Those of you who had the Vikings +165 to win the NFC Championship on Sunday are going to remember Brett Favre for throwing the game away in the final minute of regulation as much as you’ll relive his insanely resilient performance to gut it out. We all know that he’s amassed milestones, won over hearts and had plenty of memorable performances. Yet the 2009-10 NFC Championship game was a cruel reminder to Favre’s backers that he’s been as deplorable as he’s been delightful.

10. Lambeau Opener in 2006 Against Bears

It’s not he biggest loss of his career, but 2006 was the beginning of the “Will He Won’t He Retirement Tour That Never Ends”. Favre opened the game with just five passes for 70 yards and tossed two picks in the second half to lose the game 0-26. So why is this a big deal? It’s the only shutout that Brett Favre ever endured when he lasted the whole game.

9. His Entire 2005 Season

Every legend is allowed one bad season, but this was one for the ages. Brett’s Packers won just four games that season, while Favre threw for 3,881 yards, 18 touchdowns a career high 29 interceptions. It was his lowest overall season quarterback rating at just 70.9 though it wasn’t without its excuses. Javon Walker, Bubba Franks and Ahman Green, the team’s best offensive weapons, were all on the shelf with various injuries and Favre’s offensive line had lost two key players in Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle.

8. Five Picks Against Cincinnati In 2005

The Packers were just 1-5 SU at this point and in desperate need of a victory. Brett connected on 26-of-39 passes in this game, but if you include the five interceptions that landed in the hands of Bengals’ defenseman, he has 31! Each time the Packers looked like they were going to stage a road upset over the 6-1 SU Bengals, Favre gave the ball away. Tragically, the Packers lost 14-21 and on the final play of the game Favre scrambled past the line of scrimmage by about five yards…then tried to pass the ball forward. But hey, I bet had a blast doing it! The fun never ends with Brett Favre!

7. NFC Wild Card Upset Against Vick’s Falcons

With Michael Vick as a rookie quarterback in the 2003 Wild Card Playoffs, nobody gave him a chance in hell of going in to Lambeau and upsetting the heavily favored Packers. Then the Falcons put up a 24-0 lead going in to the half and the crowd turned to Brett to keep their undefeated home playoff record intact.

Brett opened the second half with a brilliant touchdown drive…followed by six possessions that involved four turnovers, two of which belonged to Brett in the form of a fumble and a pick. At this point in his career, it was impossible to teach an old dog like Brett new tricks in the post season which makes it ironic that he’d be upset by the puppy assassinating Vick.


6. Six Picks Against Rams in 2002 Playoffs

Brett has always had that magical knack for fooling us in to thinking that he could throw a ball right through Mt. Everest or concuss a charging rhino with his grenade launching arm and boyish grin. So when Brett was matched up against the vaunted Greatest Show on Turf, led by destined hall of famer Kurt Warner, there were those that thought Brett could somehow pull this one out of his khaki shorts. Instead of a victory, Favre gave the Packers’ fans six interceptions, three of which were returned for scores.

5. 2008 Jets Slam in to Interception Mountain
At the time we had no idea that Eric Mangini was holding out on us concerning Brett’s torn bicep. But in the final five games of the season, with the Jets holding on to an 8-3 SU record, Brett’s gun slinging charm wasn’t enough to bully them in to the playoffs. The Jets finished 1-4 SU and Brett piled up just two touchdowns completely offset by 9 interceptions the final five games of the season.

4. 2007-08 NFC Championship Against Giants
In Brett’s final game as a Packer, and with his final pass in the green and gold, the NFC Championship game went to overtime after Mason Crosby was able to nail a field goal to tie the game at twenty apiece. Green Bay got the ball off the coin flip, and in his first and only pass of extra time, Favre shot a pass straight to cornerback Cory Webster. The Giants never gave the ball back and booted a 47-yarder to win the game. Sound familiar?

3. Laying Down for Strahan in 2001
In a wildly contested NFL record, Michael Strahan edged the season sack record of 22.0 by Mark Gastineau by “sacking” Favre. In fact, Favre basically sat on the ground so his buddy could steal the record from the former New York Jet. Some defend this by saying that Favre didn’t want to get blasted by a viscious Strahan hit, but he was hardly in harms way of getting blind sided and this is also a quarterback who was renowned for his scrambling ability. It was less of a sack and more of Favre bending over so that Strahan could score a reach around and wiggle in to the record books.

2. “I’m Retiring…Just Kidding!”
You’ve all been there…twice. It’s nothing I want to relive, although I may be forced to this summer. We were bludgeoned over the head with articles documenting his greatest moments and his staggering career achievements. Then we were smothered with reports of the “Will He, Won’t He?” variety. Now it’s just the Retirement Tour that never ends, kind of like Jay Leno’s but with less poor comedy.
At this point, however, it’s impossible to say that Favre doesn’t deserve the chance to think about it. Sure he practically held the Vikings and Jets at gunpoint while he waffled on retiring, but his performance this season was one of his best. He’s one of the greatest quarterbacks that ever lived, and I’m not entirely sure that “Team Tavaris” has any active members other than his mother. Still…it’s annoying.

1. Brett Tosses Fatal Pick Against Saints
Brett was stuffed in to the turf of the Superdome a billion times in this game, and got back up every time like he was starring in his own rendition of Rocky. Despite costly fumbles, the Vikings were in range to upset the Saints on their own turf and with the Vikings in field goal range, Favre scrambled out of the pocket on third down with less than a minute to go.
You could hear all of Minnesota screaming, “THROW IT AWAY! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE GOD, THROW IT AWAY!”. You could almost hear Green Bay’s jilted fans chuckling to themselves, “Here it comes…”

And it did.
Favre needlessly tried to force a pass across his body to Sidney Rice, that was picked off and sealed the fate of the Vikings who were unable to stave off elimination by the Saints in overtime.
How does this rank as the worst blunder in a career that spanned 19-years? Because of the ramifications. He had survived being raped by Saints’ defenders throughout the game, and the Vikings somehow kept the score close despite a brutal amount of giveaways. He didn’t need to throw that pass. He didn’t need to be a hero. In a season where he had taken deliberate measures to avert making mistakes, throwing just 7 interceptions all season, Favre made the dumbest decision of all at the worst time possible.

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