National Football League

Tom Powers: The real fun starts this week for Brett Favre

Published Oct. 18, 2010 10:16 p.m. ET

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The Vikings defeated the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, thereby handing coach Brad Childress his second victory of the season. That breaks the logjam and pushes Childress ahead of Todd Richards of the Wild and dearly departed Tim Brewster, formerly of the Gophers, both of whom remain stuck at one. Perhaps for the remainder of their head coaching careers.

"That bought another week," Childress said with a chuckle. "It's week to week in this business. It's close to migrant work. You go where it is every week. So we bought one more week.'

Yes, well, he won't have to pick grapes in the California fields for the next seven days, anyway. It appears he bought himself what promises to be a doozy of a week, particularly with regard to his quarterback. Brett Favre is scheduled to meet with NFL authorities on Tuesday concerning his alleged shutterbug activities. If he survives that meeting, he gets to go straight into the lion's den in Green Bay for a Sunday night game.

Pandemonium is building on both fronts. There's sort of a national frenzy with regard to the scandal. And Favre's return to Green Bay to play the Packers was the NFL story of the year in 2009. It promises to be only slightly less melodramatic this time around.

"I don't expect anything," Favre said of his upcoming meeting. "I'll let that take its course. I'm a little bit reluctant to say I'm excited about going back to Green Bay. It's a challenge that, hopefully, we live up to. I'll let the other stuff take care of itself."

He did not receive a hero's welcome last time, unless a deluge of profanity and obscene gestures passes for hero worship in Wisconsin. But if he is apprehensive about what lies ahead, he didn't show it after beating the Cowboys. In fact, he was in pretty good spirits. His extensive medical chart has an upward-pointing arrow.

First, he's stopped getting those painful lubricant shots in his ankle. Second, a cortisone shot in his elbow relieved much of the discomfort there. Third, other than getting the wind knocked out of him in the third quarter, he survived the game relatively unscathed.

"If you've ever had the wind knocked out of you, you think you're pretty close to death," Favre noted. "I was hoping we didn't call a pass the next play."

It was a good day for him. He threw just 19 times, completing 14 for 118 yards and a touchdown. That's how he envisioned it when he first signed on with the Vikings before last season. He figured he'd throw the football a moderate number of times, hand off to Adrian Peterson a lot and let others share in the heavy lifting. That formula is as effective as embalming fluid when it comes to preserving the elderly Favre.

Furthermore, the offensive line did a nice job of protecting him. It was the type of performance that allows Vikings fans to be optimistic. Favre did not appear to be under a lot of stress in the pocket.

"That's a good thing," said tackle Bryant McKinnie. "I felt like the protection was pretty decent."

"Considering it was against the No. 8-ranked defense in the league, I thought we did all right," agreed guard Anthony Herrera.

Favre still got knocked around some, but Childress said it wasn't an inordinate amount.

"I feel like that's a broken record in here," Childress said. "You say he got hit a lot every week. Quarterbacks get hit in this league. Tony Romo got a hit a lot."

Quarterbacks do get hit a lot in the NFL, although most get to their feet somewhat quicker. And most aren't old enough to carry a Medicare card in their back pocket. But Favre didn't seem to get unduly roughed up by a very tough Dallas front four. Meanwhile, Chicago and Green Bay both lost, so it couldn't have been a more productive day for Minnesota.

The bottom line is that Favre and the Vikings ground out a victory over an equally desperate team. Now everyone will have to wait and see how this next week unfolds. There are all sorts of wild rumors with regard to the Favre scandal. One has it that he flat-out refused to speak to NFL authorities last week.

"I haven't declined to talk to anyone," Favre insisted.

But he will be talking on Tuesday. That should bring some clarity about where everything stands, at least as far as the league is concerned. And as long as that meeting doesn't turn catastrophic, the second seminal event takes place at Lambeau Field. That game should provide some clarity about where the Vikings' season stands.

If all of the above go wrong, then maybe Childress and some others won't be able to buy many more weeks. And they'll all be picking peaches or lemons before too long.