Is Brett Favre Helping or Hurting the Vikings' Chances at a Super Bowl?

Vikings PhotosOnce a trendy Super Bowl pick, the Minnesota Vikings have fallen to 1-3 through the first five weeks of the NFL season. So who's to blame for their poor start?








It's not the defense, which has kept the Vikings in every game.







It's not Adrian Peterson, who leads the league with 120 rush yards per game.







It's not that the Vikings don't have a plethora of elite playmaking pass catchers, because they do.







So what is it?!







It's got to be Brett Favre. Through four games Favre has thrown seven interceptions, tying the number he had all of last season and putting him on pace for 28 picks in 2010.







Even when he's not soft-tossing interceptions to the defense, Brett has looked much less accurate this season than in 2009. Multiple times Favre missed opportunities to make easy throws to a single-covered Randy Moss against the Jets. In the fourth quarter with the game on the line, No. 4 overthrew Percy Harvin, who was wide open after badly beating Darrelle Revis.







Brett Favre doesn't seem capable of making all the throws Brett Favre makes. He is no longer the three-time MVP, but a subpar 41-year-old quarterback with a bum ankle and tendinitis in his elbow.







Not only is Favre hurting the Vikings on the gridiron, he is becoming a problem off it too. With a pending NFL investigation and a possible suspension facing Favre, there is a lot more chatter going on in the locker room than just how they are going to turn their disappointing season around.







So what should the Vikings do? Tarvaris Jackson has shown nothing to prove he should replace Brett. Joe Webb is an exciting prospect who could add another dimension to the offense, but he is very raw as a rookie and shouldn't be handed the keys to a team with Super Bowl aspirations.







Even if there was an alternative option, how would it look if the Vikings replaced the man they fell over themselves to get back?







The Vikings may have no other choice than to hope Brett shakes off the rust and finds some of his old magic that made Minnesota fall in love with him a year ago.