The Battle of Brett Favre: Will It Be a Vikings vs. Jets Super Bowl?

It's been a Brett Favre year for the NFL.  The lead story prior to the season's start was Favre's comeback (or his return from a "retirement" that never caused him to miss a game) with the Minnesota Vikings.

Favre then made the seemingly foolish statement that his new Vikings team was more talented than his Super Bowl winning Packers team from 1996.  Fans were incensed by the comment, adding fuel to the growing Brett Favre fire that was consuming the league.

Remarkably, Favre backed that statement as the Vikings came firing out of the gate, posting a 10-1 record while beating his former Packers team both at home, and at Lambeau Field. Despite a late season stumble, the Vikings wound up the second seed in the NFC playoff picture.

Favre has been the team's catalyst.  He threw the fewest interceptions in a season in his lengthy career, while at the old age of 40, and posted his best seasonal QB rating ever.

On Sunday, the Vikings made mincemeat of the Dallas Cowboys. Now they sit 60 minutes away from winning the NFC, needing to out-duel the New Orleans Saints for a trip to Super Bowl XLIII.

Over on the AFC's side of the ball, Favre's former team, the New York Jets, find themselves in the very same shoes as their one-and-done former quarterback.  Having had the playoffs basically handed to them (thanks to Colts pulling their starters halfway through the game in Week 16, and the Bengals deciding not to show up at all in Week 17), the Jets suddenly appear hot.

They picked up from their beat down of the Bengals right where they left off in their Week 17 matchup.  Then, in San Diego, the Jets pulled off another upset—thanks to multiple Chargers' mistakes, most importantly, kicker Nate Kaeding's inability to make even one of his three field goal attempts.

If the upstart Jets, led by a rookie QB and head coach (a combination that has been oddly successful in recent NFL seasons), defeat the Indianapolis Colts, they very well may find themselves facing the Vikings, and Favre.

Is this Super Bowl matchup really possible?  Could such a far fetched storyline as Favre's former team facing off against his current team be the NFL's story "du jour" for the Super Bowl?

The league is likely salivating at the possibility.

As it stands right now, there really is no downside for the NFL with any of the four potential Super Bowl teams.  The explosive New Orleans Saints have never played for an NFL title.  The Colts possess four-time MVP Peyton Manning, perhaps the league's biggest icon. 

Well, the biggest icon not named Brett Favre who plays for the Vikings, a franchise in need of a new stadium deal that hasn't seen a Super Bowl since the early 1970s.  And the Jets, besides being from the biggest TV market in the nation, are currently wearing the NFL's glass slipper.

This is a win-win-win-win scenario for the NFL.  Any matchup of these four teams is highly marketable and will likely lead to one of the most watched Super Bowl's in history.

But the Vikings playing the Jets?  Is the "Battle of Brett Favre" the NFL's trump card?  Who would have predicted that potential matchup at the beginning of the season, much less even three or four weeks ago?

If you "Favre haters" are not sick enough of hearing about Favre yet, just wait; the worst for you may come to pass. 

And it will be a media bonanza for the NFL.

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