On the NFL: Peterson fan Favre doesn't mind back seat

DETROIT - The Lions were dangerously close to resembling an NFL team when young Matthew Stafford threw his first career touchdown pass to give them a 10-0 lead late in the second quarter.

"I was worried," admitted old Brett Favre, which is saying something when you consider Sunday marked his record 271st consecutive regular-season start.

At that point, Favre had thrown only one pass that traveled farther than his shadow. Perhaps in a different era and a cheese-colored helmet, Favre would have seen a two-score deficit against a team with 18 consecutive losses as the green light to start winging the ball downfield to whichever team could get to it first.

So far, that's not the guy Zygi Wilf is paying $12 million to this season. The gunslinger has turned in his six-shooter for a pocket protector, horn-rimmed glasses, a 2-0 record and a lifetime membership to the Adrian Peterson Fan Club.

"I just think he's playing within the system," Vikings coach Brad Childress said.

Huh?

"I see him doing the things that he needs to do," Childress went on to say. "It's not like we put a new chip in his head or anything like that."

Favre answered Stafford's first touchdown pass with the 466th of his 467. It capped a 10-play, 76-yard drive in which Favre dinked and dunked his way downfield, completing seven of seven passes to five different players for 50 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown to Visanthe Shiancoe. None of the passes traveled farther than 5 yards, and they were spread to two tight ends, two receivers and a running back.

"That was probably the most important drive of the game," said Favre, which is saying something when you consider the 27-13 victory raised his regular-season win total to 171 and his record against the Lions to 26-9.

The drive wasn't as simple as it sounds. On third-and-5, Favre had to quickly step up in the pocket to avoid blitzers and, like an old point guard, dished the ball to a younger pair of legs (Percy Harvin) that took it 10 yards for the first down.

"That drive was just Brett knowing the game," said receiver Sidney Rice, who caught two passes for 23 yards during the drive. "We game-plan for teams depending on what defenses they're going to run. Whatever they give us, Brett will take."

Favre completed a franchise-record 85.2 percent of his passes (23 of 27) but had only 155 yards. He threw only two deep balls. Both came in the second half. Both were incomplete, although one resulted in a Lions penalty for illegal contact.

"I know it's not a lot of yards, but it's a lot of completions," Favre said. "That's what I said when I first came in, is that it's about getting the ball into the playmakers' hands."

Favre then gave maybe the best indication in NFL history that passing yards are overrated.

"The only time I've ever thrown for 400 yards in my life, [the Packers] lost," said Favre, referring to a 30-17 loss at Chicago in 1993.

Favre also has reached Week 3 without an interception for only the third time in his career. He did it 1998 and 1996, the year the Packers won the Super Bowl.

After the game, Harvin indicated the Vikings will throw the ball deeper once Favre gets more familiar with the offense. Childress said Favre already knows the entire offense.

For now, however, Favre says he has no problem sitting in the back seat on a team that's one game better than Chicago and Green Bay in the NFC. Favre appeared to hurt his throwing hand while taking a hard hit late in the fourth quarter but said he's healthy enough to be there for No. 272 on Sunday.

"I got no problems telling you that our offense is based around Adrian Peterson, you know?" Favre said. "Big deal. We're going to hand it to him again next week. We're going to throw it to him."

Asked for a guarantee on that, Favre smiled.

"Yeah," he said. "I promise."