Jim Souhan/ Favre oozes confidence above craziness

Of all of the things you could call Brett Favre -- Hall of Famer, record-breaker, southern-fried filibusterer, procrastinator, charmer, indecisive blue-jean salesman -- no one could have called him a mystery when he finally took that delayed flight to Minnesota.

We had watched him closely for much of two decades. We knew him as a strong-armed risk-taker, a player who could win or lose a game with his hubris.

That all-too-familiar Favre has yet to make an appearance in a Vikings uniform. The version of Favre who hopped into Brad Childress' Escalade three months ago has performed like an upgraded computer program stripped of viruses.

Sunday at the Metrodome, the most prolific passer in NFL history played what might rank, statistically, as the best game of his career. He set a Vikings and personal record by completing 88 percent of his passes. He threw four touchdown passes without coming close to being intercepted. He threw four touchdown passes for the 22nd time in his career, an NFL record.

At 40, Favre made the toughest job in sports look as challenging as a first-generation video game -- Pong, on Level 1. By the time he donned his Vikings cap in the third quarter and took the rest of the afternoon off, the score was 28-0, the crowd was chanting "M-V-P" and an entire state was wondering where you can buy that silvery spray-on stubble.

"Maybe in the back of my mind, I don't feel like I have to do as much," Favre said. "I mean, I threw one at Shianc's [Visanthe Shiancoe's] feet today. I threw it away. To me, that was the one play that stands out because I never do that. It's hard to do.

"We've been in situations -- or haven't been in situations -- week in and week out where I felt like I had to turn it loose."

No, he's been tight as Ed Hochuli's sleeves. Favre completed 22 of 25 passes Sunday. One incompletion came on the play he referred to -- an incompletion aimed at Shiancoe's toes when Seattle sniffed out a screen pass. Another came when a defender knocked the ball out of Sidney Rice's hands on a long pass. If he had completed one of those passes, he would have compiled the second-best completion percentage in NFL history; Kurt Warner set the record by completing 24 of 26 passes against Jacksonville earlier this season.

So this might have been a strange time for Favre to admit his insecurities, but once he starts talking, we should all charge him hourly rates for psychotherapy.

"I know this sounds crazy," Favre said. "The fact that we're 9-1, you would think that my confidence would be sky high. It's not that I'm not confident, but my wife would attest to this, and [offensive coordinator] Darrell [Bevell] would as well, but going into this season ... obviously my confidence wasn't at a really high level.

"The inconsistency, whether it was the injuries or whatever, the last couple of years played a big part of that, and moving to a new team again ... I let doubt and maybe some insecurities seep in."

Favre admitted that he talked to Bevell frequently last season, when Favre played for the Jets.

"I'd say, 'I don't feel as confident as I have,' and he was always, as my wife is, very confident -- 'You can do it,' " Favre said. "I didn't really believe it or buy into it, but as the season has progressed, Darrell has been saying, 'I told you you can do it, you can make those throws.' "

Bevell and Childress were right all along. Favre has fit perfectly into their offense, has displayed more than enough arm strength and has elevated a productive offense to elite status.

What has been most remarkable about watching Favre has been that his savvy has trumped his legendary arm strength. The precision of his passes has been surpassed only by the speed and intuitiveness of his decisions.

"My goal and only goal is to lead this team to the Super Bowl," he said. "There is no doubt that the way I am playing now is a direct result of the guys around me. It's not like I've found some fountain of youth."

It's more like he's stumbled into a fountain of football wisdom, allowing his gray matter to become as prominent as his gray beard.

Jim Souhan can be heard at 10-noon Sunday, and 6:40 a.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday on AM-1500. His Twitter name is SouhanStrib. • jsouhan@startribune.com