Brett Favre is not currently having the season that Viking fans or Brad Childress had anticipated. After reaching the NFC title game last year against the New Orleans Saints, the Vikings have struggled thus far- amassing a record of 2-5 through the first seven games. Only the Dallas Cowboys have been more disappointing to this point. The Vikings went into New England yesterday with a new lease on their proverbial lives.
They had the ace in the hole to their game plan. It came in the form of Randy Moss.
His perceived experience and knowledge of the Patriots offensive and defensive schemes certainly would be invaluable to the Vikings preparations throughout the week. Unfortunately, this plan did not come to fruition for Childress. Randy Moss was only able to achieve one catch on Sunday for a grand total of eight yards. This is largely due to Bill Belichick’s game plan to shut him down by having his safety positioned extremely deep downfield.
By Patrick Herbert
A defensive pass interference call in the second half also took away a likely touchdown for Moss. It seemed as if offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell was content to have many of the Patriot defensive backs occupy Moss and turned his attention to other targets. This may strike a fan as a reasonable reaction to a defensive game plan, but Bernard Berrian has been missing in action for the entire season.
In addition, Favre’s mobility was seriously hampered by the multiple foot injuries. This didn’t allow him to travel outside of the pocket in order to make plays. Brett Favre’s strength has also been his weakness throughout his career. He can lift a team on his shoulders by making impossible plays through his gunslinger mentality, but it can also be debilitating through his penchant for interceptions at the most inopportune times.
The Vikings took away his ability to do either one on Sunday by consistently implementing a conservative game plan that exhausted the abilities of running back Adrian Peterson and feeding tight end Visanthe Shiancoe down the middle of the field.
Childress might as well have benched Favre before the game even started because he didn’t allow him to be himself anyway. A casual observer of the box score may come away with the conclusion that Favre threw an interception and didn’t have any touchdown passes. Further analysis indicates that the offense was close to the goal line when Favre was knocked out of the game with a chin laceration. Percy Harvin is just as much to blame for the interception because it was certainly a catchable ball for a pro bowl caliber receiver.
Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, and Brett Favre are not experiencing near the success that they had last season. Lack of productivity in all three cases is due to injuries. Rodgers does not have a bonafide runner in the backfield. Brees is without Reggie Bush and Favre is missing Sidney Rice. If Childress decides to continue to put Favre in the line-up, he must let him be a gunslinger.