The Minnesota Vikings didn’t just sign Brett Favre in the offseason: They jumped through every hoop and hopped every hurdle in front of them in order to acquire the ageless one, including alienating Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson in the process. (And while I can’t prove it, I also fully believe that Brad Childress sold his soul in order to sign Favre as well.)

That’s why if the Vikings lose this Sunday to the Dallas Cowboys, signing Favre would have arguably been a waste. A team like Minnesota doesn’t subject itself the way it did this offseason to sign a 40-year old quarterback to lose in the second round of the playoffs. It signs a 40-year old drama queen because he’s worth it and to ensure that the team is going to have a shot at winning the Super Bowl.

Okay, so there are no sure things in pro football. Signing Favre didn’t guarantee anything for the Vikings, but they knew that they were a legit passing attack away from being a Super Bowl contender and so far, suffering through Favre’s drama this offseason has been worth it.

But if they lose this weekend, then they would have accomplished nothing. Favre isn’t going to play forever (uh, I think) and the Vikings’ window of opportunity to win a Super Bowl has been shrinking since Week 1. If they lose to the Cowboys, then the Vikes will have won precisely the same amount of playoff games with Tarvaris Jackson under center last year: Zero.

Favre is 3-7 in his last 10 postseason appearances and the Cowboys are red-hot. The Vikings have also managed to somehow stop running the ball effectively despite having Adrian Peterson in the backfield, and Dallas will no doubt utilize its outstanding pass-rush to force Favre into making mistakes. In other words, the Vikings have quite the challenge on their hands.

There’s no shame in losing to a better team, but the Vikings are built to win now. Yes, their defense still has holes – especially in the secondary. But this team proved throughout the season that it’s one of the top three teams in the conference and has enough talent to reach the title game. Winning the division was a great accomplishment for Minnesota, but expectations have hardly been met. If they advance to the NFC Championship Game, then at least they could say that they improved from last year and was close to a Super Bowl berth.

But if they lose this Sunday, then what would signing Favre have amounted to? A division title? The Vikings already achieved that last year with a similar roster. No, this team signed Favre for much more and anything short of a Super Bowl appearance would be a grave disappointment.

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