The things we know: 1) The NFC is wide open. As in, drive a truck through it. As in, any team that gets into the playoffs has a chance. As in, the Packers are who we thought they were, the Cowboys are who we thought they were, the Saints most definitely are not who we thought the were, the Bears aren't what we think they're going to be, and the Vikings are in limbo.
2) We thought it was never going to top Brett Favre's return to Lambeau Field in terms of intrigue with the Vikings. Turns out we only had to wait a year. The return of Randy Moss plus the Brett Favre sexting scandal, plus Monday Night Football, plus two teams with huge on-field aspirations, plus the largest media market ... sweet mercy.
3) The Vikings need to win tonight. That might sound counter-intuitive based on the first bullet point. Sure, a loss will only make them 1-3, still theoretically plenty of time to make a move in a diluted conference. But we have a bad feeling about the disintegration potential if things go poorly. We can see 1-3 slipping to 1-5. We can see a frustrated, built to win, veteran team get ugly. We can also see a team with a big win tonight regain its swagger and take on an us vs. the world, let's get this done mentality.
4) An informal household poll reveals that 100 percent of women DO NOT want to receive the types of picture messages Favre is alleged to have sent. It makes no difference if you are famous. It makes no difference if you are, um, proud of your accomplishments. The two likely outcomes: the person receiving the pictures will be a combination of frightened and amused; and she will tell a lot of friends about it. So if you are thinking that this type of thing is a savvy way to impress a woman for any reason, please use your "delete picture" capability instead.
5) Do we think the Vikings win tonight? Yes. Is that partly out of desperation? Yes. Is it partly because we want to believe in what could be a myth -- that a freshly minted 41-year-old QB in the midst of a potentially career-changing scandal and a 33-year-old formerly exiled WR making his triumphant return will find instant chemistry after burning to play together for a number of years? Yes. But we want to believe it because it's more fun that way. Vikings 27, Jets 24. Moss has 12 passes thrown his way, makes 7 grabs for 139 yards and a touchdown.
