Madden gamers woke up to an unexpected new EA Madden roster update this weekend. EA has been more diligent than ever this year in providing updated rosters and player attributes on a regular basis. While none of these Madden 10 updates are ever perfect, never in the history of Madden has this update sparked more controversy. The controversy revolves around the removal of Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner.

After being eliminated in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, Kurt Warner announced his retirement. 12-year, three Super Bowl appearances, one Super Bowl win, and one Super Bowl MVP were enough. Over the last two years in particular, Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals have turned into one of the most teams to play in Madden. Madden does a great job of transitioning high-powered offensive teams like the Cards and Saints into the game with relevant plays and player attributes. The Cards and Warner in particular have been one of the most popular teams to play online against opponents or just at home against the CPU. Well without warning, the party is over!

EA Sports released their final Madden update over the year this weekend. The final roster update is more or less a report card for the players in the game. For example, Ray Lewis’ overall play decreased from a 94 to a 94. L.T. decreased from an 89 to an 86, while DeSean Jackson and Sidney Rice saw increases. The idea of this is to represent the game and its players as real as possible to the NFL 2009-2010 season. Well EA may have gone a bit overboard this time because they have completely removed Kurt Warner from the game. Warner is now listed as retired and he is unusable with the new update. The move is shocking to longtime Madden gamers and came without Kurt Warning (couldn’t help it.)

I didn’t notice this until today. I try to stay on top of the updates, but I haven’t played Madden all week. I signed online this morning to play and was told of the new roster update. I downloaded it and was shocked when I didn’t see Warner. I started to do a little investigating online and thus I discovered he is completely removed. The roster move has the entire EA community and Madden fan base outraged and rightfully so. The move goes against anything that Madden has done in previous years and hurts the integrity of the game. The entire idea of behind these roster updates is to give Madden gamers rosters and a game that is as real to the 2009-2010 NFL season as possible. Kurt Warner not only played a full season, but also played in the post season. This is isn’t like taking a third-string offensive lineman who announces his retirement out of the game. The fact that one of the elite starting NFL quarterbacks was removed from the game in which a season he participated and without warning for loyal gamers is beyond preposterous!

The removal of Warner also discredits EA’s DLC they sold earlier in the year to Madden gamers. There are several DLC components you can purchase for Madden. These DLC add-ons give Madden gamers a little more flexibility with the game. Two of the DLC options sold allowed gamers to un-retire two players who retire during a franchise season. The idea behind this was to give gamers a chance to keep Brett Favre (who auto retires after every season) or someone like Warner who sometimes does or doesn’t. A lot of DLC were sold specifically for this feature. Now, if gamers were to start a new franchise mode with the new update than they won’t even have a shot at using this with Warner since he has been removed entirely from the game.

The move is stunning considering how liberal EA has been over the years when it comes to unavailable players. Even with Michael Vick’s troubles, he was still available in the out-of-box Madden 07 game (removed in roster updates since he didn’t play the season), Plaxico Burress was left in last year as a free agent even after he was suspended and likely wouldn’t play this year because the game was supposed to represent the 2008-09 season which saw him play and then cut. Even the year after Brett Favre retired with the Packers, Favre was featured on the cover of the game! Pulling Warner out of the season he just played after he retires for next season is one of the most unusual and unnecessary moves I have ever seen in a Madden roster update since EA began doing roster updates years ago.

Do you have to grab the roster update? No. But the problem is that this came all without warning. With warning, would could just go play online, use the Warner-less update, and continue their games with Warner. The downside there is that you get none of the other hundreds of roster updates included in the newest update which, once again include increases and decreases to hundreds to NFL players. Not too mention, gamers grab the roster update and save it to their hard drive without thinking twice about it. Now those games are wondering where the heck Kurt Warner went? Not only was removing Warner from a 2009-10 roster ridiculous, what is even more ridiculous is the lack of warning that came with the update. It’s not like we are talking about the removal of a third-string defensive back. We are talking about the removal of one of the most popular players of the game!

My gut tells me that with all of the outrage that EA will correct this. I will give them credit and they have done a fairly good job of satisfying their communities and fan base within reason. Obviously they aren’t going to go back in and make changes based on every fan who wants their favorite player to go from a 90-91 rating. However, something like this transcends fans of one particular team or player. I would think that a change like this would be something that can be simply done as EA was able to include Michael Vick and Brett Favre in their rosters just a few days after they came back this season. So the issue isn’t whether this is something that can be done, but it is something that should be done. If not that, offer the previous update with Warner which again hurts the other hundred players that were updated, but it is a quick fix. The bottom line here is that EA really pulled a fast one on their most loyal customers this weekend and should do the right thing and fix it as soon as possible.

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Okay so I want to do this in 20 minutes because I’m exhausted. Just some quick hits on championship weekend…..Is it possible that we could resurrect the act of stoning just for the guy who insists on putting that retarded robot on the side of every Fox graphic? Seriously, how did it ever get this far? We hate promos. But throw in a graphic of a down syndrome robot in shoulder pads doing the electric slide and not only do we hate the promos but we now hate you. I’m trying to see the replay of the 47th Adrian Peterson fumble and instead they’ve got the tart bot playing air guitar during a promo for “Human Target”. I’ve got a great idea for a human target: You Mr. Patronizing fox producer…..

………..Has Challenger the bald eagle landed yet? During the national anthem of the Colts/Jets the fine folks at Lucas Oil Stadium decided to bring in Challenger, that past it’s prime bald eagle that used to fly to the pitchers mound before playoff games at Yankee Stadium. It was a post 9/11 patriotic deal where they’d finish the anthem release the bird and he’d do a b-line to his handlers arm atop the mound. The crowd loved it. That is until two years later when old Chally started pulling a Super Tramp and taking the long way home. He’d circle the mound, fly over the backstop, take a dump, you name it. It actually became a distraction from the anthem so they stopped it. Well there I was watching the conclusion of Francis Scott Key’s song (talk about a one hit wonder, what else has F.S. Key ever written) and in comes Challenger. At first I didn’t know if it was planned or if he was still flying from game 6 of the 2003 world series. Sure enough the handler was on a stage and sure enough Challenger flew right by. Stunner! If you tivoed the game you will see that they tried to stay on him for the landing but ultimately went to commercial when they couldn’t get him to land…..

…..How about this stat for Brett Favre: 2007 Packers Last pass INTERCEPTION
2008 Jets Last pass ” ”
2009 Vikings Last pass “yup, you guessed it”

If your like me your not wondering how his last throw of 2010 will turn out your just wondering what team he’ll be playing for when he throws it. It’s time by the way for all the greatest QB of all time talk to stop with this dude. Admire him for his grit, his competitive fire, his cannon arm, and his incredible durability, but stop insulting our intelligence and referring to him as the best ever. Especially not when Archie’s kid is playing 2 channels over, IN HIS PRIME. Favre isn’t in the top five of all time.

If you’re wondering that list looks like this:
1. Montana
2.(and Climbing) P. Manning
3. T. Brady
4. Elway
5. Marino

…..Did Boomer Esiason die? I was watching him on the air yesterday and wondering who was the corpse, him or the person applying his makeup. He looks like weekend at Boomer’s. Dude we know Carton is grating as hell but geez, Boom. You look like an old southwest ad “want to get away”

….Who are the best fans in the world? Everybody who wins a championship, or a disputed one (hello NCAA football) thanks their fans who are “the greatest fans in the world” In the past 6 months I’ve seen the Yankees do it, the Crimson Tide do it, Jimmy Johnson do it, Peyton Manning do it, even Jim Tressel after the Rose Bowl. But only one of these guys can be right. Maybe we should have a battle royal to figure out just who should lay claim to the moniker. For my money, I take Jimmy Johnson’s fan’s because Nascar Fans get off on “Future Weapons” on the Military Channel. Well that and a certain former Governor of Alaska

…….Any moron out there who doesn’t believe in “momentum” in sports should have to watch the Colts final first half drive and then tell me exactly what that nine letter word was that EVERY MEMBER OF THE JETS DEFENSE USED IN DESCRIBING WHAT THAT DRIVE DID FOR THE COLTS GOING INTO THE LOCKER ROOM. If the players believe in momentum, why don’t some fans? Maybe you can define the way the world works while your holding a controller and pressing the R1 button or the analog stick but in the real world of big boy sports there are real things that impact a game. Such as: Momentum. I’m not saying it’s the only factor. It is “A” factor. But sometimes it just seems like the only one.

……and by the way lets kill all the “Colts shouldn’t have benched their starters in the last two weeks” talk because the same people bitching that they didn’t try for perfection would be the same ones calling for Jim Caldwell’s noggin if Peyton were to get hurt during either of those games. Period. It was, no pun intended, a no-win situation for Los Colts….

……….I’m calling a sex tape for Snooki from “Jersey Shore”. Assuming the show will keep her relevant for another year, I set my over under at 18 months. Place your bets.

………Take heart all ye Jet Fans. It was a season of immense progress. I’m not talking the birth of a franchise qb or a couple of playoff wins either. Last week, for the first time in my 33 years I caught people pretending to be Jet Fans. As in, it was cool to say you were a Jet fan. Tell me that aint a big leap foward!!!

………….G’night Ned. G’night Ned. (what movie for extra credit)

Jimmy Failla can be reached at JIMFAILLA@yahoo.com or the Ann Service Taxi Dispatch on w’ 21st street because he’s making something of his life. Honest.

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Here we go again. For the third year in a row, the NFL and ESPN are being held hostage by Brett Favre. As Garrett Hartley’s field goal put the New Orleans Saints into the Super Bowl and gave us a matchup of two of the greatest quarterbacks of our era, the talk centered around the one quarterback who would not be playing in February. Is it time for Brett Favre to retire…for good?

Eighteen years in the NFL, four NFL teams, three MVP awards, eleven Pro Bowls, and over a dozen postseason wins will likely be defined by an interception seen around the world in Sunday’s NFC title game. For all of the achievements of Favre and there are a ton, casual fans will remember Favre for his interception and a blown opportunity to return to play in the Super Bowl. For Brett Favre, I have to imagine that this isn’t the reason he sacrificed himself to be the butt of many August jokes and come back for another season in the NFL.

Favre is 40 and in the NFL 40 is the new 65 when it comes to NFL quarterbacks. What Favre did this year is remarkable for someone his age or any age for that matter. 40-year old NFL quarterbacks don’t play in the NFC title game. Adding to the list of Favre’s achievements will be that he is the oldest starting quarterback to win an NFL playoff game. Yet after one of the greatest seasons of his career, he is already starting to make waves about retiring. Can Favre do it again or should he ride out into the sunset?

We have been here before with Favre. As a matter of a fact, we have almost been to the exact same place only two years ago with Favre. At the age of 38, Favre led the Green Bay Packers to the NFC title game against the New York Giants two seasons ago. Unlike Sunday, Favre was playing at home at historic Lambeau Field. Just like Sunday, Favre’s last play in a tied NFC title game was an interception which turned into a field goal and a win for the Giants. Immediately the talk began about Favre retiring which led to Favre retiring and then un-retiring and starting the following season with a different NFL team just one season after leading his team to the championship game.

I have written a lot about Favre for three years and most of it, not being so favorable. His return to the NFL two years ago with the New York Jets didn’t work out well for anyone. The Jets finished with a disappointing season, not even making the playoffs. Favre threw a crucial interception in the final minutes of the fourth quarter which more or less sealed their loss. The Jets coach was fired. Favre’s status as a future NFL Hall of Fame player was questioned. More importantly, for the first-time in his career Brett Favre’s character was criticized and more than the player, Brett Favre the man took a terrible beating by his teammates, his ex-teammates, and the media who put him on a pedestal for years.

It didn’t surprise anyone when Favre announced his retirement a few months after the season ended. Unlike the Green Bay Packers organization, the Jets couldn’t get rid of Favre fast enough. Instead of riding out into the sunset after a 13-5 season and an NFC title game, Favre would be walking away like most NFL players who play well after their prime, thus tarnishing their legacies. If it wasn’t bad enough leaving a lasting memory of a Super Bowl-costing interception at home in a title game the year prior, this time he was walking away a broken down, arrogant, self-centered NFL quarterback.

Favre made his desires to go play with the Minnesota Vikings well known two years ago. The Packers made that virtually impossible. The door was now open, and Favre flirted with the Vikings for several weeks before declining them and then accepting their offer. Favre waltzed back into the NFL not as a returning conquering hero, but as a tired old story of a man more consumed with revenge than his legacy or the good of the NFL. It was so bad that fans and NFL media were angry that Tarvaris Jackson was getting the shaft. Think about that one for a second and that will tell you how badly Favre’s reputation had turned from poster boy to whipping boy in one season.

Something strange happened in Minnesota that not even the most studious NFL experts had predicted. The Vikings were winning. Not only were the Vikings winning, but the Vikings had an offense that rivaled the 1998 Minnesota Vikings offense. On top of that, Favre looked like a man reborn. Gone were the ill-fated interceptions that plagued Favre’s career. Favre replaced those memories with game-winning clutch plays like the NFL Week 3 32-yard touchdown pass with two seconds to go against the San Francisco 49ers. All of the sudden Brett Favre was playing better than even Brett Favre had played in many years.

Take a look at Brett Favre’s numbers this year and you decide whether Brett Favre is washed up. If I told you to tell me the quarterback that threw for over 4,200 yards, 33 touchdowns, had a QB rating at 107.2 with only seven interceptions, you would probably say Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. That was the year Brett Favre had at 39-40 years-old for the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL. Keep in mind that this wasn’t a team that had an easy schedule. The Minnesota Vikings played arguably all of the top defenses in the NFL except the Jets. Favre did this against the Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers (twice), and Baltimore Ravens. I can’t think of a more difficult schedule that any NFL quarterback faced this season.

Not only that, but Brett Favre did this on a brand new team with just a few weeks of preparation. Yes I know he was familiar with their system, but he had very little time to learn the playbook and develop any chemistry with his receivers, his line, his coaches, etc. Compounding this with his numbers is simply remarkable for the year Favre had. Plus, keep in mind that Brett Favre has played in the NFC title game in two of the last three years with two different teams! People are soon to forget that when criticizing Favre. No quarterback in either division on the same team can make those boasts. Not Peyton Manning, not Tom Brady, not Donovan McNabb, not Drew Brees, not anyone in the NFL.

Favre did take a lot of hits in the NFC title game. As a matter of a fact, Favre took more hits from the Saints than he likely took all season. Even as an objective fan, I started feeling uncomfortable watching the excruciating pain on Favre’s face after he would slowly get up from each hit. Lucky for Favre, he has a pretty good offensive line that can hold their own against most teams. Unlucky for Favre, they couldn’t stop the New Orleans Saints from getting to him. Watching the look on his face, the interception, and the disappointment following the game, Brett Favre looked anything like a guy raring to hit OTAs and give it a go for another season.

Do not put the Vikings loss on Sunday on Favre and his interception. Brett Favre scored 28 points for the Vikings. 28 points should be more than enough to win a game in the NFL. Favre drove his team with 2:37 to go from the Minnesota 21 to the New Orleans 33 in 91 seconds. Remember, if it wasn’t for the 12-man on the field penalty before the throw, the Vikings would have held pat and kicked a field goal. Now maybe the FG doesn’t make it, but Favre also isn’t throwing an interception. The Saints also took eleven plays to score in overtime. That is eleven chances that the Vikings defense had to stop them. Brett Favre also had to overcome five other turnovers from his teammates in the game. If I would put the blame on anyone, I would put it on the coach for one of the dumbest penalties in NFL championship history on Sunday.

Regardless of whether Favre can come back or not, he won something much bigger than the Super Bowl this season. Brett Favre won his reputation back. Favre won his reputation back for a tough, gritty, future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback. Favre won his reputation back as a great team player and more importantly, team leader. Favre won his reputation as a winner that can put a team on his shoulders and make the big throws when it counts. I see no reason that he can’t come back and do it again. The big question is whether the scars of the 2008-09 season with Jets still haunt Favre. If so, maybe Favre doesn’t want to risk a season like that knowing what he had in 2007-08 when he walked away. Or will Brett Favre be more obsessed with erasing the stat that the last three NFL seasons of Brett Favre were marred with crucial interceptions?

I think Brett Favre comes back and unlike the last two years, I think most of us will be happy to hear the news.

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I like everyone else was left in disbelief Sunday night as the Minnesota Vikings were making one last drive down the field in the Superdome. With a little over two minutes to go Brett Favre was driving down the field setting the Minnesota Vikings up for there very first appearance in the Super Bowl. This is one of the reasons why Brett Favre went to Minnesota. To beat the Green Bay Packers and to win a Super Bowl in Minnesota, to prove everyone wrong that this 40 year old Quarterback that retired and unretired multiple times, could still do it.

For 99.9% of the season Brett Favre was right and proved everyone that thought he couldn’t do it anymore wrong. This was his chance to get one step closer to his goal of winning a super bowl and riding out in style. But then we saw the Brett Favre of old reemerge from the womb!

Nineteen seconds to go and thanks to a stupid penalty the Vikings were now out of range of putting Ryan Longwell in comfortable position to kick a game winning field goal. The Vikings drove down the field and were starting to silence the New Orleans Saints crowed. That is when I started to see the writing on the wall.

As I have stated many a times before I am a Green Bay Packers fan. I was and still am but won’t admit it, a Brett Favre fan. The guy was my hero when it came to Football and was extremely disappointed with his last two seasons in the NFL with the Jets & Vikings. I can remember vividly things from the past that would make me think the reasoning I was about to say.

We had finished up doing The Wheelhouse and I was watching the NFC Championship game with Bower, host of The Wheelhouse when I turned to him following the stupid penalty of to many players on the field. This is when I said to him “the Vikings need to run the ball.” Bower at the time didn’t know why I would say such a thing, but any Green Bay Packers fan knows what I’m talking about.

But if you don’t remember what I’m talking about we will go back into time and look at the 2004 NFC Divisional Playoffs when Favre threw an interception in overtime directly to the hands of Brian Dawkins. The Eagles would go onto to drive down the field and win it thanks to a David Akers field goal. Then the one that stands out more then any other is the 2007 NFC Championship Game when Brett Favre in overtime through an interception yet again to Corey Webster. This led to Lawrence Tynes finally kicking a field goal and sending the New York Giants to the Super Bowl.

I’ve seen this script one too many times, game on the line and Favre forgets all of a sudden how to play Football when it counts. Favre gets under center with nineteen seconds to go; the Vikings need to get in field position for Ryan Longwell. No matter what they do from here you know they will take a shot for Longwell to win it.

Favre hikes the ball and the halfbacks run past him to set up a block. You have got to be kidding me he’s going to throw it! He rolls out of pocket and throws it down the field…DIRECTLY to a NEW ORLEANS SAINTS player! Corey Webster & Brian Dawkins start running through my mind at that particular moment and the first things that come out of my mouth were “holy crap he did it again.”

Everyone is left in disbelief of what just happened. Vikings fans, Favre fans, NFL fans and even the Saints fans are left in disbelief. Who isn’t? The Green Bay Packers fans!

The Saints and Vikings head into overtime, Saints drive down the field and a game winning field goal later the Saints march into Super Bowl 44.

Brett Favre was/is and will probably always be my favorite Football player. But this was a pure case of karma biting you in the ass. You messed with the Green Bay Packers organization, you messed with the New York Jets organization and this is what you & the Minnesota Vikings get. You outplay the New Orleans Saints and you will be sitting home on Super Bowl Sunday watching the Saints play for the Vince Lombardi trophy.

I will always have a special place in my heart for ol’ #4 but damn it felt good to watch him throw an interception and lose a game for another team not called the Green Bay Packers.

Jeff Peck is the producer for the “Wheelhouse Radio” program that airs every Sunday – Thursday @ 8pm ET/5pm PT at www.blogtalkradio.com/thewheelhouse and at www.errorfm.com @ 2am ET/11pm PT

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Finally, an entire weekend of games in the NFL postseason lived up to expectations. For at least three quarters, the AFC championship game turned out to be one of the most exciting games in NFL conference championship history. Not even four quarters could decide the NFC Super Bowl representative. For the first time in sixteen years, two number NFL one seeds will play in each other in what will likely be the most hyped game in Super Bowl history.

New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts - As stated above, for three quarters this was an NFL classic. Rex Ryan and the Jets didn’t come to Indianapolis satisfied with exceeding expectations and playing in the title game. The Jets came out firing on both sides of the ball. Manning was sacked on the third down of his first possession and you knew from there, this was going to be a long afternoon. All of the talk about the Jets rattling Manning proved to be correct.

To my surprise, the Jets broke this game wide open with a phenomenal call in the second quarter. Mark Sanchez hit Braylon Edwards with a beautiful 80-yard pass for a score. This was the first touchdown of the game and pulled the Jets in front 7-3. The Colts looked stunned, the crowd got quiet, and the Jets looked more confident than the home team that bucked history and had the opportunity to go for an undefeated season.

Going into halftime I was almost sure that the Jets were winning this thing. The Jets were having some serious problems accounting for Collie and Garcon, but they had kept Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark in check. I didn’t think Jim Caldwell would be able to make the proper adjustments necessary to take the game back. The Jets also had the ball coming out of halftime. Everything just seemed to be going the way of gang green.

The one thing that had to worry Jets fans coming out of halftime was the running game. After bowling over teams for weeks, the Colts did a damn good job of keeping the run game in check. I was also surprised that Shonn Greene seemed to be getting most of the carries. To me, I just think that Thomas Jones gives you that extra on every play where he is going to break tackles at some point and break a run one wide open faster than Greene. Unfortunately Jets fans saw the tide start to turn when Greene left the game with an injury.

Now on paper you wouldn’t have thought Greene leaving was that big of a deal because you have Jones. But Jones works in a split situation because of the change-of-pace style he brings paired with Leon Washington or Greene. A situation that features Jones with no other options is a tricky one. I sent a text to my brother when Greene went out and I said that this one is over. Missing that second back completely changes the game for the New York Jets and makes things a lot easier for the Colts defense.

Manning showed me a lot on Sunday. I think sometimes he gets a lot of criticism because he just makes it look too easy. It took him a half, but he picked up on the Jets schemes and found ways to get Clark and Wayne open. Once Wayne and Clark started getting open, the will of the Jets was broken, and Manning was in cruise control.

Last week I wrote about the underrated Indianapolis Colts defense coming into the game. For some reason, the Colts are still labeled a bad rushing defense because of a few bad seasons a couple of years back. It’s just not true. In back to back weeks, the Colts plugged up arguably the two best rushing teams in the NFL. I think this Colts defense is underrated and are a big reason that this team is going to the Super Bowl.

I don’t think the New York Jets are a case of a team that overachieved and got hot. I think they have a very good coach who can do this again. Think about this. This isn’t even entirely Rex Ryan’s team. Give Rex Ryan a few years where we can get his type of players and this team will be ready for the Super Bowl. So long Kerry Rhodes. Ryan is no fluke. Ryan has been a defensive mastermind for years as a coordinator. I think that there has been an official changing of the guard in the AFC East this year. I don’t see any reason that this team can’t win the East next season and contend once again.

The Jets will be playing with fire if they roll with Thomas Jones next season. He is only getting older. Should the Jets come back with a three-headed attack of Jones, Washington, and Greene, they could be the most dangerous team in the AFC next season. Mark Sanchez will likely have a bit of a sophomore slump so I wouldn’t expect big things next season. However, he only seemed to get more comfortable with Dustin Keller as the season moved on. I think he is the real deal and Jets fans can be comfortable for the first time in decades that they have a franchise quarterback for years to come.

Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints - Rarely does a game with this much hype live up to expectations. On paper, this reminded me of those old 49er-Cowboy NFC title games of the early 1990s which always wound up more competitive than the Super Bowl. Both teams opened up the game with scoring drives and reassured fans that this game was going to live up to all of the hype and then some.

I have to start off here with something that didn’t have anything to do with the game itself. Right before the game kicked off on the sidelines, Chris Myers grabbed Vikings coach Brad Childress for some comments. Chris asks him flat out what his run-pass ratio will be for the game. Of course Childress looks at him like, “Are you serious?” and gives up a very non-committal answer. But what kind of lazy journalism is this? Is that any different than a question any NFL fan would ask Brad Childress before a game? Give me a break! There are plenty of ways to ask the same question, yet in a more creative fashion. What is the point of having this sideline charade if all the interviewer is going to do is ask a lazy question? I’ve seen better sideline reporting during an Arena Football game.

The Saints game plan here was to hit Brett Favre and to hit him often. I have no problem with that, because that is what the game is all about. However, the game plan here included taking lots of cheap and dirty shots at old #4. Favre hit the ground often, and most of those hits were late and dirty. I am no Favre apologist by any means, but even I thought some of these hits were getting a bit ridiculous.

The bottom line here is it worked for the Saints. No other team this season was able to get to Favre as often as the Saints got to him. Favre not only went down often, he often went down hard. The pain on Favre’s face as he would get up from every hit was just excruciating. At one point Favre had to go to the bench for medical treatment. This was a defensive performance that you would have expected in the early game. As much as Favre can annoy me at times, I will say this about the gunslinger. He is one tough guy. Nobody can ever question his toughness after watching what he went through at 40-years old and finishing the game.

The story of the game here was turnovers. The Vikings offense turned the ball over six times, with Adrian Peterson stealing that show. The Saints got a bit off of the hook here, because they also turned the ball over several times. Adrian Peterson is taking a ton of heat today for his numerous fumbles. While he does need to own up to his own mistakes, the Saints defense deserves a ton of credit here also. The Saints were constantly going for the ball. I don’t know if this was all about Peterson’s carless play or more about the Saints creating their own turnovers. I tend to credit the defenses on both sides for creating the turnovers rather than putting all of the blame on the players when it comes to most of the turnovers. Not all of them, but I’ll get to that.

The irony here is that even with all of the Vikings turnovers, Peterson’s fumbles, and Favre’s hits, that the Vikings were not only always in the game, but were two minutes away from winning it. It was the storybook moment that football writers dream of. Brett Favre got the ball with two minutes to go, tied at 28, on the road, with the Super Bowl on the line. Favre marched the Vikings down the field and had the team at the 33-yard line of the Saints with 0:19 seconds to go. The Vikings were a field goal away from breaking the tie and doing the unthinkable until the thinkable. A 12-man on the field penalty sends the team back five yards and Favre is forced to move the team back into field goal range. Welcome back Brett Favre!

The old Brett Favre made a special guest appearance here. Favre threw an interception to the Saints, turning the ball over, and taking away the Vikings Super Bowl hopes with one play. This wasn’t a brilliant play by the Saints. This was a horrendous throw and terrible decision by a veteran quarterback who should have known better.

The turnover gave the Saints the ball with less than 10 seconds to go, yet they didn’t do anything with it. The game went into overtime. Now here we go again with the NFL overtime debate. Anytime an NFL game goes into overtime, fans and media start screaming about how unfair it is that the other team doesn’t get a chance with the ball. I hate that argument. Using that argument, it is like saying that defense doesn’t count for anything. The defense has just as much of an opportunity to make something happen as the opposing offense. The Saints won the toss and received the ball.

The Saints wound up scoring on the opening overtime drive. The Saints used 11 plays to move the ball down the field and set things up for a field goal. Garrett Hartley made a 40-yard field goal to win the game and send the Saints to the Super Bowl. Before you anti-overtime critics start screaming about it being unfair that the Vikings didn’t get a chance, keep in mind that the Vikings had 11 chances to stop the Saints. Not too mention, most overtimes don’t end on the first possession. This was only the fifth time out of twenty-seven NFL playoff overtimes that a team scored on its opening possession.

Funny how after five intense quarters of championship football, the quarterback who threw one of the most ridiculous interceptions in postseason history is stealing all of the headlines today. While the most anticipated Super Bowl of our generation is getting its share of headlines, most of the headlines revolve around Brett Favre and his future in the NFL. I will save my opinions on what Favre should and will do for later in the week. But it got so ridiculous that Fox had more shots of Favre leaving the field after the game than the quarterback that just drove his team 11 plays down the field in overtime to win the game and go to the Super Bowl. Heck, I thought at one point that Fox was going to ask Favre to accept the Halas Trophy for the Saints!

Finally after years of disappointment, NFL fans will get the Super Bowl Dream Match that we always hope for when a season starts. I’ll give the NFL a lot of credit, because most of the Super Bowls over the last decade were competitive thrillers. But none ever featured a matchup of the two “sexy” team of the season. This will be the first time in sixteen years that two number one seeds will play each other for in the Super Bowl. Enjoy it, because it may be another sixteen before we see anything like this again.

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How many times have we heard this over the last couple of years? Will this Sunday be Brett Favre’s last hurrah on the big stage of the NFL? I’m done talking about whether or not Favre will be back next season; Favre will be back with the Vikings next year. The real question is will they be competitive?

It’s weird that I have heard no reporters discuss this as we prepare ourselves for this Sunday’s NFC Championship game in New Orleans. It’s like the yellow elephant in the room that no one wants to admit or discuss. But this Sunday when Favre takes the field in that purple #4 this could be the last time Brett Favre is playing with something on the line.

Nobody knows how much longer the 40 year old gunslinger has left in the tank to keep this team competitive on his surgically repaired arm. I’ll be honest I am extremely surprised with how well Brett Favre has played this season. I am a Green Bay Packers fan watching our former hero play on of his best seasons at the age of 40. It’s not a tough pill to swallow because it was time for a changing of the guard in Green Bay and Rodgers is looking good, but that’s for a whole different time and story.

At the start of the season people questioned how long Favre would last and he has made all of us look foolish with his great play this year. But you have to question whether or not he can do it again next season. He broke down with the Jets last year at the age of 39 and eventually time & his age will catch up to him.

Favre knows that when he suits up this Sunday he is literally going to be playing with all the heart and fire he has because he knows this could be the last dance. A torn shoulder next season or an Adrian Peterson and/or a Jared Allen injury there and he could be done with making a run at the Super Bowl trophy. We’ve all seen what Favre can do when the pressure is against him, he loves it. When something as important as this is riding on the line he also seems to outshine the lights in the stadium.

He returns to the field where he ran away with his helmet off, where he was nicknamed “the kid” and where he hoisted that Vince Lombardi trophy in Green Bay Packers green thirteen years ago. This Sunday’s NFC Championship game is going to be a special one. If it’s Brett Favre’s last dance on the big stage in front of the bright lights of the NFL it’s been a pleasure to watch him, if he is able to get the Vikings past the Saints, get ready for a Super Bowl parade in Minnesota.

As we all know when it comes to Brett Favre you never ever say never. Never count the guy out and never question his play because “the kid” is still inside “the man.” Despite the disappointment I felt as a Green Bay Packers fan with him turning his back on the franchise, I will be sitting down Sunday watching one of my childhood heroes hopefully come through with the W.

Jeff Peck is the producer for the “Wheelhouse Radio” program that airs every Sunday – Thursday @ 8pm ET/5pm PT at www.blogtalkradio.com/thewheelhouse and at www.errorfm.com @ 2am ET/11pm PT

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