Farewell Favre - and this time it's for real

John Riordan

BRETT Favre has previous when it comes to retiring - but this time it’s for real.
Just as the Green Bay Packers were battling their fiercest rivals, the Chicago Bears, in Lambeau Field last night, their legendary former quarterback was confirming what everyone knew for a while: “Number Four” had reached the end of the line.
When he left Green Bay in 2008, he quit the game. When he finished up with the New York Jets in 2009, he quit the game. But finally, when concussion ruled him out of the Minnesota Vikings final day defeat to the Detroit Lions.
"I know it's time, and that's ok," said the 40-year-old after the 20-13 loss. "Again, I hold no regrets, and I can't think of too many players offhand that can walk away and say that. Individually and from a team standpoint, it was way more than I ever dreamed of."
It was a sad end to a controversial season but there’s no time to dwell on Favre right now - the play-off line-up was finalised after a busy day dominated by pointless games.
Only a handful of teams had anything to play for with one division and one wild card spot down for decision. There were also some seeding issues to sort out.
The Packers, by virtue of their gritty 10-3 victory over the Chicago Bears, advanced at the expense of the New York Giants (who struggled to beat the Washington Redskins) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who surprised the New Orleans Saints) to secure the one remaining wild card in the NFC.
The NFC West ended as everyone had feared it would with the Seattle Seahawks edging through with a losing record of seven wins and nine defeats. Going into last night’s divisional decider against the St Louis Rams, Seattle had lost seven of their last ten games but managed to sneak a 16-6 victory which gave the Rams a similar losing record, the Seahawks finishing up with the better divisional record.
In the AFC South, the Indianapolis Colts had Adam Vinatieri to thank once again after his 43-yard field goal as time expired gave the Colts a 23-20 victory and their seventh divisional title in eight years.
It also budged them up from fourth to third seed thus securing a home clash against the wild card New York Jets next Saturday night. The other wild card, the Baltimore Ravens, must travel to Kansas City next Sunday as a result. Awaiting the two winners will be the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The NFC wild card round will see New Orleans travel to Seattle on Saturday while the Philadelphia Eagles will host Green Bay on Sunday with Chicago and Atlanta enjoying a weekend off.

 

 

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/gapLAKOFePc/post.aspx

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