They don’t even need a touchdown –only a field goal. Ryan Longwell is the best in the business, give him the opportunity to win the game and he’ll do it – the seasoned veteran has done it plenty of times before…

Brett Favre hobbles onto the field. A picture of determination and toughness; he’s taken a beating the whole game, surviving blow after blow from an unrelenting Saints defensive line. A scare earlier in the contest had him thinking his ankle was broken. Today wasn’t the day to get a broken ankle, however, “tape it up,” he said to the trainer, “I’m going back in.”

Standing underneath center, the focus of millions of captivated viewers, Favre is in complete control. He calls an audible, arms outstretched, pointing to things in the defense only he can see.

“Hike!”

He takes two grueling steps back then stretches the ball out to his right for his Pro-Bowl running back to carry down the field through a daunting Saints defense. Four yards.

Limping a few yards closer to his sideline, he looks fixedly to the coaches as he’s given the next play through his earpiece. Corralling his teammates seven yards back from the line of scrimmage Favre directs his players with a calm that can only come from a player of his pedigree. He’s been in the league six years longer than the second oldest player on his team – he’s looked at as the heart of wisdom, the town elder in a village of youth.

A pass to Percy Harvin is threaded right in-between a defensive linemen’s outstretched arms and hits him right on the money in the middle of the field:  14 yards and a first down.

Favre jogs to the new line of scrimmage as he’s done millions of times before. Head held high, a blank expression panning his face, he knows what must be done. He knows that it is moments such as these that win men glory.

On his own 38-yard line, the clock at 1:40 and rolling, Favre directs the offense from the line. It’s time to go no-huddle. The game is entirely in his hands now. A successful drive will win him immortality; while a drive that ends in failure will have him asking, “what could have been.”

His intense concentration drones out the roar of the thunderous New Orleans crowd as the ball is snapped. He takes a three-step drop and plants, but nobody is open. A defensive lineman comes around from his left-hand side and he’s forced to leave the pocket and scramble until one of his receivers can escape coverage. Luckily, as a saints lineman grabs him by the ankles, Sidney Rice finds a gap in the defense and Favre is able to side-arm him the ball as he collapses to the turf.  Rice sidesteps a defender as he goes flying past him and runs up the sideline, stiff-arming two defenders on the way, before he’s finally wrestled out of bounds.

The ball is now at the Saints’ 46; there is 1:22 left on the clock. The crowd is dumbstruck and silent as it watches the spectacle on the field unfolding. Favre is now running down the field -adrenaline overpowering any bodily pain- with his arms outstretched, commanding his troops from a confident gallop.

1:21… 1:20… 1:19… 1:18… The clock is winding down as Favre gets under center once again. A quick hike of the ball has him dropping back and hitting Percy Harvin on a quick release: A five yard gain.

1:09… 1:08… 1:07… Favre and the Vikings have one timeout left and don’t want to use it now; ball only at the 41.

The next play, an incomplete pass down the left sideline to Bernard Berrian, sends the offense to the huddle on 3^rd down, with five yards to go for a 1st. 

The clock is now stopped.

Favre and Childress meet quickly on the sideline. Any tension that may have occurred earlier in the season is now gone as they become united under a single goal. A quick exchange on the sideline sends Favre back to the huddle –a leader of men- to finish of the drive and send his team to Miami.

He needs a first down. A kick from the 41 is out of Longwells range and takes the game out of his hands: He lives for this moment - he wants the ball.

With a quick count Favre drops back and scans the field. The saints are sending six men on a blitz and he is forced to roll to his right. The Saints defenders are gaining on him as the offensive line breaks down, forcing him to throw the ball across his body to a crossing Sidney rice. It is a grueling fastball that hits him right in the numbers: A bull’s-eye. Carrying the ball as he continues to cross the field, Rice hurdles a defender and runs for the sideline – finally pushed out of bounds at the Saints’ 30.

Still too far for a Longwell gimme-shot, Favre calls a timeout. The clock, now just under :50, is stopped as Favre and the battered Viking offense head to the sideline.  Childress wants a few more yards before he sends the kicking unit onto the field, and Favre isn’t going to deny him that luxury –a luxury that finds it’s value in confidence.

Strolling back onto the field, the Vikings call a run play that sends Adrian Petterson into the three hole for a gain of 3 yards, bringing the ball to the 27.

A quick follow up once gain goes to Petterson who takes the ball to the opposite side of the offensive line for a similar gain. It’s now 3^rd and four and Favre has time for one more pass play to the sidelines before he has to leave the field so that the kicking team can come on.

:25… :24… :23… “Hike!”

Favre drops back once again. Scanning the field he sees Harvin off to his right in double coverage –a man over the top- with Rice right underneath also covered. He quickly turns to his left ( :19… :18… :17…) and sees Berrian shooting down the left sideline and guns it to him. Berrian, forgetting how much time is left on the clock, tries to get down the field for more yards, breaking two tacklers, before he’s finally brought down hard at the five, in bounds -only nine seconds left.

The next play is going to get off right as time expires. There isn’t enough time to spike the ball and bring the kicking unit onto the field to finish the game and secure the win. Favre is going to have to get his team to the line of scrimmage, get them the play, and call hike all inside a nine second window.

Favre and the offense sprint to the new line of scrimmage. The clock is stopped until the referees reset the ball, but unfortunately they do that before Favre and his offense have time to get set.

The Clock is winding… :04… :03… :02… and with just over one second left Favre’s offense is finally set and he calls, “hike,” just in time. This is going to be the last play of regulation, a touchdown will win it, a miss will send them to overtime.

Favre’s offense has three receivers wide and he drops back. Surveying the field he can’t find anyone open and the pocket is collapsing around him. He doesn’t want to force the ball, but he has to do something – If he holds it any longer he’s going to go down for a sack. So, stepping up in the collapsing pocket he looks across the field one more time. He doesn’t see anything. He has to try and run it. Finding a hole in the center of the pocket he darts toward the goal line –his ankle visibly giving way with each step- before a linebacker meets him at the one. Favre, not daunted by how outmatched he is physically, stretches out the ball in an attempt to break the plain and score a touchdown. Just as his knee is about to hit the ground Favre magically finds another inch in his 6-2 frame and the ball just barely crosses the goal line. Both line judges descend on the middle of the field running,  arms raised high: Touchdown Vikings. Vikings win.

Getting up from the ground Favre’s teammates and the sideline descend upon him. A heroic effort from Favre is sending them to the Superbowl, a yearlong goal finally reached. Lost for a second in a purple horde Favre is hoisted on top of his teammates shoulders as they carry him off the field. Tears of joy roll down the 40–year-old veterans battered and bruised face as he looks up towards the stands –one hand holding his helmet high above his head, the other pointing to something in the crowd. He’s pointing to his wife as a dream is finally realized. The game will come to be known as the “send-off” in Minnesota – a game that sent the Vikings to Miami where they won the Super Bowl on another Favre game-winning drive, and Favre off the field atop his teammates shoulders: An image that will forever be etched in sports consciousness.

But this is only what could have been…