Looking good for the long haul

HOUSTON - There was little doubt who the marquee attraction was Monday night at Reliant Stadium.

Two weeks after joining the Vikings, Brett Favre played into the third quarter of his team's 17-10 victory over the Houston Texans. The future Hall of Fame quarterback threw his first touchdown pass as a member of the franchise, twice lined as a wide receiver as the Vikings unveiled their version of the Wildcat offense and even threw a vicious block from that formation.

And if that wasn't enough, Favre also caused a pregame stir when ESPN reported he might be playing with a cracked rib. But no matter what Favre was able to accomplish in his first extensive action in purple, one thing was made abundantly clear to the Vikings and a national television audience.

This remains Adrian Peterson's offense.

Playing in his home state, the running back rushed for 117 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. That score came on the game's first play from scrimmage, when Peterson took a Favre handoff and went 75 yards.

"Those guys did a great job up front," Peterson said of his linemen. "You have to give all the credit to those guys. I was untouched."

Said Vikings coach Brad Childress: "You can't start much better than that. It punches a hole in things."

Peterson's heroics likely reaffirmed to Favre why the Vikings were such a good fit for him. Favre looked shaky in his first action with the Vikings, playing two series (1-for-4) against Kansas City only three days after joining the team. He appeared far more comfortable Monday before being replaced by Tarvaris Jackson.

Favre completed 13 of 18 passes for 142 yards with a touchdown, no interceptions and a 113.7 passer rating. "I think he is getting more comfortable with this offense," said tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, who had two catches for 30 yards. "There is a lot of promise here. We still have a lot of work to do, but from what we have seen as an offense, Brett has done pretty well."

Favre's TD pass came while directing the two-minute offense in the second quarter and was capped with a short toss in the flat to Chester Taylor that the running back took 28 yards for a score. Favre, working from the shotgun, avoided a corner blitz to get the pass off.

"I'm not going to make a big deal one way or the other about last week or tonight," Favre said. "I think I got better tonight as opposed to last week. I know I'm up against the clock. We start playing next week for real. Overall, I'm pleased. I felt like I took another step forward more so than anything, getting familiar with the guys.

"But you can also see how we've had some penalties and things that fall back on me. ... So there are some things I'm not pleased with. I feel good about what's in front of us. I think that we can be very productive but we've got to get it together pretty quickly."

Penalties continued to be an issue for the Vikings. After being assessed 23 penalties in the first two games, the Vikings were called for 13 on Monday and nine were against the offense. This included five on Favre's last drive in the third quarter when the Vikings were called for an illegal formation, an illegal substitution, two false starts and the crackback block by Favre. Favre threw the low block on Houston safety Eugene Wilson, who left the game because of a knee injury.

That block was especially surprising considering Favre, who will turn 40 on Oct. 10, has a torn rotator cuff in his throwing arm, had surgery on the same arm in May to repair a biceps tendon and now is bothered by sore ribs after taking a hit to the midsection from Chiefs linebacker Corey Mays on Aug. 21.

ESPN reported that in a production meeting with Favre over the weekend, he indicated he might have a cracked rib. Favre said after the game that while the hit hurt, he doesn't believe the rib is cracked. "I haven't had an X-ray yet but even if it shows there's a crack, there is nothing you can do about it, just play with it," he said.

Childress, for one, appeared fairly satisfied with Favre's play.

"I thought he did some good things in terms of putting the ball where it needed to be," Childress said. "He'd be the first to tell you he probably missed a couple of reads and made a couple of plays with his feet. Had enough pocket presence to be able to move around and still complete the football. So obviously a big improvement."