The Jets and the Vikings lost.
Check that:
Braylon Edwards and Brad Childress lost. And to me that’s the important thing.
Yes, Edwards did get that 80-yard touchdown pass, but I was applauding wildly when, later in the game, he had that beautiful drop where the ball went right through his hands. It was a moment of beauty, and just reinforces for Jets fans yet again what they are getting with Edwards. Last I heard, Edwards will likely get a 1-year offer from the Jets this offseason, which is probably going to be a good deal, but the fact it’s a 1-year deal doesn’t exactly speak volumes of their faith in his consistency. Of course, Edwards could sign with another team, but with the likely new rules coming in plan in the absence of a new CBA, free agency this year could be very anemic.
As for Brad Childress, I never liked the way that he approached the whole Favre courting ritual. Yes, it is without question that he went out and got a vast upgrade at quarterback. I do not, however, agree that the ends justifies the means: he lied, repeatedly, to his team, and while these are professionals, they are also not stupid, and will remember that when he tells them that they are important, that he is counting on them, or that he has thier back, that in actuality he will not hesitate to throw them under the bus if it serves his purpose.
And as many others have already pointed out, Favre ends this run as he did with the Packers — his last throw is in the NFC Championship game and is an interception that leads to the opposing team winning on a field goal. I bet you a lot of Packers fans felt immensely better when they watched that play with less than 7 seconds in the game.
For the Vikings, this offseason could be tense. Favre was beaten to a pulp in the game, and may well decide to retire, only to change his mind after training camp (by then he will have healed up and be getting the bug to play, again). So, it’s quite easy to imagine this scenerio: the Vikings let Favre skip all of the meetings and camps and everything (which sends a lovely message to the rest of the team, doesn’t it? “I’m way more important than you”), expecting that he’ll come back for the season, but then Favre decides that he really is done, leaving the Vikings with no back-up plan.
It’s way too early to tell right now, but I get the feeling that the Vikings — having pulled a Wall Street (trading long-term success for short-term gain) — will not have as good of a year in 2010.
Oh, and one more thing.
If someone was to ask me what American football is all about, I’d really have to point to the ending of this game as a prime example. The whole game itself was actually a good example, filled with drama, fantastic plays, and brutal hits, but overall, both teams played a bit sloppy, hence I wouldn’t say the game as a whole is the ideal.
But the ending pretty much sums up, to me, what makes for great games. Both teams fought tooth and nail through the game, the momentum shifted back at forth, so you never really could say for sure what was going to happen. Near the end, points were getting to be a premium. So the Saints manage to get down the field with the combination of some close plays (some might argue questionable), and are in place to kick a 40-yard field goal. Now keep in mind that besides the slight sloppiness in the game (with muffed punts, botched handoffs, etc.), kickers this postseason have not been playing well, with more misses than hits. Out trots the Saints kicker, who is a rookie, no less. While he should be able to hit it fine, there’s no way to really call it one way or the other. This is the height of drama in the game. And he winds up splitting the uprights.
It’s the stuff of NFL Films.