Much ado about nothing in Minnesota

Brett Favre’s debut in Minnesota may have been dripping with hype, but his time on the field was short and did little other than show he’d missed training camp. Looking very strange in Viking purple, Favre was 1 for 4 for 4 yards in two possessions. Not much was learned overall, although he did prove he could sell a lot of tickets for the Vikings.

With a spirited regular season atmosphere in the Metrodome, the Chiefs Matt Cassel looked solid after a week of poor practices. While he had to scramble repeatedly, Cassel led KC to 10 first half points and was 9 of 14 for 99 yards and a TD pass to Dwayne Bowe who showed continued improvement. While KC moved the ball against the Vikings top flight defense, all-pro sack machine Jared Allen didn’t play. Considering the trouble the O-line had protecting Cassel, that doesn’t bode well.

Tavaris Jackson did his best to lay claim to the Vikings backup QB job, making sharp throws, including a 64 yard strike to Darius Raynaud giving Minnesota a 14-13 lead in the 3rd quarter.

For the Chiefs, Corey Mays stood out again defensively as did rookie Jovan Belcher, another linebacker who was solid on special teams as well. Matt Gutierrez made a statement in the battle for the backup QB job. Over the last two possessions of the game he was sharp throwing the ball and engineered a 14 play drive to the goal line with time running out, but the Chiefs couldn’t punch it in on four tries including a fourth down incompletion attempt to Ashely Lelie in the corner of the end zone on the final play of the game and fell 17-13.

Todd Haley has made a point of saying wins are important even in the pre-season. Right now he’s 0 for 2.

He's Back! Adventures in Minnesota

He’s back!!!! Just when you thought it was safe to quit talking about him, Brett Favre is back in the NFL with the Vikings. A month ago I posted a Lexy saying who are we to tell a player when he’s done? If he wants to keep playing and is healthy enough to do so, he should. Sports careers are short, even Favre’s.

For everyone who’s jumping down his throat for wavering back and forth over retirement, remember this. There’s obviously a market for him. Last year the Jets desperately wanted him. This year it’s the Vikings. Favre wouldn’t be coming back if the Vikings didn’t keep telling him they wanted him.

It’s obvious that Vikings coach Brad Childress and the Vikings ownership believe Favre is a far better option than what they had in camp. I agree. And this is a team that has Super Bowl potential, but a very big question mark at quarterback. Favre’s signing doesn’t make the question mark disappear, but NFL coaches are much more comfortable with quarterbacks who they know and have seen go through battle in the league.

Favre is still a championship caliber QB when surrounded by a championship caliber team. He gets that in Minnesota. That still doesn’t mean I can’t laugh when I see T-shirts being printed in Green Bay that say “ We’ll always remember you, Brent”.

Like a Bolt, Yang stuns Tiger

Down goes Tiger! Down goes Tiger! Down goes Tiger! I keep hearing Howard Cosell rephrasing his famous boxing call from the Frazier - Foreman fight for Sunday’s knockout of Tiger Woods by the unlikeliest of of sources, Y.E. Yang, the 37 year old South Korean who hit the shot heard round the golf world with his eagle chip in on the 14th hole at Hazeltine. He punctuated that shot, becoming the first Asian-born golfer to win a Major Championship at the PGA with a stunning approach on 18 and a birdie putt that slayed the dragon that has become Tiger Woods.

In victory, Yang not only tilted the golf world off its axis, but showed every other golfer on earth that Woods is human after all. Seeking a win for the third straight week in a row and his 15th Major Championship, Woods carried what was considered an insurmountable 2 stroke lead into the final round. He’d never lost a major while leading or tied going into the final round. He was 14-0, but apparently that made little impression on Yang, who was playing with Woods for the first time ever.

Looking calm, unflappable and fearless throughout the round, Yang kept the pressure on Woods, who wasn’t having one of his better days. It’s a testament to Tiger that he was still in the hunt as he battled his way around Hazeltime and was tied for the lead before Yang’s stunning chip in on 14. But all the credit goes to Yang for the way he played the last five holes. In fact, he was 13 under over the 49 holes of the tournament. This is without a doubt Woods most disappointing loss in a major. It will be seven months before we get to see how he reacts at Augusta.

One other earth shattering sports performance occurred this weekend. Usain Bolt destroyed his 100 meter record by clocking in at 9.58. By beating his previous mark by 11 hundredths of a second, Bolt lowered the record by the largest margin ever since electronic timing was introduced in 1968. It is a staggering, superhuman feat and yet he can probably run faster. Lightning struck twice this historic sports weekend.

A lot of work lies ahead for the Chiefs

As I watched Todd Haley coach his first game for the Kansas City Chiefs, I fully understood some of those glares he was shooting at players and coaches along the sidelines. After a 16-10 loss to the Texans, he knows there's a whole lot of work to be done just to make the Chiefs competitive week in and week out.

New quarterback Matt Cassel was better than his stats in four possessions, but there were no points to show for his time on the field. Wide receiver is still a glaring weakness although former number one pick Dwayne Bowe did seem to get the message from Haley after being dropped to third team. His five catches after coming in during the second quarter was a bright spot. The offensive line is also a continuing concern after breakdowns that occurred.

Brodie Croyle showed himself to be a solid number two in the QB battle with a nice last minute field goal drive before the half, but three turnovers in the game will have Haley grinding his teeth to the gums. The defense had a few moments. Maurice Leggett had a sack off blitz and number one pick Tyson Jackson teamed up for a sack with Andy Studebaker. Last year the Chiefs set an all time NFL season low with 10, so that's a good sign, but the starting unit also gave up a 94 yard drive in the first quarter and the linebacker corps seemed to be out of place on many occasions.

Haley also had to manage his own emotions as a first time head coach. He seemed to to that pretty well, but the real question comes in the weeks ahead. What adjustments does he make? Who moves up the charts and who moves into his doghouse. How can they improve things on the offensive line and will the defense give them a better performance next week because the offense is almost sure to be a weakness all season long. So many questions, so few answers at the moment.