Forget the fickleness, the wavering and the constant stroking of his ego – Brett Favre was worth it for the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings remained undefeated in 2009 following their thrilling 33-31 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. For all intents and purposes, the Vikings should have won by double-digit points but they blew leads as large as 14-0 in the first quarter and 27-10 in the fourth.

It was Favre that once again stepped up when Minnesota needed it most. After Baltimore shocked the Metrodome crowd by taking its first lead of the game at 31-30 with just over three minutes remaining, Favre found Sidney Rice on a 58-yard reception that got Minnesota down to Baltimore’s 18-yard line. Head coach Brad Childress then decided to play for the field goal by calling three consecutive running plays and setting up a Ryan Longwell 31-yard field goal to give the Vikings the lead back at 33-31. Favre and Minneosta then had to hold their collective breaths as Ravens kicker Steven Hauschka missed a potential game-winning 44-yard field goal as time expired.

Putting aside Minnesota’s near-collapse for a second, Favre and Adrian Peterson were incredible. Favre completed 21 of 29 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns, while Peterson rushed for 143 yards on 22 carries. I don’t know if Peterson is opening things up for Favre, Favre is opening things up for Peterson or if it’s just a perfect mix of both, but it’s working for the Vikings.

But while I hate to pop the Favre-magic balloon, this was the second time this year that the Vikings got lucky inside the Metrodome. The first time was against the 49ers when Favre found Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone on an improbable touchdown pass. Had San Fran been in a normal defense, Minnesota would have suffered its first loss of the season. And had Hauschka made the field goal today, the Vikings would have lost again. It certainly wasn’t a chip-shot, but that’s a field goal Hauschka has to make while kicking inside a dome.

That said, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. While the Vikings aren’t a perfect football team (the Ravens did whatever they wanted in the second half offensively, exposing some of the Vikings’ defensive issues), they have a perfect record and that’s the only thing that matters at this point.

Oh, and having No. 4 under center certain helps too.

It was amazing to watch the Patriots play the Chargers on Sunday night. New England is a completely different team without Tom Brady under center. And while that’s not an earth-shattering revelation, it’s something that shouldn’t be downplayed as much as it has at this point in the season.

This was a team that went 16-0 last year and outside of a few close calls, it steamrolled opponents on a weekly basis. Had they beaten the Giants in the Super Bowl, an argument could have been made that the 2007 New England Patriots were the greatest team in NFL history.

But as evidence by San Diego’s 30-10 rout on Sunday night, the Patriots are falling incredibly fast from their high perch. Even at 3-2, they’re not true postseason contenders. Not with Matt Cassel under center. And that’s not a knock on Cassel per se – it’s just reality. He’s an inexperienced player trying to lead an experienced team that is so used to having their quarterback know where he’s going to throw on every play and relying on him to make plays when things go haywire.

Without Brady, teams don’t fear the Patriots like they did last year. They don’t respect they’re swagger anymore and with each loss, you know Randy Moss is itching closer and closer to tanking it. It appears that not even Bill Belichick can save this team and it’s hard to hold that against him considering he doesn’t have his quarterback.

New England’s players and coaches have done a nice job trying to convince everybody that they’re fine without Brady – that they can win just as they did last year. But with Denver, Indianapolis, Buffalo and the Jets coming up over the next month and a half, the Patriots have a tough road to stay in the playoff hunt. Save for a Matt Cassel breakout performance, this team is in major trouble. And it’s amazing how fast a team can fall from grace after losing just one player. Even if that player is Tom Brady.

Irrelevant side note that means nothing: It was funny to hear Al Michaels essentially make a reference to gambling at the end of the game. The Patriots called a timeout so that they could run one more play in the red zone with two seconds remaining and while the game was already in the books with the Chargers up 30-10, Michaels noted that, “there are a few people very interested in this play here.”

Michaels said that because the over/under on the game was 45. Had the Patriots scored a touchdown, the total would have gone over. The only reason why his comments were interesting because the media is usually so hush-hush about the world of gambling. Maybe Al had some T.J. Duckett’s riding on the under? Al…you dog you.

With a roster that includes Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Marion Barber and Jason Witten, the Dallas Cowboys are easily the most talented team in the NFC. But individual talent only gets you so far in the game of football.

The Cowboys’ 30-24 overtime loss to Arizona on Sunday might be an indication that Dallas is a bit overrated at this point. They’ve been the media’s darlings since preseason, but despite all of their offensive playmakers, the Cowboys are currently 4-2 and almost choked away a 17-0 lead against the Bengals last week. Worse yet, as Pacman Jones showed earlier this week and T.O. demonstrated by yelling at teammate Andre Gurode on the sidelines in Arizona, the team has shown signs of being dysfunctional.

Of course if the ‘Boys want to point fingers, they’ll have to direct at least some of the attention at the defense, which couldn’t stop Kurt Warner and the Cards’ offense from making big plays in the second half. And they did so without one of their top receivers in Anquan Boldin, who missed his second straight game while recovering from nasal surgery. Dallas even allowed Steve Breaston, Boldin’s replacement, to haul in eight catches for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Somehow the Cowboys finished with more total yards, fewer turnovers and held on to the ball longer, but still found a way to lose. Talent isn’t the issue with Dallas because they’re loaded. Having that talent come together to consistently win seems to be the issue.

And give the Cardinals credit – they’ve been unbeatable at home this year and they came up with big plays on Sunday (see their kickoff return for a TD to start the game and their blocked punt for a TD to win the game). If they can figure out a way to win the road (or at the very least look respectable), then they’re going to the playoffs. Because they’re clearly the best team in the NFC West this season.

While it might be incredibly unfair to suggest this of a player that has only started nine games in his career, but is JaMarcus Russell a bust? Granted he plays for the circus that is the Oakland Raiders, but check out his completion numbers in his first five games this season: 65%, 35.3%, 47.4%, 59.5% and 37.1%. That’s atrocious.

The former first overall pick finished 13 of 35 for 159 yards and an interception Sunday in the Saints’ 34-3 rout over the Raiders. Russell also fumbled twice in the game…in the first quarter.

But to suggest at this point that he’s bust might be a bit premature. Again, it’s not like he has the best situation in Oakland. Not only is his offensive line brutal, but Greg Knapp also continues to prove that he’s a bit clueless in his play calling after taking over those duties since Lane Kiffin was fired.

Speaking of Kiffin, Oakland’s play on Sunday might have proved that he was never the problem. (Or at least, not the main problem.) Even though they were losing, the Raiders at least played hard under Kiffin and showed some improvement this year before he was let go. Nothing against interim head coach Tom Cable, but the only reason he’s in the position he’s in now is because he must have shown at some point that he’s willing to bow down to Al Davis.

Kiffin wasn’t perfect and he made his fair share of mistakes, but given their effort against the Saints on Sunday, it’s fair to say Davis didn’t give the young coach a fair shake. (Or any shake for that matter considering he fired Kiffin over the phone.)

Davis needs to realize that his ship is sinking and he’s at the one at the wheel.

Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com wrote a great piece on Buccaneers’ RB Earnest Graham, who made the switch to fullback in Tampa’s 27-3 win over the Panthers on Sunday because of injuries. Graham’s selflessness allowed Warrick Dunn to rush for 115 yards.

“I’d just like to tell our fans what he did today is what this game is all about,” Gruden said.

Gruden’s right. If Tampa Bay fans didn’t see what Graham did (and they may not have because the position is anonymous by its nature), they should at least know about it.

Graham was the reason Warrick Dunn rushed for 115 yards on 22 carries. That was 115 yards Graham could have had.

“I feel proud to block for Warrick,” Graham said.

Try getting any other starting tailback around the league to say those words. You probably wouldn’t have much luck. Graham has been Tampa Bay’s starting tailback since the middle of last season and had established himself as the team’s primary ball carrier.

But he voluntarily gave up carries for bruises when Byron Storer, Tampa Bay’s only active fullback, went down with a knee injury early in the game. B.J. Askew, the usual starting fullback, was inactive because of an injury.

Gruden’s initial reaction was to turn to the contingency plan the Bucs have in place every week in case they run short of fullbacks. He, and the rest of the offensive coaching staff, began getting tight end Alex Smith ready to go in at fullback.

That’s when Graham approached Gruden on the sideline.

“I came to Gruden and said, ‘If you need a fullback, I’m your fullback,’ ” Graham said.

Hopefully this story doesn’t go unnoticed by the mainstream media (outisde of ESPN obviously). There are so many selfish athletes in sports these days; it’s nice to finally hear about the ones that give themselves up for the greater good of their team.

After they beat division rivals Dallas and Philadelphia on the road the past two weeks to push their winning streak to four games, fans and pundits alike were ready to crown the Washington Redskins as an elite team in the NFC. But hold that thought.

The previously winless, hapless St. Louis Rams waltzed into FedEx Field on Sunday and beat the Redskins 19-17 on a Josh Brown 49-yard field goal as time expired. It wasn’t only the Rams first win of the season, but it was also their first win after head coach Scott Linehan was fired and replaced by defensive coordinator Jim Haslett.

Haslett’s previous tenure as head coach of the New Orleans Saints was up and down, but his players always played hard under him. You could see that again Sunday as Rams players rallied around their head coach and fought hard for four quarters. And when things took a turn for the worse when Redskins’ RB Clinton Portis scored a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter, St. Louis didn’t give in like they might have under Linehan.

Washington took a step back with this loss, but every team has bad days. Maybe expectations should be scaled back a bit, but this is still a good team. Had they not turned the ball over as much as they did Sunday against the Rams, they probably would have walked away with their fifth win in as many games.

Still, it has to be awfully concerning to lose a home game against a previously winless Rams team. It’ll be interesting to see how first-year head coach Jim Zorn can rally his team in the wake of an embarrassing loss.