Brett Favre and the Vikings Need to Tweak Their Identity Against 49ers

Have you ever done a double take upon spotting your fabled wandering twin?

According to urban myth, we all have a lost brother or sister-in-image roaming the earth at this very moment. Eerie run-ins with these passing self-likenesses do take place.

The spot resemblance could be in the hair, the style of dress, or a certain pose or mannerism. But these likenesses are only superficial.

On paper at this point in the 2009 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers look strangely similar. Each team enters Week Three with a 2-0 record, and both teams have been mostly content to let their backfields and defenses dictate the game plan.

Even the quarterbacks have strikingly similar looks at this early point in the season.

Youngster Shaun Hill is only averaging 6.19 yards per passing attempt for 353 total yards with a single touchdown and zero interceptions. Living legend Brett Favre is averaging a slight 5.52 yards per passing attempt for 265 total yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

However, just as no person is like their guise twin in character, the Vikings’ offense bears no true resemblance to the 49ers’ attacking forces.

Frank Gore must be reckoned with, but he is no Adrian Peterson. Hill has proved effective in the first two weeks of the season, but I don’t think the comparisons between him and Favre are coming quite yet.

Throughout the first two games of the season, both the 49ers and Vikings offenses have welcomed a ground-heavy style of football that has served its purpose in wins. Minnesota currently ranks second in League rushing and San Francisco ninth.

However, if the Vikings choose to again welcome this style of play in Week Three, they will set themselves up for the type of exhausting, play-from-behind battle they have had to survive against both the Browns and the Lions.

The most striking rogue resemblance between the Vikings and 49ers lies in their passing ranks. Minnesota ranks dead last in passing offense, and San Francisco is 30th.

After two games, the NFL’s most prolific passer—Brett Favre—has a total of just 265 passing yards to his name. However, Favre’s performance to this point in the season should be seen as an absolute success.

No. 4 has now officially proven he can do what so many thought him incapable of— successfully play the quarterback position as a “game manager.” He has impressed with his efficient short-yardage delivery of the ball to Vikings playmakers, and he has surprised by showing restraint and taking a sack when nothing is open downfield.

With a surrounding cast that includes Peterson, Percy Harvin, Chester Taylor, and Visanthe Shiancoe, there is certainly nothing wrong with a fairly steady diet of handoffs and short dump plays.

But every diet needs variety, and the Vikings need to deploy that variety as soon as possible to avoid predictability and an overwhelming amount of third-down situations.

So begin the calls for Brett Favre to air it out. These same urgings came out of New York early last year.

Jets media and fans alike wondered if Favre still had the gun to go downfield. They wondered if the head coach and offensive coordinator were shackling his slinging sensibilities. They wondered if Favre simply hadn’t had enough time with his wideouts to trust long passing routes.

The answers to these three questions are the same as they were last year: Yes, sort of, and yes.

Favre does still have the gun to rocket a ball downfield. Brad Childress and Darrell Bevell are employing some restraint because of Favre’s relative freshness with his new crew. And it is true that Favre has not been in enough situations with his receivers to feel assured everyone is on the same page when he tosses a long ball.  

But the Vikings don’t need Favre to chuck the ball all over the field in order for the Vikings to establish themselves as a true, multi-dimensional offensive threat. They don’t even need Favre to attempt 40-plus throws a game. They just need to tweak the hows and whens of their passing game. 

To be successful rather than pedestrian this season, the Vikings will need to commit to establishing the passing game just as they commit to establishing the running attack. That will require more passing calls on first down, a dose of throw routes longer than 10 yards, and a series of play-action calls with Peterson as the decoy.   

A nice smattering of Favre’s trademark slants will also help the cause.

Starting with their San Francisco matchup, the Vikings need to prove their passing attack can be feared as much as Adrian Peterson. If not, Childress will not see the “kick ass” in his offense, and the Vikings will willingly throw themselves into games of mucky, trench warfare.

Favre’s Metrodome home opener seems as good a time as any to begin developing a fully staged offensive attack.

If the Vikings play the same game against the 49ers that they have against the Browns and Lions, they may still win, but it won’t be pretty—and it won’t begin to set the dominant identity they want for the rest of the season.

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Brett Favre’s Strong Character Bodes Well for Vikings

Let’s be clear about this: There is no Brett Favre experiment going on in Minnesota. His positive effect on the team is a lock.

Let’s be clear about this: There is no lingering quarterback uncertainty in Minnesota because Tarvaris Jackson had a perfect passer rating in Week Two of preseason play and Sage Rosenfels has been spotted making some progress learning the Vikings’ offense.

Favre simply exists on a different quarterbacking plane than those already present in Minnesota.

And to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, let’s be clear about this: There is no more dissent in the Minnesota Vikings’ locker room than exists in any other of the 31 NFL locker rooms. Ask Jarred Allen.

Favre immediately makes the Minnesota Vikings’ offense better. And it’s not only because he is the most prolific passer in NFL history. The offensive success will come because Favre will show his new soldiers something they have never seen before—leadership.

Character is leadership, and Favre is as strong as they come.

Over the years, Favre’s iron-man status has risen to mythical proportions. His will to play through physical, emotional, and mental trauma has him currently standing on a 269-game starting streak that might never be broken.

Unfortunately, a good portion of the sports media has taken their former golden child to the sacrificial altar during the past months. An inexplicable rash of fury towards Favre is running through the sports beat because its members weren’t privy to his innermost thoughts in 2009.

Lately, some people find it popular to argue that Brett Favre has shown signs of “character weakness” since his departure from the Green Bay Packers. Ironically, that period of time has only demonstrated Favre’s strength of character—not a defect.

Retirement would have been the easy option for Favre in 2008, but he kept fighting.

The Packers’ brass wanted Favre to be their legend—just not their starting quarterback. Rather than accepting the Packers’ generous attempts to assist in preserving his legacy, Favre forged ahead.

The Packers offered their franchise face $25 million in bribe money to stay retired. However, Favre turned away from the Packers’ tainted reasoning and followed through on a trade that exiled him to the ends of the football earth—the 4-12 New York Jets.

With no prep time, no knowledge of the Jets vertically-oriented offense, and a biceps muscle in his throwing arm that was shredding week after week, Favre led the team to an 8-3 start and a relevant status in the league.

If you were to believe most of what you read nowadays, the final five games for the Jets unearthed a previously hidden Favre.

He is suddenly a health liability, a giant of locker room division, and just plain unreliable.

The reality is that Favre has never met an injury he couldn’t play through, he brings enthusiasm to every locker room he quarterbacks, and he will be the play-calling cornerstone the otherwise talented Vikings have not enjoyed in a long time.

Just like 2008, retirement would have been the easy option for Favre this year. 

If Favre had decided not to play in 2009, that would have been a true sign his character has weakened.

If Favre did not come to Minnesota this year, that would have been an absolute verdict of weakness—a signal he was out of date, washed up, and scared to take on a challenge.

That would have been a clear piece of evidence that Favre craved popularity more than playing football.

That would have been a signal that the toughest quarterback to play the game decided he was going to go soft.

And that would have been a shame.

Instead, the 39-year-old Favre keeps fighting in 2009. This will be his 19th season in the NFL.

Vikings teammates and fans alike can take inspiration from that show of character.

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Minnesota Vikings: Latest Report Raises Questions About a Brett Favre Signing

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King wrote several weeks ago, “Brett Favre is controlled by emotion.”

It seems that seven weeks after Favre’s shoulder/biceps surgery, Brett may still have to get a little further in the process of convincing himself that all risks or playing this year are worth the potential payoff.

But that is only one explanation for why Favre and the Vikings haven’t sealed their deal yet.

For Favre, the pros of the situation are near insurmountable.

The Vikings are a perfect fit for Favre, and he certainly knows that. As the quarterback said on “Joe Buck Live” a few weeks ago, (quarterbacking the Vikings) “just makes sense.”

The West Coast offense run by the Vikings is something Favre knows like his children. Unlike Eric Mangini’s offense in New York, this is something Favre can direct with audibles and improvisation—exactly the recipe ripe for Favre conducting his legendary two-minute drives.

Just as important, Favre likes people he knows and trusts—and he has good history with both Vikings head coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.

Childress learned the West Coast offense in Philadelphia, under Favre’s mentor Mike Holmgren and Bill Walsh.

Bevell, a former collegiate starting quarterback for the University of Wisconsin, led the Badgers to a Rose Bowl victory in 1993 with Childress as his coach.

After college, Bevell went into coaching, eventually becoming Favre’s quarterback coach in Green Bay. The friendship between Favre and Bevell remains close to this day. Their documented friendship even saved the Vikings from being found guilty of tampering charges for communicating with Favre before his trade to the Jets last year.

The Minnesota Vikings are stacked with talent.

No doubt Favre is salivating at the chance to be protected by an imposing offensive line, backed by a solid defense and be in play-making cahoots with Adrian Peterson.

There is no question about it. Favre wants in on the Minnesota Vikings 2009 season.

The question now is: why does Favre still need until “right before training camp,” to decide if he is physically capable of playing?

That latest statement comes in the aftermath of  Favre working out for Bevell in Mississippi last Wednesday. He threw a good deal, but reportedly experienced “slight pain and throwing inconsistencies.”

Everyone knew that Viking’s head trainer Eric Sugerman was visiting Favre last week, but Bevell’s presence wasn’t relayed until four days later, via ESPN late Sunday night. That is a full four days after Favre’s performance for Bevell.

Everyone following the Vikings expected Favre to sign toward the end of this week, right before single-game tickets go on sale to the public next Monday, July 20.

The Vikings owners would no doubt like to see Favre holding up a Purple No. 4 Jersey before this magical date.

Even reports from those who have spoken to Favre indicate he is “itching” to get into camp on July 31st.

Back to the question: “Why is the signing not happening this week?”

I would like to present three possible answers to the above quandary, all of them—by this point in the crazy Favre/Vikings saga—equally plausible.

 

Explanation Number One: Favre Is Still Spooked by What Happened at the End of Last Year.

He lost control of his throwing dimensions and couldn’t do a thing about it.

As the New York press so aggressively detailed at the end of last football season, Favre’s final five games last year were an utter disappointment. Don’t think for a second that going from 8-3 to missing the playoffs last year stings Favre.

He’s had his surgery, but in addition to the biceps tear that was operated on, at 469 consecutive stars and over 9,000 career passing attempts, Favre may have other concerns about his throwing arm. Repeating the same shoulder motions over and over can bring on tendonitis, shoulder impingement, specific rotator cuff injuries and deterioration of cartilage that cushions the shoulder joints.

Losing control of his weapon last year at the end of the Jet’s season was something that very well could still be haunting Favre—even if actual recovery from Dr. James Andrew’s work this year is coming along rather nicely.

If Favre is coming home to the NFC North, he’s not coming to look mediocre.

And he’s definitely not looking to return Kerry Collins-style—the term “game manager” is something that doesn’t even register with Favre.  

However, even though Favre may still be concerned about his throwing arm, the Minnesota Vikings don’t seem to be. Brad Childress flippantly said weeks ago that Favre’s arm is healthy, adding that perhaps it just doesn’t have its stamina back to par yet.

Perhaps more importantly, Sugerman saw Favre last week, and since then an unnamed Vikings source called Favre’s shoulder surgery a “complete success.”

Favre himself said his recent throwing session for Bevell was encouraging.

Explanation Number Two: Contract Negotiations are Finally Taking Place.

Despite almost month-old reports that Favre and the Vikings may already have a clandestine contract in place, that is unlikely to be the case.

This is where Brett Favre exits from the process and his agent Bus Cook starts working. Media reports have assumed that Favre’s contract is guaranteed to have few guarantees—maybe as few as $5 to $6 million.

Heavy incentives have been rumored to be embedded in Favre’s unseen contract. However, it might not matter how heavy the incentives are in this particular case. Favre doesn’t need incentives to reach goals.

However, he does need a certain amount of guaranteed money—the same as any other top player in the game. Favre believes that if he is healthy, he can still play at an MVP level.

He was scheduled to make $13 million with the Jets this year, and taking a dramatic pay cut could make it look like he is unsure of himself or his worth.  

Favre does not care about a couple of million extra dollars at this point in his life, but he can’t take a contract constructed as if he were a third-year player up for renewal. That makes it look like the team has a pedestrian level of interest in a player.

Favre is accustomed to an organization putting total confidence in him.

 

Explanation Number Three: The Vikings Want Time to Ready a QB Trade

The idea that a team might keep four quarterbacks on its roster is ridiculous. If Favre comes, somebody has to go.

Favre is going to need John David Booty’s No. 4 jersey, but the Vikings don’t need to let him go. Booty is a low-premium insurance policy—a body available if there the unthinkable happens. The team probably isn’t pondering the unthinkable.  

Sage Rosenfels hopes to compete for the starting job this year. He’s a dynamic career backup who has led some impressive come-from-behind drives. He is signed for two years and $9 million so, despite holding an all-too-familiar clipboard again, Rosenfels and the Vikings can both feel good about the situation.

NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi said he’s “been hearing talk” that Tavaris Jackson may demand a trade if Favre signs.

Jackson is heading into the final year of his rookie contract and is not exactly coming off a breakout season. He would need this year to prove himself to solidify his position in Minnesota.

However, if Jackson is content backing up Favre, he could stay with the Vikings as a potential future starter if his man Childress stays—Favre winning with the Vikings could extend both of their careers.

 

Bottom Line: There is Just Too Much Smoke that Points to the Fire

Favre requesting his release from the New York Jets, having surgery, doing the rehab work, getting visits from Vikings head trainer and offensive coordinator, putting down $30,000 on a condo near the Vikings training facility: everything points to an inevitable union between Brett and the Horn-Heads.

Why hasn’t it happened already?

I believe Favre’s opinion on his arm, the Vikings quarterback situation and contract negotiations are all to blame. Time is needed for all of them to progress.

But if Favre convinces himself he’s ready to play in 2009, the other tangents will take care of themselves.

Contract signed and delivered by training camp.