Brett Favre and the Vikings' offense had labored all game Sunday at the Metrodome. But with 1:42 left, they took the field, trailing by four points, 55 yards from victory. Favre has made a career out of situations such as these. And not one soul from among the sellout crowd for the season's first home game had dared move toward the exit. This was Favre time.
On the sideline, coach Brad Childress felt confident. Despite watching Favre occasionally misfire against the Dolphins and watching a sub-par receiving corps struggle nfl jersey
to make plays, he was convinced something good was about to happen. He could sense it.
"You do," he agreed afterward. "And we had a timeout left."
Not this time. What in the past would have been a final, glorious Vikings touchdown drive fizzled. The last play was a raggedy-looking short pass toward Visanthe Shiancoe over the middle. Then the Vikings walked off the field, heads down, staring at an oh and two record after their 14-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Somewhere in Vikings Land there is a big red button just waiting to be pushed. Then sirens will wail and buzzers will bellow. Then it officially will be time to panic. Can that button be pushed after just two games?
"I know this much," Favre said, "oh and two is not good."
No, it isn't. I'm all for getting a leg up on panicking.
"It's a 14-game season right now, and we're sitting at the bottom of it," Favre said. "What we do from here remains to be seen. It won't get any easier."
Favre did not have a good day. There must have been times when that rocking chair on the front porch back in Mississippi looked pretty good. Unfortunately, he doesn't have anybody to throw to other than Shiancoe, the tight end. Percy Harvin caught a few flips early. But he is a physical wreck and plays sporadically. Greg Camarillo remains uninvolved. Bernard Berrian is about as useful as a hood ornament.
Favre continues to throw balls to Berrian as if he were throwing to Sidney Rice. The latter could come back and get a ball. Or he could go up and get a ball. Berrian, supposedly the go-to guy in Rice's absence, can't seem to do much of anything. Favre threw a "back shoulder" pass to him at the goal line in the third Dallas Cowboys jersey
quarter. It's something they've worked on in practice. But it ended up picked off.
"I put it where I wanted it, let's put it that way," Favre said.
Rice might catch that ball, but not Berrian. Of Favre's three intercepted passes, two were intended for Berrian. The other was one that Harvin botched near the goal line.
Asked if he thought Berrian was expending maximum effort, Favre replied: "I believe so. I'll watch the film. I think Bernard's heart is in the right place. I believe in my mind he did all he could do. If I felt otherwise, I wouldn't throw it to him. We go to bat with what we got, me included."
Not that Favre was blameless. He remains out of sync with his receivers, such as they are. And he lost the ball in the end zone, handing a touchdown to the Dolphins. Favre later lamented the loss of Rice and running back Chester Taylor, and Harvin's poor health, which has kept him either out of action or less than a hundred percent. Clearly, the front office needs to acquire wide receiver Vincent Jackson from San Diego before the season slips away. Or before everyone loses interest.
"It's not for me to decide," Favre said. "I've heard the talk, just like everybody else."
The Miami Dolphins aren't chopped liver, but there's no way they should waltz out of the Metrodome with a victory. Remember, the Vikings went 9-0 at home last season. And this year was supposed to be Super Bowl Run, Part Deux. Favre noted that he felt terrible about it. It's the exact feeling that he hoped to avoid by retiring.
"One of the biggest reasons I wanted to not play was dealing with losses," Favre said. "I love the guys. I love to win. If we had won on the last play today, it would have been great.
"We got to play Detroit this week. All I know is we got to get better."
Listen, if the Lions aren't the cure for what ails the Vikings, then the disease is fatal. Chargers jersey
Just turn off the lights and say goodnight. That game, at the Metrodome, is followed by a bye week. If they lose to the Lions they might lose to the bye week, too.
"I don't know how many times I've been 0-2," Favre said. "I don't know how many times I've been 2-0. I know it feels a lot better to be 2-0. I came back to give this team a chance to win and to be a part of it. My hope is that we still do that. I know it's going to be tough."
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