre said he decided to return to the game after receiving a phone call Monday from Vikings coach Brad Childress, who wanted to see if Favre planned to stay retired.
"I didn't want to say 'What if?' " Favre said.
Wilf said the Vikings didn't want to say that, either. Instead, Wilf and others in charge of the team, upon hearing Favre would play for them, said something along the lines of "Yippee!"
"We feel we added a decent piece to the puzzle," Childress said.
Desperate for a shot at the Super Bowl, the Vikings know their chances of getting there take a leap with Favre at quarterback instead of Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson.
Let's be honest here. Rosenfels and Jackson, besides sounding like an accounting firm, are backup material. Favre is a hall-of-famer-in-waiting. And he's ready to get to work, so ready that he wants to play in Friday night's exhibition game against Kansas City.
One of the things you can always count on besides death and taxes is Brett Favre ending his latest retirement. His retirement act grew old in Green Bay, where he constructed his legend and statistics, but he has reinvigorated the Vikings' fan base. From the time news of his coming broke until 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the team sold about 2,000 season tickets and nearly 7,000 single-game tickets.
"I can't say I'm disappointed," Wilf said, adding that he believes signing Favre "elevates the stadium issue" and the team's attempt to get state funding for a new facility and "makes it more visible."
Favre rolled into the Vikings' Winter Park headquarters in Eden Prairie about 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, waving from the passenger seat of a black SUV driven by Childress. Favre was acknowledging some of the several dozen fans who hastily gathered near the entrance of the facility while a news helicopter hovered above them.
"This is the start of the insanity for the fans," said Brad Hewitt, who works nearby and headed over when he got word Favre was coming.
Duane Kline was at his Eden Prairie home when he heard the private jet toting Favre had landed. Kline hustled over to Winter Park, hoping for a glimpse. "This," Kline said, "will be so awesome."
The level of awesomeness will correlate with how far the Vikings advance in the postseason.
"It's exciting," center John Sullivan said. "You're talking about one of the best quarterbacks of all time. A Hall of Fame quarterback. A guy with incredible experience and great skills. We look forward to seeing what happens."
Assuming his arm problems are a thing of the past, Favre is that decent piece to the puzzle Childress referenced, that quarterback who will keep defenses honest while allowing Adrian Peterson to rush for 2,000 yards and making Pro Bowlers out of Shiancoe, Bernard Berrian and Percy Harvin.
At 1:29 CDT (Central Destiny Time), Favre walked out of the Vikings' locker room. He wore a No. 4 jersey and carried both a helmet and the hopes of a franchise and its fans. He took part in Tuesday's practice, putting nice zip on mostly short- and medium-range passes and showing no signs of arm trouble.
Nobody should expect Favre to be around beyond this season. He turns 40 in October. He is a one-year fix. Presumably, there will be somebody else at quarterback next season, most likely Donovan McNabb.
Now that the Philadelphia Eagles have signed Michael Vick, McNabb will become expendable in Philly. And considering Childress used to be his offensive coordinator, McNabb in a Vikings uniform just makes sense.
But that's a story for another season.
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Odom, Bengals D off to good start
By Jason Cole
September 20, 2009
The last time Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom made his opponents look like grade-schoolers, he was actually there himself. Odom’s five-sack performance against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday was the most he had in a game since he was a junior at Alma Bryant High in Alabama.
So in the process of rolling up a handful in a 31-24 win over the Packers, Odom didn’t just surprise himself. He continued to provide a non-verbal rebuttal to critics who said he wouldn’t live up to the five-year, $29.5 million contract he signed in 2008.
“Yeah, I’ve heard all that stuff,” Odom said, referring to the argument that he was little more than a guy who benefited from playing on the same line with Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch(notes) in Tennessee. Odom, a second-round pick of the Titans in 2004, had only one particularly productive year to this point, getting a career-high eight sacks in 2007 while with the Titans. Coming into this season, Odom had only 15&frac;12 sacks. Already, he’s recorded seven in ’09.
“I don’t get mad at hearing that stuff, I just put it in the back of my mind and use it as motivation,” Odom said. “I’m just going to do what I can do.”
What Odom did Sunday was help short-circuit a Packers offense that opened the game on a roll. Green Bay scored 14 points in the first quarter, taking advantage of a turnover for a short score. The Packers then got an interception return for a score in the second quarter. Playing at Lambeau Field, this game seemed like Green Bay’s for the taking … except that the Bengals started playing defense like one of those other teams in the rough-and-tumble AFC North.
Through two games this season, the Bengals defense has allowed only three touchdowns – the first being the fluke catch by Denver wide receiver Brandon Stokley in the opening game, a play that cost the Bengals a chance to be 2-0.
So are the Bengals for real? Is Odom really this good? Could the Bengals be poised to make the playoffs for only the second time since 1990?
OK, before this gets out of hand, just be impressed with what has happened so far.
“We have a bunch of guys who really believe we can play defense,” Odom said. “We have good chemistry and confidence.”
A couple of good cornerbacks help. Between Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph, the Bengals should cover enough to help a defensive line that had been anemic the past two years. Cincinnati had only 17 sacks last season.
But Odom could match that total by himself. On Sunday, it seemed like every move he made worked. Then, the Packers got into a bad situation when left tackle Chad Clifton suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter and left guard Daryn Colledge had to replace him.
“He’s so used to being at guard, where there’s not that much space to block. You get out there at left tackle and now you’re on an island. … For me, it was like everything I did worked when I did it. Right from the beginning. I made this one move early in the game where I faked inside, faked out and then went inside and the quarterback stepped right up into me.”
Still, the Bengals had to survive a scare at the end when the Packers got to their 10-yard line before time ran out. Odom somehow convinced himself that it was going to be all right.
“I knew we were all right,” Odom said. “After last week and then this week, with the interception return for a touchdown and the penalties we had against us, I knew there was nothing else that could happen. No way.”
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Brees proving to be the unstoppable force of '09
By Clifton Brown
September 20, 2009
PHILADELPHIA — Drew Brees is on a pace to throw 72 touchdown passes this season.
That tells you how potent the Saints' offense is. They steamrolled the Eagles, 48-22, as Brees (25-for-34, 311 yards, three touchdowns, one interception) made the Eagles look like they were playing with only 10 defenders.
"Drew Brees is an animal," Eagles cornerback Joselio Hanson said. "We couldn't stop them once they got down in our end."
Questions remain about the Saints' defense, but offensively they have all the pieces. They have a great quarterback, he has a ton of playmakers, the running game is improved and coach Sean Payton is an innovative play-caller. Brees sensed during preseason that this could be a special year for the Saints, similar to 2006, when they reached the NFC championship game.
"Obviously, we have very high expectations for ourselves," Brees said. "We see this window of opportunity that we have. I would say the confidence level right now is way higher than it was in 2006.
"Believe it or not, I still think we can get better. That's a lot of points against a pretty good defense, on the road, in a hostile environment. Then again, we believe every time we touch the ball, we're going to go and get points."
Brees completed passes to nine receivers Sunday, and Marques Colston caught two touchdown passes. In the Saints' locker room after the game, both Colston and tight end Jeremy Shockey (four catches, 49 yards) said they felt healthier than they had in years. Eagles fans greeted Shockey with boos, still holding hostility toward him from his days with the Giants. Shockey rather enjoyed it, and he enjoyed the victory even more.
"I think some people in this locker room don't realize how hard it is to win in this place," Shockey said. "We did a great job."
The Saints' offense is playing with swagger. The Eagles are still searching for it.
Without Donovan McNabb (fractured rib), the Eagles went wild with the Wildcat formation. They started Kevin Kolb at quarterback but gave the Saints more looks than Beyonce gets walking down Fifth Avenue. In the first half, Brian Westbrook, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Kolb all took direct snaps from center. Was it entertaining? Yes. Was it effective? Not always.
When it was over, Eagles coach Andy Reid said Kolb (31-for-51, 391 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions) would start next week vs. Kansas City if McNabb is not ready. But it is clear that Wildcat or no Wildcat, McNabb or no McNabb, the Eagles (1-1) are still a work in progress.
"There were too many mistakes, and that's my responsibility," Reid said. "It wasn't right today, any phase of it. It was an absolutely horrendous performance."
Things will get even more interesting this week when Michael Vick is activated. Imagine some of the plays Reid might draw up with Vick in the lineup.
Vick and the Eagles will be discussed plenty during the week, but Sunday was the Saints' day. Through two weeks, they have the most potent offense in the NFL.
"I take my hat off to (Brees)," Eagles safety Quintin Mikell said. "We got our butts kicked today."
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Vikings are 2-0 but still looking half bad — Minnesota rolls through Detroit after another sluggish start
By Sean Jensen
September 20, 2009
DETROIT — The excitement in the Vikings' locker room Sunday after a 27-13 victory over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field was palpable and justifiable.
The Vikings, winners of 14 of the past 15 games in this series, earned the season sweep against the winless Lions last season by a mere six points.
So after a two-touchdown win, securing the second 2-0 start in the Brad Childress era, players could make light of regrouping and rallying after lethargic starts in both games.
"If the end result is us coming up with a W," Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield said, "we can start slow the whole year."
But the oldest, most experienced Viking of them all knows better.
Brett Favre, who broke Vikings legend Jim Marshall's NFL record with his 271st consecutive start on Sunday, provided a sobering reality check for his otherwise-upbeat team.
"We came back and scored a lot of points, and did what we needed to do, finally. But we can't continue to do that. That's no secret," he said. "Our guys know that in the locker room, and we talked about it in the game. We have to find a way to do that from the start."
No NFL team can take a road win for granted, yet the 2-0 start is tempered by the fact they were against two of the league's worst teams from last season, the 4-12 Cleveland Browns and the 0-16 Lions.
The Vikings started slow against both, mustering a combined 79 yards and five first downs on offense in the first quarter and falling into halftime
In both games, though, the Vikings dominated the third quarters, outscoring the Browns and Lions 24-0. While not dismissing the competition, Favre alluded to an obvious fact: better teams will do a better job of capitalizing on a slow start.
"To think that we can continue to win games that way... it's not going to happen," Favre said.
Despite a new coach and 33 new players, these were the same old Lions, at least in the second half.
On the first offensive play of the second half, Vikings Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen was unblocked.
On the next offensive series, after a Vikings field goal, Lions running back Kevin Smith lost a fumble.
On the very next play, the Lions missed tackles and blocks as running back Adrian Peterson rumbled 27 yards for a touchdown to give the Vikings a 17-10 lead.
Then, in the fourth quarter, an illegal block by guard Gosder Cherilus negated a 43-yard catch and run by receiver Calvin Johnson.
The Vikings have six games until their bye on Nov. 8, and the competition is markedly better than the Browns and Lions. The mix includes the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens, the Green Bay Packers (twice) and the surprising 2-0
One of the immediate focuses will be to shore up the run defense.
Rated the league's top unit three seasons running, the Vikings have appeared vulnerable the past two weeks, especially early in the game. Against the Browns, who had the league's 28th-best run offense in 2008, the Vikings gave up 89 yards and an average of 4.5 yards a carry. Against the Lions, who had the league's worst run offense last season, the Vikings gave up 129 rushing yards.
In their home opener, the Vikings face a 49ers run offense that is coming off a 256-yard performance in a 23-10 win over Seattle. In that game, Pro Bowl running back Frank Gore gained 207 yards on 16 carries, including touchdown runs of 79 and 80 yards.
Vikings Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kevin Williams said his teammates missed some tackles and weren't in their proper gaps.
"It was us beating ourselves," Williams said. "You normally don't see that from us. We just have to clean up a few things, then we'll get back to our dominance on run defense."
As for the offense, the Vikings continue to make significant strides with Favre at the helm. He continued to play mistake-free football, completing 23 of 27 passes for 155 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. And once again, after a slow first half, Peterson rebounded with a strong second half.
According to Allen, Childress "got into us a little bit at halftime," imploring his team to be more aggressive.
"We got out-tempoed," Allen said. "But I think we were weathering their storm instead of creating our own storm. That's what we need to do."
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