Brett Favre: Rating the Quarterback's Week 1 Performance

Once upon a time, Brett Favre retired. Then, he came back. Then, he retired again. Then, he came back, again.

He then proceeded to retire. Then, he decided to come back. Again.

For what seems to be the umpteenth time that Favre has put football aside, the legend keeps showing up for season-openers.

This time, he drew a rematch against the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints on Thursday night, and while his Vikings did leave the Superdome with what is currently the worst record in the league, Favre is still showing everyone that he can still play at the ripe age of 40 (soon to be 41).

His performance against the Saints wasn’t the prettiest, but when is it ever?

Favre completed just 15-of-27 passes for 171 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but it was all classic Favre.

Surely he should be ecstatic to hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson at least 25 times a game, but No. 4 showed signs that he can still run an offense that can move the chains against a solid Saints defense.

Four times did Favre find his tight end Visanthe Shiancoe over the middle, amassing 76 yards and a touchdown to the eight-year veteran, and the signal caller made it look easy—including a composed 20-yard pass for the score.

Despite the praise for his connections with Shiancoe, a game from Favre wouldn’t be so without a head-scratching interception snatched up by Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma.

This may be a broken record, but take a sack, save an interception.

Granted, the pick led to a missed 46-yard field goal from Garrett Hartley, one of a couple of misses by the Saints place-kicker, but it vaguely reminds us of the interception in last year’s NFC Championship Game, when Favre threw across his body only to have his pass nabbed by Tracy Porter.

He will have a chance to build on the opener with games in Minnesota against Miami and Detroit before the bye week, and before the grind against some of the NFL’s top teams.

Again, not the brightest of performances from Favre, but he proved he can still run the offense, make the throws, and put his team in a position to win the game. The knock on him will always be that he tries to do too much, but that’s the price to pay when No. 4 is behind center.

Week 1 Grade: C+

Maybe the Vikings should have pounded the rock more with Peterson, who seemed to find the cuts and the holes as easy as he has ever done. Throwing the ball with Favre will always come with the hesitation of a strange play, leaving the coaches with face palms, but that is a widely accepted gesture nowadays.

Favre is back for round 20 and counting.