The ageless quarterback threw a
6-yard touchdown pass to rookie Percy Harvin in his debut with the
Minnesota Vikings, and Peterson scored three touchdowns in a 34-20 win
over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Making his 270th consecutive start
after a will-he-or-won't-he flirtation that dominated NFL headlines
this summer, the 39-year-old Favre showed he can still fire the
football with authority — and hasn't lost his boyish love for the game.
After hooking up with Harvin, Favre
sprinted into the end zone and tackled the young wide receiver who was
just 4 years old when his QB joined Green Bay.
Peterson scored on a pair of 1-yard
plunges and capped his day with an electrifying 64-yarder in the fourth
quarter to make it 34-13.
Peterson, who was held to 25 yards in the first half, finished with 180 on 25 carries.
Favre was 14-of-21 for 110 yards and
appeared to be fully recovered from offseason surgery to repair a torn
biceps tendon, an injury that plagued him down the stretch last season
with the Jets. Favre threw nine interceptions in New York's final five
games, a slide that cost his team a playoff spot and led to coach Eric
Mangini's firing.
Mangini is now with Cleveland, and
one game into his tenure, little has changed with the Browns. They fell
to 1-10 in season openers since 1999, but did score their first
offensive touchdown in seven games when Brady Quinn hit tight end
Robert Royal with 28 seconds left.
Quinn, picked by Mangini to start
after a drawn-out battle with Derek Anderson, had a rocky opener. He
went 21-of-35 for 205 yards, but most of his completions came on
dump-offs and short routes. He had one interception and the game's most
comical moment when he had the ball pop out of his hand and fall behind
him following a scramble.
Joshua Cribbs scored on a 67-yard punt return for Cleveland's first TD.
It was a game in the first half.
The second one belonged to the Vikings, who trailed 13-10 at the break.
Minnesota scored on its first
possession of the third quarter as Peterson plowed his way into the end
zone. The next time Cleveland had the ball, Quinn was intercepted by
cornerback Cedric Griffin, who broke off his coverage from Braylon
Edwards and made the easy pick at the Vikings 18. Favre then went to
work, leading Minnesota on the kind of drive he used to victimize the
Vikings with when he was with the Packers.
After being sacked, Favre stepped up
in the pocket and zipped a pass to Harvin for 21 yards. Peterson then
ripped off a 19-yard run before Favre capped the 13-play, 82-yard drive
that ate up 7:32 with a short pass to Harvin, who was wrapped up by the
2 but managed to stretch his arms across the goal line.
Favre and Mangini greeted each other
warmly on the field before the game, hugging and sharing a few laughs.
Their relationship wasn't always so buddy-buddy in New York, ending
with Mangini's ouster, which many blamed on Favre's arm injury.