The 2010 NFL season kicked off tonight with a rematch of last season's NFC Championship game as the Minnesota Vikings ventured down to Who Dat Nation to take on the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome. Unfortunately for Brett Favre and his purple squad, the Saints were able to stifle just about everything they tried to get going in a 14-9 victory.
Favre was unimpressive and had very little time to sit in the pocket -- particularly in the second half when his starting left tackle went down -- and find what few receivers he has at his disposal. He completed just 15 of 27 passes for 171 yards, throwing 1 touchdown and 1 pick. His counterpart, Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees, notched triple-digits in his passer rating, going 27 for 36 for 237 yards and a touchdown. It wasn't the shootout that many were expecting, but it was a solid all-around win for New Orleans to start their title defense.
Adrian Peterson and Visanthe Shiancoe were two of the somewhat bright spots for Minnesota. Peterson carried 19 times for 87 yards and didn't fumble -- a stark contrast to his 3 fumbles in the NFC Championship game last season -- but he didn't get into the end zone. Shiancoe, on the other hand, caught the Vikings' lone touchdown pass over the middle from Brett Favre. That was one of his four catches for 76 total yards in the game. The Saints would ensue to block the extra point on that score, leaving the tally 14-9 for good.
For the Saints, everyone got involved as usual. Drew Brees hit an astounding 9 different receivers, 8 of them on multiple occasions. Marques Colston and Reggie Bush led the way with 5 catches each, but it was Devery Henderson who reeled in the Saints' lone passing strike. Pierre Thomas accounted for the other New Orleans score on a 1 yard touchdown run. Thomas carried 19 times for 71 yards.
So the question I'm asking is: how long until Favre calls it quits? It may come across as a joke, but I'm somewhat serious. If things go wrong, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised to see Favre pull the plug. I mean, let's be real. All he wants is a ring, and if things start taking a nose dive -- watch out. We all know better than anyone that he can be, for lack of a better term, indecisive at times.
This game was incredibly disappointing. I mean it was a defensive struggle, but not really an exciting one. I know it's only the first game, but there was wayyyy too much hype surrounding this game. Favre looks like he's going to be lost without Rice in there, all he really had was Shiancoe. We'll see what happens going forward, but after last night's game I wasn't really impressed. The Saints didn't play extremely well; they just played well enough to win the game. Brees was sharp but didn't put up his typical huge numbers. But after seeing the Vikings, they better find a replacement for Rice because Berrian sure didn't look like he was doing much of anything.
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