Brett Favre(notes) has done it again.
No, he didn't retire and come back (and retire and come back again). And he didn't throw a crazy interception in quadruple-coverage or toss the ball underhanded to an offensive lineman or get praised by an announcer for looking like a kid out there. No, Brett Favre did what made him so famous in the first place: He led his team down the field with under two minutes remaining and threw a miraculous, game-winning touchdown to solidify his team's place atop the NFC.
The Minnesota Vikings got the ball back down by four points with 1:49 to go in their home opener against the San Francisco 49ers. Favre proceeded to lead the team down to the Niners 32-yard line with 12 seconds remaining and no timeouts. He took the snap in shotgun, pump-faked, rolled out to his right, avoided one defender, sidled back to the middle of the field, tapped the ball and flung it into the endzone the instant before another defender was about to hit him for the game-ending sack. The ball lasered to Greg Lewis(notes), who was double covered in the back of the endzone and made an unbelievable catch with two seconds remaining to give the Vikes a 27-24 win.
For as sick as we all are of Favre, a play like this reminds us of a time when he had yet to become a ubiquitous presence on our TV and computer screens. It proves that Brad Childress made the right call in picking him up. (You think Sage Rosenfels(notes) or Tavaris Jackson was leading that two-minute drill?) It puts to rest any talk of a "schism" in the Minnesota locker room. And it shows that, despite the endless hype and advancing age and 2008 collapse, the ol' gunslinger still has some shots left in that cannon.