The gods of preseason football have always smiled on Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, especially if the free agent gods have not. But that sounds like we’re subscribing to some sort of pro football polytheism that tugs the ebb and flow of all living things, and that’s just too deep for 10 AM on a Wednesday. Blockquote me, Jeeves:

ESPN’s Adam Schefter said during halftime of the Jets-Ravens game that this sentiment still exists in some corners of the Minnesota locker room.

It’s likely gotten stronger in light of the fact that Jackson pitched a perfect game on Friday night, generating a highest-possible 158.3 passer rating on 15 attempts. via.

I don’t know why anybody cites the passer rating stat, since nobody seems to know what the hell it means, and 12-for-15, while very good, is not perfect, if I could split such a hair. Brought in as a developmental project by the Childress regime in 2006 out of I-AA Alabama State, Jackson was slow to pick up the offense. But in three starts at the end of last season, Jackson led the team to two wins, completing at least 61 percent of his passes in each game, throwing 7 TDs to 1 interception against Arizona, Atlanta, and the Giants–all playoff teams.

It’s a damn shame that Brett Favre picked now to ride into Minneapolis on his Tractor Without Shame. Jackson was finally shaping up to be the leader that Childress had envisioned. Same thing happened when I met this girl sophomore year of high school. I finally worked up the nerve to ask her out, only to find out that she fell into the polar bear habitat at the zoo and drowned. But that’s life sometimes.

Speaking in relative terms, Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is terrible. But the ability to radiate suckage in almost immeasurable ways throughout his organization? That’s the stuff of anti-legend. From ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, who shares a reader email about T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s free agency trip to Minnesota:

I’m a HUGE Vikings fan living in Los Angeles. One of my employees and his brother know T.J. Houshmandzadeh. When asked why he passed on Minnesota, he told them that it was all good until they brought Tarvaris Jackson into talk to him (and basically signal to him that he is their starter). …”

Seifert then does what every other ESPNer would do with a silly reader tip. He confirms it. Wait, what?

We have to be careful about passing along news tips, but in this case Tom’s information is verified. ESPN’s John Clayton reported the same sequence of events last Saturday on ESPN radio. Houshmandzadeh himself said that the presence of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in Seattle played a big part in his decision.

Some organizations are said to have a culture of failure. But I’ve never heard of anyone or anything being the kind of Free Agent Kryptonite that Tarvaris was here. Sure, he had a few good games at the end of the year. And they did reach the playoffs. Todd Collins reached the playoffs a short while back, too. Who? Exactly.

|via Shutdown Corner|

Wild Card weekend shot its wad on Saturday, leaving us a pair of miserable Sunday games.  Quick caps:

• Cardinals 30, Falcons 24:  Caw, caw!  Skreeeee! Bird noises!  Compared to Sunday’s losers, the Falcons played admirably, but the Arizona D bottled up Atlanta’s vaunted running game and forced some key turnovers, paving the way for a loss next week in Carolina.
• Chargers 23, Colts 17 (OT): That’s three straight playoff victories for the Bolts against Indy.  Credit for this one goes to Darren Sproles and… Mike Scifres?  Sproles filled in for an injured (surprise) LaDainian Tomlinson, amassing 328 total yards and the game-winning TD that made up for a costly red zone fumble.  Scifres dropped six punts inside the Colts’ 20.
• Ravens 27, Dolphins 9:  Ugh.  You know that scene in Leaving Las Vegas where Elisabeth Shue just sits in the shower and cries after getting anally raped?  That was Chad Pennington after the game yesterday.
• Eagles 26, Vikings 14:  Donovan McNabb in early playoff round + Brian Westbrook + Philly’s blitzing D > Adrian Peterson + (-Tarvaris Jackson).  T-Jack was 15 of 35 for 164 yards and an INT.  He would have thrown more interceptions, but he’s too inaccurate.

Suck-Off winner is a tie between Pennington and T-Jack.  Pennington’s numbers were worse (4 INTs), but man oh man, it blows my mind that Tarvaris Jackson in an NFL quarterback.  He is horrible.