No Hurt Locker: Vikings seem serious about Jake. (Source: Andrew Fredrickson)

National Football Post’s Aaron Wilson cites an NFL source in reporting that the Minnesota Vikings plan to call in Washington quarterback Jake Locker for a private workout Tuesday.

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier has been vocal about finding a quarterback in this draft, but at the No. 12 spot, they could be out of the running for Auburn’s Cam Newton or Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert.

Locker, however, remains an intriguing possibility for the Vikings–much better than the aged Brett Favre, back on his farm tilling soil. The 6’3″, 231-pound Locker is a mobile passer, running the 40 in 4.50 seconds at last month’s NFL scouting Combine, to go along with his 35-inch vertical and a 9-7 broad jump.

Locker will also work out for the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks later this month, according to NFP.

It time for a new start in Minnesota, and it has to excited Vikings fans that Frazier is turning out to be a good organizer and an honest leader who has buy-in. Clouds loom in the distance in Minnesota, with their problematic stadium situation problematic–and Los Angeles positioning itself for a team.

The Los Angeles Vikings? I have a problem with that. This is one of the NFL’s storied teams.

You have to wonder if they’re gunning for Newton–it could be in the works. Some don’t even have Newton in their top 10, but falling right into the Vikings’ lap.

As mentioned in my mock, I just don’t see Ron Rivera passing up this opportunity to bring in a franchise-altering passer with the No. 1 pick in the draft. I expect Netwon to end up as the top pick in this draft–unless the Vikings offer all the gold inside the Metrodome and the head of Favre.

In the mean time, making fun of Favre will be our modus operandi around these parts. Let’s face it, you’ll be getting more than your share of genuine Favre hysterics/worship elsewhere over the next 6 months. And fortunately for us, someone went out and made this parody of the famous LeBron James “What Should I Do?” Nike commercial, featuring a pretty good Favre doppelganger. It covers all the basics, from dong shots to the retirement fake-outs, along with this mantra from the ole gunslinger: ”completions are way more awesome when you force ‘em through triple coverage! Remember that!”.

Carolina @ Atlanta:

Carolina ends its mess of a season against the Falcons who are having a fine year. They say that John Fox might be tapped to replace Eric Mangini if he is let go in Cleveland. Something about that is wildly depressing and stinks of resigned mediocrity of the new normal: withering job prospects, no assets, low paycheck, massive debt from an education that gets you nowhere, and a marginal chance of your NFL team winning eight games.

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland:

Speaking of Eric Mangini, his under-talented Browns take on the Steelers at home in front of the faithful. Many of us at ReadAndReact headquarters are firmly behind Coach Mangini and feel he deserves one more year to right the ship. The Browns have had a tedious revolving door of coaches and quarterbacks since they re-entered the league. Their fans at this point are listless and battered, wondering why they are being tested by God, and if he will ever show them mercy.  I hope for all those toiling by the lake that the Browns absolutely destroy the Steelers this Sunday, that Holmgren looks deep into his extra large soul and decides to give Mangini one more year. Curses can’t last forever, even the biblical variety, and Mangini might be able to lead this team to the promised land yet.

The process takes longer when God has arbitrarily decided the team you coach has to suffer for 40 years (AP)

Minnesota @ Detroit:

Here’s to Brett Favre for playing football one year too many. Here’s a toast for him being completely himself, whether that is leaping around the field like a 12-year old on a playground or giving a maddening self indulgent, self-serving press conference. It is rare these days for an athlete to show any of his true self, as he will be pillaged for any misstep, wrong turn of phrase, or even smiling on the sidelines by the press, blogs, and fans alike. Favre, unlike the other professionally programmed robots, happily unleashes his id upon us all and, though many times not likeable, it is real and honest. Here’s to one of the best moments of the season, of Favre making a surprise appearance, outdoors in a snowy stadium in Minnesota, leading a touchdown drive like old times, fans delirious, scripted like a movie. Then, as quick as it started, it sadly ends with his head bouncing off the frozen turf.  Favre exits the league leaving fans with a lot of wonderful memories and conflicting opinions as he heads back to his ranch in Mississippi. Perhaps like Cincinnatus he waits for another team to call or maybe he just swims in bathtubs full of money or puts on his Wranglers and heads to the local high school and with joy on his face tosses pass after pass to high school kids running fade patterns, his shadow growing larger and larger as the sun sets red in the evening Mississippi sky.

Oakland @ Kansas City:

The league would be a better place if the Raiders were a better team.  A win on Sunday would bring them to eight wins and  forward on the road to respectability. Kansas City on the other hand is having a dream season, the fans enjoying every moment because they aren’t sure if it’s a dream or if it’s real.

Danny, Wes and Julian celebrate a Patriots victory by jumping up and down on Tom and Gisele's hand crafted $20,000 king sized bed

Miami @ New England:

I like to think of Danny Woodhead as a loveable hobbit somehow pressed into service by the mad wizard Belichik. I imagine every time he gets the ball he screams in fear and is actually just running for his life, giants and monsters around every turn as he higgledy piggledy does his best to dash to safety. I like to imagine that after each game he goes to Tom and Gisele’s apartment and hops on the bed with his pals Wes Welker and Julian Edelman, happy to be alive as Gisele and Tom try on Uggs boots and read long letters from their old friend and leftist poet Randy Moss.

Buffalo @ New York Jets:

The Bills have been meanderingly interesting this year and the emergence of the Fitzmagic and his beard have galvanized a rust belt fan base and has inspired lonely men (and some women) in hunting cabins and ice fishing houses of upper New York to grow out their own beards in solidarity, and quite frankly for something to do. It has also inspired ReadAndReact to attempt to cajole the Amish Rifle to save his truly magnificent beard; please sign our petitionthat implores him that the world needs men with beards and he is a beacon of hope to us all.  We also might create a petition to make the Jets go away. They are a wildly irritating clown show that needs to be taken down and shipped out of town.

Cincinnati @ Baltimore:

Speaking of clown shows, whether it was the poor coaching, play, or just a cavalcade of bad decisions in critical moments, this season has been an utter disaster for the Bengals.  They face a typically well prepared and winning Baltimore team that could probably beat the Bengals with four guys from the practice squad and seven bottles of Gatorade.

Texans fans light Houston on fire after hearing rumors of a possible Gary Kubiak/Wade Phillips team-up/fiasco.

Jacksonville @ Houston:

Trent Edwards is back, baby! A ReadAndReact favorite, this Princeton grad will reach deep into his shallow bag of tricks and pull off a victory. Houston has a lost season and ESPN is reporting they are considering retaining Gary Kubiak and hiring Wade Phillips as the defensive coordinator.  If this happens look for Houston fans to set the entire town on fire and move to the Dallas Metroplex.

NY Giants @ Washington:

The New York Giants need a win to get into the playoffs. The Washington Redskins are starting wild card Rex Grossman, who could throw four TDs or four picks in this must-watch NFC East contest.

Arizona @ San Francisco:

Yikes. Of these two fan bases, the folks by the bay are in much better shape, because no matter how bad the Niners get, or how strange the decision making of ownership, they are secure in the fact they do not live in Phoenix.

"Whatever, Phoenix, I'll be at Mr. Bing's getting hammered on Anchor Steam while you slowly sweat to death." (Photo: Sean Doorly)

Chicago @ Green Bay:

I remember watching Troy Aikman siting on the sidelines after like his 24^th concussion, staring into the distance with a confused look on his face, and Emmitt Smith coming over and siting down next to his old friend like a nurse at the bedside of an invalid patient. I hope Aaron Rodgers remembers that as well – that life is a long time and his bank account is full.  These games in the end mean nothing. Memories, on the other hand, are precious and need to be guarded. If Green Bay wins this they get into the playoffs.

Tennessee @ Indianapolis:

This could be Jeff Fisher’s last game as coach of the Titans. The wheels have not only come off this car, but have exploded. The Titans have looked leaderless and disinterested in earning their paychecks. It has been a long and good run by Fisher, but when it’s time, it’s time. Soon enough, Jeff will be back on an NFL sideline, unless of course he goes back to his former career as a CIA operative in Afghanistan. Either way he will land on his feet, like a mildly irritated, mustachioed, khaki-wearing cat.

San Diego @ Denver:

TEBOW!! I am ordering my jersey as I type this

St. Louis @ Seattle:

From Pete Carroll’s pre-game speech: “All right men, let’s get amped, let’s get pumped up, listen to these Jock Jams, yes, don’t stop believing, yes, toss me the ball, let’s play catch, let’s have a foot race, who can beat me in a race, it’s our last game, it’s football, I am jazzed about this game, I am really jazzed, we are going to play football, it will be awesome, just awesome, give me a high five, everyone high five your neighbor, home crowd, we’re the home team, okay, let’s drink a bunch of soda and get wicked buzzed, after the game we are going to play video games at my house, all night, Madden, Zelda, I got chips, Mario Kart, save the princess, so many chips, all right, put a hand in, this is just awesome, here we go, SEAHAWKS!!!”’

"I love football! Awesome! Yahooo!!!" (Photo: AP)

(Original photoshop/hack job by ArtieFufkin)

You may have noticed that we’ve remained quiet on the whole Brett Favre streak-ending saga up until now. That wasn’t unintentional. We figure you can find your fill of Favre news pretty much everywhere else on TV and the interwebs.  In fact, you probably can’t really escape it right now.

But last night during the Vikings-Giants game, with the NFL’s ironman watching from the sidelines in street clothes for the first time since the first Bush administration, we couldn’t help but notice something. With all due respect for what he’s accomplished over the course of his career, last night Brett just looked old. With his hand purpled and his face & body showing the wear and tear of 297 starts, for the first time ever, the guy actually looks his age. It’s painfully clear –  surprisingly, even to Favre himself – that it’s time to hang ‘em up.

And when the Fox cameras turned on the ol’ gunslinger during the waning minutes of the 4th quarter, it really helped put things into perspective.  I mean, just look at this sad bastard:

(FoxSports image via TheBigLead)

With his hand firmly planted down his pants, the correlation to Al Bundy from Married With Children was too obvious. So we went ahead and obliged with the photoshopped banner pic … we’ll let someone else make the other obvious Jenn Sterger/cell phone pic cracks.

Long simmering, the feud between the Jets and Patriots is set to explode Monday night. (Source: New York Daily News)

(Ed. note: This article was originally posted last week, but with the impending Monday night match-up on everyone’s mind today, we thought it deserved another look)

________________________

The word “rivalry” is tossed around a lot in the NFL. You hear announcers, desperate for market share, describe a pedestrian Seahawks-Chiefs tilt as a rivalry. Who’s buying that? Most “rivalries” unfold without so much as a breadcrumb on the line.

The history between the New York Jets and New England Patriots is a messy, entangled war by contrast. With both franchises notched at 9-2 atop the AFC East, you have to go back to the 1990 Monday-night meeting between the 10-1 49ers vs. the 10-1 New York Giants to find a late-season prime-time bout with equal appeal.

The lifetime record between these two teams stands at 51-50-1 in New York’s favor. Records aside, the Patriots are the Goliath, having dominated the last decade with three Super Bowl wins under the leadership of a once-per-generation quarterback talent in Tom Brady.

The Jets, after years of struggle, are at the threshold — but the long-time Jets fanatic is still haunted by ghosts: “When will the other shoe drop? When will the S.O.J.s appear from behind the Wizard’s curtain?”

A season sweep over the Patriots would send a statement league-wide: These Jets are for real.

Two long-suffering teams emerge to control the East

“My favorite thing is the drunk Jets fans,” NFL.com’s Adam Rank told us on Tuesday. “And that they couldn’t schedule this Monday night game at the new Meadowlands Stadium because they wouldn’t be allowed to sell beer. Seriously, you can buy a mixed cocktail at a UNLV basketball game, but if you go to a late-night Jets game — no booze. Which, of course, does not stop them from drinking in the parking lot. Or sneaking it in. … My only wish is that the Patriots wear those glorious, glorious red throwback uniforms.”

There was chatter of the Patriots’ demise earlier this season, especially after the Jets took care of the Pats 28-14 in Week 2. That talk was premature. In the course of a few months — in the middle of an NFL season — Bill Belichick has transformed this team, parting ways with Randy Moss and going with youth — nurturing younger role players to emerge around Brady. The defense is young and beginning to gel into a play-making unit.

“The Patriots are for real. That young defense is growing before our eyes,” Rank said. “But I’m reminded of something that Michael Irvin told me: That the Patriots look like they can be exposed by running right at them. We’ll certainly see that this week. And it’s the one thing that I’m looking for. If the Jets can run the ball and get the ground game going, then we have the proverbial blueprint of how to attack the Patriots going forward. That said, I really like where this team is headed.”

Belichick liked the AFC East better before Big Rex. (Source: CBSBoston.com)

Along with the Patriots, the Jets have evolved since that Week 2 meeting. They have grown up before our eyes.

Mark Sanchez and his boys are not a dominating club — the league has no such thing this season — but the Jets know how to win, and they keep finding new ways to do it, new ways to overcome harsh obstacles, new ways to inch closer to the AFC Championship, which they lost last season to a Colts team they have fully outgrown in the 11 months since.

“I think it is pretty clear that if the Jets win this, they are going to win the division,” R&R’s C-O-U-R-T-N-E-Y told us, from his Boston law office. “So, in that sense, this game is bigger for the Patriots. More importantly: America needs the Patriots to win. If not, we are going to have to brace ourselves for 88 retrospectives on Rex Ryan and his ‘irreverent’ coaching style.”

The Patriots are being tested by the Jets in a way that few division opponents have been able to do on Belichick’s watch. Ryan went right at the Pats in 2009, leaving a recorded message for Jets fans to come out in droves for the Week 2 game against New England, making it clear that Ryan’s Jets weren’t satisfied playing doormat to Brady and the Pats. New York won that game 16-9. Sanchez threw for 163 yards and a touchdown in his second start, while Ryan’s defense befuddled the Patriots, holding them to three field goals. The Patriots won the second meeting 31-14, but it was the Jets who went on to play Cinderella in the postseason.

“I’ll be honest about Rex Ryan, I thought he was going to be the failure his dad was in Arizona,” Rank said. “I remember Buddy Ryan taking over in Phoenix and proclaiming that there was a new sheriff in town. I was in Anaheim Stadium that day when our Rams ushered in the Buddy Ryan era with a 14-12 win. And this was the 1994 we-know-we-are-moving Rams, for the record. However, I’m growing fond of Rex Ryan’s antics. We all know that super-serious guy who will never lighten up about anything — and it’s fun as hell trying to get under his skin. Belichick is like that guy in college who wants to study on Wednesday night, but Ryan’s trying to drag him out to $1 shooter night at Baxter’s. It’s hilarious. You almost want to see the Jets win because of it.”

Ryan’s Jets, emblazoned with his cocksure attitude and having cast away their second-fiddle, doomsday mentality, appear to infuriate Belichick and Brady. The normally affable Patriots quarterback, talking with Boston radio station WEEI in September, stated: “I hate the Jets.”

This is one of the Jets’ magical powers: Getting under the skin, annoying established rivals, upsetting the balance. On some level, setting their own pace week to week. In a league that respects its elders, the Jets aren’t afraid of anyone. They flat-out disregard everything in their way — and that makes them the most dangerous team in football, even if the Patriots are still its best.

VIDEO: Earlier days of the Jets-Pats rivalry

Asked if Ryan has thrown Belichick off balance, C-O-U-R-T-N-E-Y disagreed: “Your question assumes Belichick has skin. Do robots have skin? Belichick has been secretly taping Ryan for years: nothing Rex does or says irritates Bill at this point.”

Brady told WEEI this week: “Playing them (a) fourth time (under Ryan), I have a lot more confidence than the first time we played them. It’s going to be a hell of a game. I’m excited for it.”

Two wearied fighters, now revived

The two teams first met just over 50 years ago, in September 1960, when they were known about town as the Boston Patriots and New York Titans. Boston won that first game 28-24 at the old Polo Grounds.

The Titans were renamed the Jets in ’63, and generally handled the Patriots with ease, going 11-2-1 over the next decade against Boston — largely due to the presence of Joe Namath and a roster that won Super Bowl III.

In ’71, the Patriots topped the Jets 20-0 in their first encounter after the Patriots adopted the “New England” moniker. The two have been at each other twice a season ever since, going punch for punch like two wearied fighters.

It’s often the personalities involved that create genuine rivalry, and that’s true today with these two teams. While they went head-to-head twice a season because the schedule ordained it, it was an act of betrayal that created blood-feud between the fanbases.

“The rivalry has existed since Bill Parcells left New England for the Meadowlands after the Pats’ Super Bowl berth in ’96,” said NFL.com news editor Dan Hanzus, a lifelong Jets fan. “There have been several layers to it over the years (Curtis Martin, Belichick, and Eric Mangini switching sides; the ’06 playoffs; and SpyGate), but I don’t think the rivalry has really mattered until now. This is the first year the two teams are squaring off as true Super Bowl favorites at the same time. It’s taken 10 years into the Brady era for the Jets to put together a legitimate contender, and for the first time you don’t feel that big brother-little brother vibe. This is two heavyweights standing toe-to-toe.”

VIDEO: A female Pats fan gets the treatment from Jets fans

When Belichick stunned the Jets with his resignation in 2000, in order to replace Pete Carroll as the Patriots head coach, the Jets never could have imagined how it would change the AFC East, and pro football. Few predicted Belichick’s success, but it’s only added to the disdain between these two teams. Since Belichick’s arrival, the Patriots lead the series 14-8, including a 37-16 playoff win in January 2007 (Belichick’s first postseason head coaching victory since his Cleveland Browns beat Parcells’ Pats in ’94).

The Patriots bloomed under Belichick, with an embattled Drew Bledsoe handing the starting role over to Brady who, outside of missing the 2008 season, has been a constant for the Pats ever since.

In contrast, since 2000, these have been the Jets starters: Vinny Testaverde, Chad Pennington, Quincy Carter, Brooks Bollinger, Kellen Clemens, Brett Favre and Sanchez. The list is equally disorienting from 1980-2000, with dead weight mixed in with serviceable arms, none able to make the Jets relevant for long: Richard Todd, Pat Ryan, Ken O’Brien (or, as Namath would say, “Kay-knee O’Bray-en”), David Norrie, Tony Eason, Kyle Mackey, Browning Nagle, Jack Trudeau, Bubby Brister, Frank Reich, Neil O’Donnell, Glenn Foley, Ray Lucas and Rick Mirer — a who’s who of journeymen, something the Patriots could relate to.

For decades, it was impossible to hate the Patriots. From 1980 on, outside of its 1985 Super Bowl run, New England endured a wretched string of seasons. Their quarterbacks were lambs to the slaughter — men now likely huddled away in a cube farm selling insurance premiums in Hadley, Mass. Names like: Matt Cavanaugh, Tom Owen, Tom Ramsey, the odd couple: Tony Eason and Steve Grogan, Bob Bleier, Marc Wilson, Tom Hodson, Hugh Millen, Scott Zolak, Jeff Carlson, Scott Secules and mighty mite Doug Flutie.

“I’m not really bothered by the Pats, because I respect Brady as a player so much,” Hanzus said. “Like the Jets, the Pats went through the 70s, 80s, and the better part of the 90s as a total afterthought, so there’s a silent kinship there. If anything, I think a Jets fan looks at what the Pats have managed to accomplish in the past decade and it gives us hope. That said, Belichick … total dick.”

VIDEO: Rex and the Jets after beating the Pats 28-14 in Week 2

“I feel a near kinship with Jets fans,” said Rank, who rooted for the bygone Los Angeles Rams. “You’re the No. 2 team in a major media market. Your only championship came before many of the fans were born. Yeah, that was a lot like the Los Angeles Rams. The only thing we could hang our hat on was a championship from the 1950s. Yet, you had the Raiders winning the Super Bowl. NWA was wearing Raiders gear. Us Rams fans had dudes wearing watermelons on their head, Georgia Frontiere and Eric Dickerson, who was traded away on Halloween ’87. Jets fans are also probably Mets fans, and the same goes here — just like Rams fans rooted for the Angels. So, I know the Jets fans’ angst all too well. But cheer up, Jets fans. It’s not like your owner mysteriously died, the widow moved the team to some Dust Bowl town and your best years are being played out 2,000 miles away. So, enjoy it.”

Jets fans recognize that their team hasn’t completed its masterwork 12 weeks into the regular season. They haven’t supplanted the Patriots — they’ve merely matched them, a feat in itself, but ultimately dust if it doesn’t amount to a championship.

The Patriots have been doing this for a decade — this week’s game is not the mountain top for a team that’s repeatedly won Super Bowls. “I’ve been around a little while,” Brady told WEEI on Monday. “Look, we’re 9-2, we haven’t accomplished anything. These games that we’re playing, yeah, they’re important, but a lot of guys on this team have played in much bigger games … I’m trying to express to teammates: ‘We haven’t done anything. Nine wins is nothing.’”

Jets fans know there’s a ways to go, but deserve to relish the teams success after lifetimes of despair.

“I think the Jets still have a lot to prove to show me that they’re going to become the perennial powerhouse the Pats have been for years now,” Hanzus said. “And even if New York wins on Monday night, I don’t count out Brady and Belichick even a little bit. In fact, I just soiled myself a little bit at the prospect of having to beat them for a third time if they met in the postseason.”

Adam Rank is a writer and editor with NFL.com and can be seen weekly on NFL Network’s Fantasy Live at 11:30 a.m. EST.  His NFL.com fantasy football blog can be found here. Follow Adam on his website and on Twitter @adamrank.

Dan Hanzus is a news editor with NFL.com, and a frequent contributor to Bleacher Report. Follow Dan on his Yankees’ blog, River & Sunset, and on Twitter @danhanzus.

Will this be the hit that ends Favre's streak? (AP Photo via ABCNews.com)

UPDATE: Favre has been diagnosed with a sprained shoulder, but X-rays were negative, and HC Leslie Frasier said that Favre will still be the Vikings starter next week …”if he’s healthy”. It will probably be a while before they determine his official status, but by now I guess we know they’ll prop Favre up out there like Weekend at Bernie’s to keep the streak intact. So I guess we went and got all excited for nothing.

____________________________________

After starting his 297th consecutive NFL game, Vikings QB Brett Favre was knocked out less than 3 minutes into today’s contest against the Bills, and is not expected to return. Favre suffered a shoulder injury early in the first quarter after getting drilled by LB Arthur Moats. The play was a designed rollout on 3rd & 5, intended to get Favre out of the pocket. But when the ol’ gunslinger pulled up to try and extend the play, Moats came in at full speed to deliver a brutal blindside hit. It was a clean, textbook hit by Moats that sent the ball floating into the awaiting arms of CB Drayton Florence for the interception.

And after looking at the way Favre crumples to the turf, it’s hard to imagine the 41-year-old grandpa will be able to keep his consecutive start streak intact next week:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

Early tailgaters gather at The New Meadlowlands before a crucial showdown with the 6-4 Jacksonville Jaguars. (Source: Pat Hanlon, N.Y. Giants)

¶ Quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Brett Favre square off today during a season which has seen aging veteran passers struggle. McNabb is 4-2 vs. Favre, but has yet to face Favre post-Green Bay.

ESPN’s Ed Werder reports that Favre will start Sunday’s game in Washington despite battling what could be pneumonia. Favre told Werder that he required a steroid pack and an injection Saturday, and missed the first hour of team meetings because he couldn’t drag himself out of bed.

For his career, Favre is 70-of-118 passing for 802 yards, 4 touchdowns and 8 interceptions against the Redskins, according to the ‘Skins Twitter page. Favre hasn’t played at FedEx Field since 2004.

¶ Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune reports that Vikings wide receiver Bernard Berrian (groin) and cornerback Chris Cook (knee) are both inactive for today’s game.

¶ BTW, don’t assume we rate this Redskins-Vikings tilt a big deal. It’s not. What it is, is the meeting of two battered, lost teams — neither who have lived up to expectations this season.

¶ For my money, the game of the day is the Jacksonville Jaguars visiting the New York Giants, in what amounts to a solid test for both teams. The result will tell us a lot about both 6-4 teams as they fight for position in the playoff race.

¶ The Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot reports that the Browns’ Josh Cribbs is active against the Carolina Panthers. Quarterback Colt McCoy and cornerback Eric Wright are inactive.

¶ It will be interesting to see how the Denver Broncos respond today against the St. Louis Rams. The Broncos and coach Josh McDaniels were each fined $50,000 after Broncos’ video operations director Steve Scarnecchia violated NFL rules by taping a six-minute portion of a San Francisco 49ers walkthrough on Oct. 30, the day before the teams played each other in London.

MORE AFTER THE BREAK

¶ Interesting podcast: ESPN’s Bill Simmons talks with analyst Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders, who reveals that 2010 has provided more parity than almost any before. We all sensed as much — as this graphic illustrates — but interesting to hear what Schatz had to say.

READERS: How would you caption this photo? (Source: Daily News)

Minnesota Vikings coach Leslie Frazier has inherited a mess, but all is not lost.

Frazier has the opportunity to take decisive steps to show that he means business — and he better not waste the chance catering to Brett Favre. His best route is a decisive, fresh start at the quarterback position.

It’s a thought that’s been picking up steam all week, and NFL Network’s Mike Mayock makes a most compelling case for cutting Favre — not in the offseason, but now. With the playoffs out of the question, Mayock insists the Vikings must find out now who they have at quarterback.

You can’t do that with Favre in the locker room.

“At this point, you’ve fired your coach. It would be a crime if you don’t find out, in the remainder of the season, whether or not either one of your backup quarterbacks can play. So, if I was there, I would like to see a uniform situation within the organization where the owner, the new head coach and Rick Spielman, the head of personnel, sit down and say, ‘It’s time to release Brett Favre.’ We need to get a clean look at these two young quarterbacks and find out if either of them is our quarterback of the future. If that’s the case, then you know what you have to do in the draft. If you don’t have a quarterback, then you can go and get one. If you do have a quarterback, that’s great, but it’s time to cut the ties with Brett Favre right now.

“The bottom line is, Brett’s not going to be there next year … so you gotta find out right now who your quarterback of the future is, because … you do a disjustice to your entire organization if you don’t have a plan going into the draft.”

Favre loyalists will balk at such a plan, but it’s time for the Vikings to reboot the machine. It will be interesting to see what Frazier does with the time he has left this season. When it comes to Favre, we’re talking about a guy who’s basically never missed a day of work and never mailed it in. It would be a brutal ending, but Mayock is right — benching Favre doesn’t do you any good. It must be decisive. You cut him and move on.

The question creeps up again: Are the Cowboys the most inappropriately hyped team in professional sports?

Their on-field performance seems to be of no issue: if they win three games this season, playing some of the worst football in the NFC, there’s no doubt the league will still slate them for five or six nationally televised games in 2011. Quality on the field not even taken into account, we’ll be told their the “most talented team in the NFC” come summer.

Stripping away the media sheen, what do the Cowboys substantively bring to the table?

Why have we been force-fed this team during its 15-year, post-Aikman wanderings? They’re consistently outplayed by other teams — especially in big games. This has been happening for years.

And why the media’s love affair with frat-boyish Tony Romo?

While everyone’s busy anointing Romo the next Roger Staubach — is he more accurately the next Danny White, during an equally depressing era of Cowboys football?

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN takes a look at some of today’s stars and (imperfectly) attempts to match them to their natural predecessors of old.

(Source: AP)

Danny White and Tony Romo

Most Cowboys fans will not appreciate the comparison — and deny it.

White presided over a Cowboys franchise that still felt it was all that based on its glory years a decade or so before. The 6-foot-2, 193-pound White was 62-30 (.674) as a starter and 5-5 (.500) in the playoffs. He was never able to get Dallas to the Super Bowl, despite a string of double-digit-win regular seasons and a talented supporting cast. His inability to win the big game didn’t help fans forget about Staubach.

Romo presides over a Cowboys franchise that still feels it’s all that based on its glory years a decade or so ago. The 6-foot-2, 219-pound Romo is 39-23 (.629) as a starter and 1-3 (.250) in the playoffs. He has never been able to get Dallas to the Super Bowl, despite a string of double-digit-win regular seasons and a talented supporting cast. His inability to win the big game hasn’t helped fans forget about Aikman.

Notorious ‘Boys fan, C-O-U-R-T-N-E-Y, suggested Romo be compared to Fran Tarkenton. OK, let’s do it:

Tarkenton, a Hall of Famer and nine-time Pro Bowler, played for 18 seasons, 13 of them with the Minnesota Vikings. He was drafted by the Vikings and played six years in Minnesota before spending five seasons with the New York Giants. He then, in his 12th season, returned to the Vikings and led the team to three Super Bowls.

Tarkenton won 124 games as a starter and was 6-4 in the playoffs.

During a golden era in the Vikings’ history, Tarkenton was their leader, willing them to NFC crowns.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.

(Source: AP, Plain Dealer)

Kevin Mack and Peyton Hillis

Kevin Mack, a 6-foot, 224-pound bruiser who surprised people with his agility, downhill running style and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, gave Cleveland a much-needed lift after the Browns masterfully plucked him from the USFL’s Los Angeles Express for a song. In 1985, his first campaign with a young, developing Browns team under the direction of poised rookie quarterback Bernie Kosar — who became the team’s starter in Week 6 — Mack barnstormed his way for 1,104 rushing yards, 297 receiving yards and 10 total touchdowns. He helped an 8-8 Browns team squeak into the playoffs. He rushed for 5,123 yards (4.0 yards per attempt) and 46 touchdowns in his career. He also caught 197 passes for 1,602 yards and eight scores.

Peyton Hillis, a 6-foot-1, 240-pound bruiser who has surprised people with his agility, downhill running style and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, has given Cleveland a much-needed lift after the Browns masterfully plucked him from the Denver Broncos  for a song. In 2010, his first campaign with a young, developing Browns team under the direction of poised rookie quarterback Colt McCoy — who became the team’s starter in Week 6 — Hillis has barnstormed his way for 726 rushing yards, 256 receiving yards and nine total touchdowns in nine games. He has helped a young Browns team to wins over a series of playoff-caliber teams. In three seasons, he has rushed for 1,123 yards (4.8 yards per attempt) and 14 touchdowns. He has also caught 52 passes for 454 yards and two scores.

(Source: AP)

George Blanda and Brett Favre

The Blanda-Favre comparison is imperfect. The shape of Favre’s career is not altogether comparable to Blanda’s beyond the sheer extent of it. Taking Favre’s endurance into account, he might compare better to someone like Peyton Manning, John Elway or (yes) Fran Tarkenton (sorry, Romo).

The matchup with Blanda is more  in essence than statistical.

Blanda, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound quarterback, played 26 seasons in the NFL, appearing in 340 career games. He was a factor well into his late 30s and 40s, and appeared in his last game, the 1975 AFC Championship, on January 4, 1976, at age 48. A talented kicker, Blanda kicked a field goal and extra point in the game. At the time of his retirement, Blanda had scored more points than anyone in league history.

Favre, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound quarterback, is in his 20th (and, he says, last) NFL season, appearing in 298 career games, with an astonishing 294 consecutive starts. He has Blanda beat in this category, hands down, and it makes him a different brand of player, in a sense.

Peyton Manning is the next active player on the list with 201 consecutive starts. His brother, Eli, follows him with 96. Ron Jaworski, Tom Brady and Buffalo’s Ron Ferguson recorded streaks of 116, 111 and 107 starts, but Brady’s was cut short when he was injured in 2008. Philip Rivers has 73 active consecutive starts.

The Blanda-Favre comparison becomes scary only when we admit that we’re concerned Favre will, against his word, still be around at age 48.

(Source: AP, N.Y. Daily News)

Mark Bavaro and Rob Gronkowski

Mark Bavaro, the 6-foot-4, 245-pounder, was a tough-as-nails, receiving tight end who made immediate impact, catching 15 passes for 511 yards and four scores his rookie season, and becoming a favorite target of quarterback Phil Simms. The physically gifted Bavaro was well-suited in Bill Parcells’ Giants offense, which relied less on star players and more on men who knew their roles and thrived in a system that helped the Giants to multiple Super Bowl championships.

Rob Gronkowski, the 6-foot-6, 265-pounder, is a tough-as-nails, receiving tight end who’s made immediate impact, catching 19 passes for 220 yards and six scores through the first nine games of his rookie season, and is becoming a favorite target of quarterback Tom Brady. The physically gifted Gronkowski is well-suited in Bill Belichick’s Patriots offense, which — after the Moss trade — relies less on star players and more on men who know their roles and thrive in a system that has helped the Patriots to multiple Super Bowl championships.

(Source: AP)

Jerry Glanville and Rex Ryan

I understand that the immediate thought here is, “Wait, why not Buddy Ryan vs. Rex Ryan?”

Fine… Buddy Ryan’s 55-55-1 head coaching experience with the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals is only part of what Buddy’s passed down to twin sons Rex and Rob. There’s little question whose son Rex is — in both demeanor and philosophy. We’ve processed the comparison before — and so has every pregame show, newspaper, and NFL blog in America.

I believe Rex has the chance, with the Jets, to do things his father never did as a head coach.

When I think about Rex though — and how he agitates fans of opposing AFC East teams — he reminds me of how Jerry Glanville used to get under my skin when he coached the Houston Oilers. As a Browns fan, the Oilers of the old AFC Central were supremely annoying — and it was Glanville who I wanted pressed into the dirt as much anyone. That division was a bloodbath largely because of Glanville’s ability as a coach — and his knack for adding fuel to fire.

Glanville infuriated Sam Wyche over the years, and Wyche, when the opportunity knocked in 1989, had no problem ripping Glanville a new one in a 61-7 drubbing of the Oilers. It was cathartic for everyone beyond Glanville’s mother.

Glanville talked endlessly — and left tickets for Elvis left and right — but he backed it up, to some degree, by building a smothering, imposing defense that made the Oilers one of the team’s to beat in the AFC in the late ’80s. He was a players coach, and he found a way to get his guys to buy in to the Oilers way of life — but he was also humiliated on more than one occasion, and eventually wore his welcome out in league circles.

For my money, if the Jets aren’t in your way, Rex is a fun-loving, entertaining guy who brings the soundbites. If you’re forced to deal with his team — and his loud mouth — twice a season, he’s a big part of the reason you want to see the Jets take a dirt nap.

In the end, Glanville — and Buddy Ryan — never took a team to the Super Bowl.

Rex can eclipse both of them by backing up the endless chatter.

Such is the case with Bread People, which came to us late this Wednesday like a beacon of light. Like any good American, we love our carbs, and this blog just spoke to us. There are a lot of excellent sports-related images on this site, but this being an NFL blog, we want to bring to your attention a few in particular. We hope you enjoy:

Braylon Breadwards

(Via Bread People)

CONTINUE AFTER THE JUMP FOR BREAD FAVRE

Bread Favre

(Image via Bread People)

If you’re into this sort of thing, be sure to check out Bread People’s equally bizarre sister site Cheese People. Although there aren’t any NFL Cheese People (yet), our favorite so far is Guddha:

(Image Via Cheese People)