Brett Favre

FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer reports that “every player” in the Minnesota Vikings locker room believes that Brett Favre will retire this offseason. At this point, Favre hasn’t indicated if he will return next season.  It is worth noting that Favre told ESPN last week that his mind is already made up about the future.

Favre is still playing at an elite level and probably will not want to retire when his last throw was intercepted. He threw for 310 yards, a touchdown and two picks on 28-of-46 passing in Sunday’s NFC title game loss.

Elsewhere around the NFL:

New Orleans:  Saints QB and leader Drew Brees completed 17-of-31 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns as the New Orleans Saints defeated Minnesota 31-28 on Garrett Hartley’s overtime field goal in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

The three TDs look nice from a fantasy perspective, but Brees spent most of the game backpedaling as the Vikings generated consistent penetration up the middle and off the edges.

The Saints won the coin flip in overtime, and got help from a pair of penalties in the Vikings’ secondary before Hartley knocked home the game-winner from 40 yards away. Brees has a 6:0 TD-to-INT ratio in the playoffs and the Saints face the Colts in two weeks.

Indianapolis:  Pierre Garcon caught 11 balls for 151 yards and a touchdown as the Indianapolis Colts advanced to Super Bowl XLIV in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game win.

Torching the Jets’ combination of Lito Sheppard, Dwight Lowery, and Drew Coleman, Garcon was Peyton Manning’s go-to guy with “No. 1″ receiver Reggie Wayne covered by Darrelle Revis.

Garcon made highlight-reel caliber catches along the sidelines and showed off his underrated after-catch skills. He’s up to 16 receptions and 185 yards through two playoff wins.

Minnesota:  Adrian Peterson ran for 122 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries and caught two passes for 14 yards in the Vikings’ season-ending NFC title game loss at the Superdome.

It was all or nothing for “All Day,” who was credited with two fumbles but actually had three if you include a botched exchange with Brett Favre. A.P. was a game-breaker when he held onto the football and the Vikings’ offensive line got push, hitting numerous big runs. Despite his take-no-prisoners running style, Peterson hasn’t missed a game since his rookie year.

Oakland:  Jamarcus Russell will be back with the Raiders in 2010, sources tell ESPN’s Len Pasquarelli.

This just confirms that Raiders owner Al Davis isn’t going to give up on Russell yet. Pasquarelli says Oakland brass still believes JaMarcus can be a productive player in the league, particularly with the right coaching.

We’re skeptical about that because of Russell’s work habits, decision making, and poor accuracy. Look for the Raiders to sign or trade for a veteran and Russell to return as a backup next season.

Elsewhere around the NFL:

Minnesota: Vikings QB Brett Favre completed 32-of-48 passes for 392 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in Sunday’s win over the Bears. The Minnesota Vikings surprisingly came out with a pass-heavy attack, throwing the ball 31 times against 12 rushes in the first half. It appears that Favre’s body is going to hold up for the entire year, which could lead him to winning the MVP. Favre has 12 touchdown passes in his last four games heading into next week’s matchup with the Cardinals.

Cleveland: Browns NT Shaun Rogers (ankle) was spotted hobbling out of the stadium on crutches after Sunday’s loss. Rogers’ face looked “distraught,” and the Cleveland Browns Plain Dealer speculates that the All Pro could be out for an “extended period,” which would ruin an already ineffective Browns run defense.

Tennessee: Chris Johnson rushed 18 times for 154 yards and a touchdown and added three receptions for 32 yards against the Cardinals in Week 12. The Cardinals thought they had Johnson in check until he found a seam and broke off an 85-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. Johnson is amazingly on pace for 2,024 rushing yards, 2,450 total yards, and 15 touchdowns. He’ll look to continue his hot streak at Indy next week.

San Diego: Antonio Gates caught seven passes for 118 yards with two touchdowns in Sunday’s win over the Chiefs. Gates was wide-open down the middle of the field on almost every passing play.

Washington: Redskins QB Jason Campbell revealed that everything was “blacked out” after he was thrown to the ground on the Washington Redskins’ final offensive play Sunday. It isn’t yet known if Campbell suffered a concussion, but he did say his left arm went numb for a little bit. Campbell appeared to have concussion-like symptoms after the hit.

Philadelphia: Eagles coach Andy Reid confirmed that DeSean Jackson suffered a concussion in Sunday’s win over the Eagles. Jackson took a helmet-to-helmet hit over the middle from London Fletcher and was dazed.

Do you think the Green Bay front office and head coach Mike McCarthy monitor the failures and successes of Brett Farve with the Jets?  Sure they do, and when they see this score and read about the game I’m sure a couple of what ifs will be going through their mind.  Especially now that Aaron Rodgers may have a separated shoulder.  Farve was 24-for-34 for 289 yards six touchdowns and one interception. This guy is just sick. Fantasy owners that had Farve as their starting quarterback have to be doing back flips. I’m sure the wild and crazy Jets fans are.

There hasn’t been this much excitement over the Jets since Joe Namath.  Speaking of Joe Namath, all Farve did was tied Namath’s franchise record six touchdown passes.  Even if the Cardinals cornerbacks are bad,  what Farve did was impressive at any level, any age let alone in the NFL and at 38 years young!  Do you think that the Jets front office and head coach Eric Mangini aren’t patting themselves on the back and giving each other a high five?  Farve broke his own personal record for touchdown passes.  Everything was set up for a special day when the Jets came out in their New York Titans throwback uniforms of gold and blue.

No one wanted to see Farve leave the Green Bay Packers except maybe the Minnesota Vikings.  Even now it is hard to see Farve in the Jets uniform.  It might not take too long to get used to seeing Farve in Jet green if he keeps on having games like he had today.  No one wants to see a first time ballot Hall of Famer ruin his legacy. A couple of the NFL greats left the team that they built their legacy up with for a chance to start for another team. It rarely works out, and most of them realize that they should have just retired with their longstanding team. Sometimes egos get in the way.  Some of those players damage their legacy. This is not the case for Farve. He just wanted to play football again, the sport he loves.

Farve thought that he could still play at a high level in the NFL. The Packers didn’t believe that he could anymore. Even though the season is only into it’s fourth game, Farve is proving to himself, the Jets and the Packers, and the rest of the NFL that he was right.

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are one of the oldest franchises in the NFL being established in 1934 when George A. Richards bought the Ohio Spartans and moved them to Detroit. Before they became the Lions the Spartans played a very important game with the Chicago Bears in an indoor stadium, both teams were tied at the end of the regular season, thus, creating the NFL Championship game. The Lions quickly won the NFL Championship in 1935 defeating the New York Giants 26-7, which proved that Detroit football was to be taken seriously. One of the main players for Detroit in those days was Dutch Clark who was the NFL last drop kicker, six time Pro Bowl selection, named to the 1930′s All-Decade team, and inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. It is also a tradition for the Lions to play a football game on Thanksgiving Day which started in 1934 and they continue to play on turkey day to this very day.In the 1950′s the Lions had their most successful years winning four division titles and three league championships in 1952 defeating the Cleveland Browns 17-1, 1953 defeating the Cleveland Browns once again 17-16, and 1957 defeating Cleveland Brows a third time 59-14. Key players on those championship teams were quarterback Bobby Layne, safety Jack Christiansen, and running back Doak Walker. Bobby Layne was a five time Pro Bowl selection and named to the 1950′s All Decade team and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame as well.

Since winning their last championship in 1957, the Detroit Lions have had very little to be proud of with only a couple positives of on-field success. Twenty-six seasons after winning the title the Lions could only manage three wild card playoff appearances. In 1983 the Lions finally won the division again, the NFC Central now known as the NFC North since 2002.

Excitement came back to the Lions and their fans when a running back named Barry Sanders was drafted third overall in 1989. Sanders immediately became a star in the NFL and one of the most productive running backs of all-time. Sanders while small in stature made a career out of evading tackles with quick moves. Sanders would lead the Lions to two division titles in 1991 but losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship game and 1993 losing to the Green Bay Packers 28-24. Sanders holds multiple NFL rushing records which include rushing for over 1,500 yards five times, rushing for over a 100 yards in fourteen straight games , and fifteen career touchdowns of over fifty yards. Sanders was a ten time Pro Bowl selection, the 1997 Co- Most Valuable Player with Brett Favre, and ended his career with 15,269 running yards which ranks him third all-time. Sanders retired in 1999 at the age of thirty and was inducted in the Pro Football hall of fame in 2004.

Since Barry Sanders retirement, the Detroit Lions have been one of the worst teams in the NFL and in the top five with the most losses since 2001. The Lions play in a tough NFC North Division with the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and the Green Bay Packers. The Lions over the last decade have had a losing tradition and significant changes need to made to change the loser mentality.