Posted by Josh Katzowitz

The Vikings had a 20-point lead at halftime -- they had completely shut down the Lions defense while Adrian Peterson had a big impact on offense -- and this time (THIS TIME, dammit!), they weren’t going to blow a big lead.

Already, Minnesota had coughed up a 10-point halftime lead to the Chargers, allowing San Diego 17 unanswered points in the final two quarters in Week 1. And the next week vs. the Buccaneers, they blew a 17-point advantage going into intermission and then let Tampa Bay score 24 points in the second to walk off with a three-point win.

But this time Minnesota was not going to squander its biggest halftime lead of the season. Until, of course, the Vikings did exactly that.

Once again, Minnesota could barely do anything right in the second half, and behind Matthew Stafford (32 of 46, 378 yards, two touchdowns), the combination of Brandon Pettigrew and Calvin Johnson (a combined 18 catches for 220 yards and two touchdowns), and kicker Jason Hanson (4 of 4 on field goals, including a 50-yarder and a game-winning 32-yarder in overtime), the Lions stunned the Vikings 26-23 in overtime.

It wasn’t only a heartbreaking result for the Vikings, whose season is completely unraveling not even a 1/5 of the way through the year. It was a punch to the gut, a slap in the face and a poke in the eye. That’s what happens when your combined second-half score is 64-6.

“I don’t think there was any variation from the first half to the second, other than they scored points and we just couldn’t get off the field,” said LB Chad Greenway, who failed to acknowledge that what he said is, actually, a pretty big variation from one half to the next.

One of the biggest plays of the game that might get lost in the maelstrom of seasickness that surrounds the team was coach Leslie Frazier’s decision to forgo the field goal on fourth and 1 on the Lions 17-yard line and his team leading 20-17 with less than 12 minutes to go. Originally, kicker Ryan Longwell started to run on the field to attempt the field goal, but Peterson waved him away and the offense stayed on the field.

But instead of giving the ball to Peterson (the Vikings $100 million man), McNabb handed the ball to the upback Toby Gerhart, who was stuffed for no gain. Six minutes later, Hanson kicked his 50-yarder to tie the game.

“We made up our minds that we had a good play we could get the first down with,” Frazier said, via Rapid Reporter Joe Oberle. "Based upon what they were doing on defense, we thought we had the play that would be effective for us. It didn’t work out.”

No, it sure didn’t.

Though the Vikings showed some toughness, tying the game at 23-23 later in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, Detroit’s offense made sure Minnesota never got the ball in the extra period.

It was brutal for Minnesota, yet completely expected. So, what now?

“I didn’t think we’d be 0-3 at this point, but I do believe we have the guys on our team that can turn it around,” Frazier said. “I am not ready to throw in the towel.”

Because even if he tried that maneuver, there’s a pretty good chance that the towel would flitter pathetically to the ground once it reached its hallway point.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Did the Vikings somehow save Brad Childress’ job today? Probably not. Even if Minnesota would have fallen to Arizona – and make no mistake, they SHOULD have lost that game – owner Zygi Wilf probably wouldn’t have terminated Childress until after the season.

Or maybe not.

But make no mistake: the come-from-behind victory, thanks to RB Adrian Peterson, QB Brett Favre and TE Visanthe Shiancoe, makes life easier for the Vikings – at least for this week.

"A win will calm things,” Favre told reporters.

Last week couldn’t have gone much worse for the Vikings and Childress. He went above his boss’ head and released Randy Moss. He and WR Percy Harvin (eight catches, 120 yards) reportedly had to be separated in a verbal confrontation Friday (Childress said after the game it was due to his desire for Harvin to get an MRI, which he did Saturday). Everybody seems to have crapped on Childress – his personality, his coaching style, the essence of his soul. And it sounds like it’s been deservedly so.

When the Vikings fell behind the Cardinals 24-10 late in the fourth quarter, chants of “Fire Brad Childress” could be heard around the dome. But Favre, who went 36 for 47 for a career-high 446 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, and Peterson (144 total yards and two scores) led the Vikings to a pair of touchdowns in the final 4 minutes of the game.

In overtime, Minnesota’s defense – surprisingly led by DE Jared Allen, who’s been so irrelevant this year but had a tremendous 5-minute stretch near the end of regulation and in overtime – stopped Arizona. That led to a 35-yard field goal from Ryan Longwell that sealed the win.

And, for now, might make Childress – who said the crowd at the Metrodome attended the game today to see an execution – feel better. Not that, ahem, he needs it.

"I'm not going be here and be like Favre and tell you that I need a hug,” Childress said. “I'll be all right.”

(Childress, I think, was not trying to be an ass with that comment. I think he was actually referring to what Favre said earlier in the week when he was asked whether Childress is a compassionate coach: Said Favre: "Is he compassionate as in give us a hug or something? Boy, I sure could use one. But he hasn't given me one.")

UPDATE (10:12 p.m.): Favre had an interesting comment when he was asked if he felt like he was playing for Childress' job today.

"I felt like I was playing for mine," Favre said. "I am just being honest. I have played for 20 years. I have always wanted to be the best. I had to ask myself, 'Are you willing to do what it takes?'

“Do I always get along with my head coach, quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator? No. Do I always agree with the plays that were called? No. Why should that factor in to me wanting to be the best player I can be?"

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Posted by Will Brinson

Earlier Monday, a report came out that Brett Favre apologized to his teammates for the allegations relating to the 'racy' pictures he allegedly sent to Jenn Sterger (which are not-quite-worth-$75,000), which were first shown on Deadspin.

Michelle Tafoya reported on Sportscenter that Favre began crying while giving his apology speech to his team.

"Brett Favre actually broke down in tears and was very emotional, saying, 'I'm sorry to have been a distraction,'" Tafoya said.

She received that information from Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell, who, you'll recall is one of Favre's good friends and also one of the teammates that Brad Childress sent to Hattiesburg to retrieve him for the 2010 season.

Longwell also told Tafoya that Favre told his Vikings teammates that "I need you guys to carry me tonight" because "I don't know what's going to happen."

Reading into Favre's emotional state of being isn't a fair move -- there's one thing we do know, though, and that is when Favre happens to land on primetime football during an emotional state, he typically performs pretty well.

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Posted by Will Brinson

So, Brett Favre is in Minnesota now. That whole "on a plane" "heading north" thing wasn't a hoax. Neither was the Flight Tracker.

This is REAL, PEOPLE. And you can watch it. No, seriously, you can watch it live on ABC 5 in the Twin Cities.

Let me warn you, though. If you tune into this, you will be a) bored by watching a black SUV drive down the highway slightly faster than OJ, b) angry that this guy keeps hijacking our lives every season, c) eventually even angrier that people pretended his retirement was somehow real, and d) eventually resigned that this will happen again next season with similar results.

Either way, if you're at an office and can't watch ESPN News (where Favre is also being tracked live), you can do so at that link. Or you could do the more entertaining thing and listen to what our own Pete Prisco has to say. We recommend the latter.



By the by, if this is somehow the most awesome hoax of all-time and Favre is just pulling a prank on everyone and about to drop his pants on the ground at the microphone before retiring, well, we'll be pretty thrilled.


UPDATE: The Vikings are expected to officially announce Favre's status for 2010 in a press conference Wednesday.

Posted by Will Brinson

Brett Favre is reportedly on an airplane and headed to (presumably) Minnesota -- NFL Network's Scott Hanson reported on Twitter that Favre "is on a jet heading north."

We earlier mentioned the report that Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell and Steve Hutchinson (three of Favre's best friends on the Vikings) were in Minnesota visiting Favre and urging him to either a) return to the team or b) just make up his freaking mind about playing in 2011.

It would seem , at least based on Hanson's report, that the trio of ambassadors were successful in convincing Favre to return. (Or fly to Minnesota just to announce that he WON'T return, which given Favre's history, is totally within the realm of possibility.)

Either that or we have a very awkward and very public case of kidnapping on our hands.

It's worth noting too that Favre must really be getting old, because he's losing his touch on dragging out his press coverage -- a younger gunslinger would have let the story about the Vikings football-style intervention marinate in the press for a few hours before generating a new story.

Update (2:57): Bob Holtzman, who has likely been living in a tent at the Haittesburg airport for the past three months, reports that Favre "boarded a plane" about "40 minutes ago" ... that plane is indeed headed to Minneapolis.

Update (2:59): Jay Glazer tweets that Favre told the trio of visitors that he is "back in."

Follow us on Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL) for all the Favre updates you can possibly stand.

Posted by Will Brinson

UPDATE (2:50): Favre is reportedly on an airplane heading "north," which we presume means he's going to Minnesota.

In a story that's sure to crash the Star-Tribune 's website (again), "Access Vikings" writer and Brett Favre expert Judd Zulgad is reporting that Jared Allen, Steve Hutchinson and Ryan Longwell were all absent from Minnesota's practice today.

The reason? They're believed to be in Mississippi visiting Favre and urging him to come back to the team -- or at least give the Vikes the answer that Allen recently requested from the quarterback.

None of the trio has dealt with injuries thus far in training camp, so there's no plausible alibi on that end, and Zulgad's sources confirm that the three members of the Vikings weren't at the team's morning meetings either.

There's been a pungent air of desperation regarding Favre's return in Minnesota since he announced his re-retirement recently , but Brad Childress, the team and the front office have gone out of their way to make it clear that they're fine whatever he decides.

If they've really sent a entourage of Favre's closest friends down to his home in order to convince him to return, the thin veil of confidence in Tavaris Jackson has officially been lifted.

There's also the possibility that they just want an answer other than "maybe" -- in which case the Vikings can resume pretending that Jackson can help them contend for the division and make a run at the Super Bowl.

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Posted by Will Brinson

This "news" probably should have been included in the Hot Routes this morning, but whatevs -- it's Favre and you know you love it. Apparently, Favre talked with kicker Ryan Longwell (they go way back from their Green Bay days) and told him what the dealio was on his status for 2010.

And you'll never guess this, but Favre still doesn't know ! Which gives him something in common with Loki the Octopus . Except everything with Favre is dependent on his ankle, duh.

"I guess the thing is, from talking to him, the big issue is everybody knows he had the surgery on his shoulder last year and that was kind of three weeks out and he was zinging the ball around with little or no pain," Longwell said. "So he's had bad ankles over the years, and everybody knows that. He thought that the ankle would recover, kind of like the arm did last year, and unfortunately it just hasn't."

Honestly, expecting an ankle to recover like a shoulder is about as logical as expecting Brett Favre to make a decision before the end of August. So, for now, let's just hold our breath until it's time for an Albert Haynesworth post. Oh, right. That's now.

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