Tumblr (3.0; @chrisnaruto)http://blog.chrisnaruto.com/<p>At the age of 40 Brett Favre was having the best statistical season of his career.  Favre posted a QB rating above 100 for the first season of his long career, only throwing 7 interceptions all year.  He followed that with a 4TD day against the Dallas Cowboys.  This brand new Brett Favre has confounded teams all year.  However, the New Orleans Saints had a simple plan: hammer him all day and wait for the old Favre to show up.  The gunslinger could not be suppressed, and in Favre’s final throw it took over.  While he was trying to pick up extra yards to make Ryan Longwell’s kick easier, Favre rolled right and committed one of the classic blunders.  He threw back across his body targeting Sidney Rice across the field.  The pass was intercepted, and it effectively ended the Vikings’ Super Bowl aspirations.</p> <p>Patience is a virtue.  The same can be said about the Saints’ run defense.  Everyone knows that Adrian Peterson is an incredibly talented running back but has trouble holding on to the football.  The Saints knew that if they played tough enough they would have the opportunity to capitalize on Peterson’s fatal flaw.  Peterson is officially credited with fumbling only twice with neither of them being lost, but fumble at the end of the first half cannot be placed wholly on Brett Favre as would be customary.  It is generally accepted that the responsibility of the handoff lies with the quarterback so that the runner may keep his eyes downfield to pick his route, but Adrian Peterson did not open his arms wide enough for the football.  That mistake took points off the board for Minnesota.  That might have sent the Saints reeling into their locker room and taken the bite out of the Superdome’s fiery crowd.  Instead, the percentages finally turned against the Vikings.  Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson are two of the best players in the NFL, but fumblitis and gunslinging will occasionally their teams games.  On Sunday Minnesota was on the short end of both.  Patience allowed New Orleans’ defense to win the day despite giving up 475 yards of offense to a talented Minnesota team.  New Orleans could have panicked when the Vikings scored 14 points on their first 2 possessions, but they stuck with it.  The Saints hurried and hit Favre all day and waited for their opportunities to take advantage of Viking mistakes.</p> <p>Sports quote of the week: “The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.” John Madden</p>http://blog.chrisnaruto.com/post/353731368http://blog.chrisnaruto.com/post/353731368Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:56:00 -0500