Monday night (October 11) is a great night to be a sports fan. Not only will the San Francisco Giants attempt to close out their National League Divisional Series against the Atlanta Braves, but there is also a tremendous NFL match-up going down tonight at the New Meadowlands Stadium. The New York Jets will play host to the Minnesota Vikings tonight, and while the two teams don't necessarily have much of a history or a rivalry, there are a handful of intriguing stories that will be played out over the course of the game.
Tonight's game represents return engagements for a pair of wide receivers. On the Jets' side, former Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes will make his way back to the lineup after serving a four game suspension (for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy), which should give quarterback Mark Sanchez another target to help expand the team's still-evolving offensive attack. Meanwhile, the Vikings will be playing their first game since acquiring wide receiver Randy Moss from the New England Patriots (Moss, one of the game's best pass catchers, played the first seven seasons of his career as a Viking). That will expand the Minnesota passing game, which has been decimated by injury and has been struggling all season.
But of course, the main focus will be on quarterback Brett Favre, who has been under scrutiny for the past week because of allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct — actions that were to have occurred while he was a member of the New York Jets. Favre has been side-stepping the allegations all week (though when asked about the allegations, he cryptically told reporters, "That will take its course"), though by now thousands of fans have heard the voicemail messages and seen the lewd photos that Favre supposedly sent to a female Jets staffer. When you compound the fact that Favre has been having a truly terrible season (six interceptions versus only a pair of touchdowns), he probably wishes he had stayed on the farm in Mississippi.
Nevertheless, tonight's game should be an instant classic, even without all the drama. In honor of what will be a killer game (which we're predicting the Jets will win 14-10), check out Morningwood's "Jetsetter" and get fired up.