PITTSBURGH—Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings were anything but perfect. The Vikings couldn’t gain a half-yard when it might have turned the game, then watched the Steelers’ big-play defense end their unbeaten season with two long touchdown returns in the final 6½ minutes. LaMarr Woodley’s 77-yard fumble return and Keyaron Fox’s 82-yard interception return on turnovers by Favre allowed the Steelers to turn back Minnesota’s repeated comeback attempts, and the Steelers rode three major defensive stands to an important 27-17 victory yesterday.

As Brett Favre puts his 40th birthday in the rearview mirror, fantasy football players are wondering the same thing everybody else is: Can he really keep doing this? He’s off to a blistering start for the unbeaten Vikings, with 12 touchdowns, four multiple-TD games and an average of 270 yards in the past four contests. That’s enough for some fantasy players to plug him into the starting lineup, or at least consider it most weeks.

MINNEAPOLIS—As great as Brett Favre was yesterday, the Minnesota Vikings quarterback was pretty sure he wasn’t good enough. So sure that the Vikings were headed to their first defeat of the season, Favre couldn’t even bear to watch as Baltimore kicker Steve Hauschka lined up for a 44-yard field goal with 2 seconds to play. Yet thanks to Favre, receiver Sidney Rice and a whole lot of luck, the Vikings are 6-0.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The big 4-0 is right around the corner for Brett Favre. You’d never know it. The Minnesota Vikings quarterback played his last game of his 30s Monday night against the Green Bay Packers and showed everyone that his surgically repaired right arm has new life. “My arm feels great,“ said Favre, who threw for 271 yards and three TDs to beat his old team. “It didn’t feel very good last year. I’m not going to make excuses.

Brett Favre’s presence in Minnesota galls most Packers fans. And the nausea level could be off the charts tonight if Favre leads his latest team past the one he quarterbacked so successfully for so long.

MINNEAPOLIS - The finish was just about as good as the Vikings could have imagined: Brett Favre zipped a pass to a little-used reserve wide receiver in the back of the end zone in the final seconds for a classic Favre finish. Greg Lewis leaped for a 32-yard touchdown with 2 seconds left while a flattened Favre watched from his stomach, and the Vikings stunned the San Francisco 49ers 27-24 yesterday to stay unbeaten.

Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb (4) throws a pass as (from left) Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and Jeff Garcia watch in practice. Kolb took snaps with the first string yesterday. The NFL assessed $125,000 in fines to the New York Jets and former coach Eric Mangini yesterday for violating the league’s rules on injury reporting with former quarterback Brett Favre last season.

CLEVELAND—After rolling into the end zone with his first NFL touchdown, Vikings rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin had to absorb an unexpected hit. Brett Favre flattened him. “I thought we were going to bump chests or something,“ said Harvin (Landstown High, Virginia Beach). “He wasn’t slowing down. I took it and we fell to the ground. It was a great feeling.“

As if Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis hasn’t been reminded enough, a billboard a half mile from his office provided another indication of his on-the-hot-seat status. It reads: “Best wishes to Charlie Weis in the 5th year of his college coaching internship.—Linebacker Alumni.“ “Everything was great until the last word,“ Weis said, laughing with reporters. “So tell them, ‘Thanks a lot for wishing me best wishes.‘“

CHICAGO - Thursday night provided Kevin Jones the perfect opportunity to prove he belongs as the primary backup to Matt Forte, who sat out the final exhibition against the Cleveland Browns at Soldier Field. Instead, the Bears running back found himself in a familiar situation: being carted off the field with an injury. The former Virginia Tech star suffered a left ankle injury on the Bears’ second offensive series and is out for the season.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, left, hands off the ball to running back Adrian Peterson in practice. Favre became schooled in the West Coast offense while playing for Green Bay. MINNEAPOLIS—Brad Childress wants his quarterbacks to play a certain way. Make the safe pass, keep an even keel, and follow the scheme how it’s coached.

All the games Brett Favre has played, all the touchdowns he has thrown, all the toughness he has shown will sound great at his Hall of Fame induction. That will take place five years after Favre’s NFL retirement. If he ever retires. At the moment, Favre is on the verge of becoming a laughingstock. He is the man who can’t let go of professional football, even when it is clear he should.

Brett Favre’s latest retirement lasted all of three weeks. The three-time MVP has done an about-face for the second time in as many years and will play for the Minnesota Vikings this season. “I felt I did everything I possibly could do to get where I need to be,“ Favre said yesterday. “You’re 39, your arm may not feel like it did at 21. But the pieces are in place that you don’t have to do that much and I agree with that.

The Minnesota Vikings say they have a deal to bring Brett Favre back to the NFL. The 39-year-old quarterback took a plane to Minnesota on Tuesday, drove to Vikings training camp and was in a helmet and pads less than 90 minutes after arriving.

ALSO
Three-time MVP (1995-97)
Won Super Bowl XXXI with Green Bay
10-time Pro Bowler
7-time All-Pro pick
Started 269 consecutive games (291 including playoffs), an NFL record for a QB