When Brett Favre was lying in bed after being battered by the New Orleans Saints defensive line in last seasons NFC Championship game he must have surely thought his Hall of Fame career was finally over.
Last season would have gone down as a glorious failure. Favre, ranked second overall in average rating in 2009, had led his new Vikings all the way to the Championship game with a seasonal performance which was statistically his best ever.
But in New Orleans in January, Favre was left battered and bruised both emotionally and physically, the 40-year old requiring medical attention on numerous occasions during the Viking's narrow defeat to the eventual Superbowl winning Saints.
No-one could have blamed Favre for calling it a day at that point and hanging his pads for the last time.
But, alas, Favre being Favre decided that enough was not enough (will it ever be?) and came back for one more push at the Superbowl. Right now, you have to question the future Hall of Famer's judgement.
His QB Rating is also down at 59%, as a pose to last seasons incredible 107.2. He has gone from second in last season's regular season Quarterback charts, to 30th, having already thrown four interceptions in two games. Favre threw only seven in the entire 2009 regular season.
Everyone knows that Favre has been erratic at points throughout his career. Big interceptions have blighted his time in the NFL, heck he has thrown more than any Quarterback in NFL history, but last season's performances suggested he had finally found a place where the onus wasn't entirely on him to go and force throws and win the game for his club. With Adrian Petersen at his side, and the Vikings mean defence watching his back, the seven interceptions in 2009 suggested he had become the ultimate game manager.
0-2 suggests otherwise.
In typical circumstances, a team reaching the Championship game with a talented side would be expected to push on in the next campaign. However, an aging Quarterback and the injury to his favoured target Sidney Rice have seen the Vikings manage only 19 points in their opening two games and so far at least, take a step backwards.
Most importantly for Vikings fans though, Favre's poor start means their season is already at a cross roads. Early defeats, to the Saints in the season opener and last Sundays shock home defeat to the resurgent Dolphins, have left them at 0-2 and two games behind divisional rivals the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.
But all hope is not lost. The 0-2 Detroit Lions visit Mall of America Field this weekend, providing the ideal opportunity for Favre to get his form back. Add to that the Packers visit to Solider Field on Monday and the Vikings could quite easily be only one game off one of their Divisional rivals come Monday night.
A defeat to the Lions would be a massive shock, even given Favre's poor start, but a good performance is vital because the Jets, Cowboys, Packers and Patriots come next for the Vikings. An unconvincing display would lead to serious question marks about Favre's ability to take the team any further than he did last season.
If that is the case, it will surely be Favre's last season and definitely leave a stain on a career could have ended so impressively had he called it a day last summer.
