I’m talking about Sage Rosenfels. He should be wearing purple and riding pine behind number four. T-Jack is the joker who ought to be shipped off to another team – any other team – and out of Vikings purple.

Here’s why.

Because Brett Favre is 41 this fall, coming off ankle problems, and whoever sits behind Favre this season might actually see some time on the field, and could even be elevated to the level of starter. It’s that simple. It ought to have been Rosenfels staying, because Favre is one good, hard sack away from needing Medicare part D plans.

Fan sentiment on this is almost universal: T-Jack was booed off the field at Metrodome in the final pre-season game. And while Sage Rosenfels didn’t exactly set the field ablaze last Thursday, his preseason included over 400 yards passing, no picks and a few touchdown passes. T-Jack? He had 60 yards and a whole bunch of goose eggs.

Yet idiot-savant head coach Brad Childress said keeping T-Jack was “obvious” because of growth they’ve seen in him this preseason… on the practice field. OK, so he does his reps well. Big deal. Handling big-game pressure is what counts. Handling ANY game pressure is what counts. And T-Jack has been disappointing Vikings fans for years on that count.

Doubt me? It was a group of veteran Vikings PLAYERS who traveled down to Mississippi to talk Brett out of permanent retirement – again – this summer. Why? Because Chilly was making it clear that T-Jack was going to be starting if Favre didn’t return.

Nuff said?

Let’s be clear: I don’t think Sage Rosenfels is the next Brett Favre. He’s not even the next Daunte Culpepper. Heck, he’s barely even the next Rich Gannon. But even at that level, he’d be a big improvement over T-Jack.

Bad call, Chilly. Better hope your job doesn’t ride on it.

The question becomes more important than ever this year as Favre, who turns 41 this fall, enters the season with an ankle still bouncing back from a third surgery; while Brett’s an NFL Legend, he is human and he’s getting old. So whoever lands the back-up job needs to be reliable in the crunch, and could be sending out Christmas party invitations about becoming the starter this season, should Favre’s durability finally falter.

So far, the on-the-field choice would seem to be Sage Rosenfels. He’s completed 30 of 47 passes for 392 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Compare that to Tavaris Jackson, who’s been 10 of 18 for 58 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions, and the leader ought to be clear.

However, coach Brad Childress remains sold on T-Jack, claiming he’s seen “an evolution” in Jackson during the team practices. Color me skeptical, but give me the guy who can get the job done at game time when the pressure’s on any time over the practice impresario any day of the week… especially on Sunday.

The debate over who gets the number two slot is more critical this season as rookie Joe Webb is proving to be the third-stringer of the future and a guy the Vikings don’t want to risk exposing to practice squad waivers. That means whoever wins the number two job will stay with the Vikes, and whoever doesn’t might likely be traded or cut.

Here’s hoping Childress has the foresight to recognize Rosenfels as the keeper.

Even so, it’s not like I’m searching out his health insurance quotes, wondering if he will return or retire. If he’s back, great. If not, well… I’m not going to say we’ll be just fine, because this merry-go-round Brett takes teams on really pens them in until it’s too late to do much but hope he does return because we counted on that and now have no great options left.

I’m not a T-Jack fan and while Joe Webb is interesting, I’m not sure he’ll even make the roster when Brett returns. And Sage wasn’t even able to beat out T-Jack last year for the backup spot.

Wake me when the regular season starts, someone.

The ankle apparently hasn’t been improving, and Favre has previously stated it is the state of his ankle that has caused him to be uncertain about his return to the Vikings this coming season.

If Favre decides against corrective surgery, it could indicate that he’s not interested in returning to the Vikings for one final season, and is opting for retirement … again … likely for real, this time. Or it could mean the ankle’s improved on its own and he’ll try to gut out his final NFL campaign without the surgery.

Either way, Favre’s timing could be unfortunate for the Vikings; they made no serious effort to acquire a genuine Plan B quarterback, either through the draft or free agency, and at this point that could mean a “like it or not” turn back to T-Jack this coming season, barring a blockbuster trade.

Bad news.

Yet his aversion to training camp or letting teams know his intentions in time to plan for the draft or how to behave in trading and free agency has long been a character flaw. Considering his ability to win games, however, even that quirk is often forgivable.

McNabb may not be Favre (even with the antiaging products Favre seems to benefit from), but he’s a darn sight better than T-Jack or Sage, and he’s the kind of talent you need if the Vikings are going to do right by RB Adrian Peterson, who deserves to go to a Super Bowl. McNabb would be younger without going too young, and it would satisfy the QB depth enough, even if the trade means losing T-Jack, Sage, or both of them.

It would also enable to Vikings to use their top draft pick on a defensive tackle, cornerback or lineman, rather than an eventual Favre successor or replacement. The QB pool is deep enough this year to take someone as late as the third round and still get a worthwhile prospect to develop; having Favre and McNabb ahead of him on the depth chart would only help ensure the young QB wouldn’t be pressed into front-line service too quickly.

Word is that Jay Leno, back in control of the Tonight Show thanks to incompetent NBC dimwits, has landed Vikings QB Brett Favre as his guest for a March 4 show, the first week of Leno’s second reign. Odds are, Favre won’t be there to promote www.successfulhomebusiness.org.

Instead, he’s sure to talk about what it was like to come one interception away from a Super Bowl at age 40 and wearing the colors of his life-long arch-nemesis team, the purple of the Minnesota Vikings. Whether he’ll return next season is an announcement he may make, but don’t expect it to be binding one way or another … at least, not until after the Vikings break training camp in Mankato.

Then, maybe…

Sure, New Orleans is tough; sure, they scored a lot of points against Arizona.

Then again, Dallas scored a lot of points against Philly before they faced the Vikings, and all they managed against us was three points. In fact, the Vikings defense allowed fewer points today than any playoff team this weekend. Well, sure… Indy held Baltimore to three points, also, but was that as impressive as holding Dallas to three points? I think not.

Many people thought 40-year-old Brett Favre would be studying the best joint supplements by now, not a New Orleans game plan for the right to go to the big game.

OK, so New Orleans’ QB is younger than Favre by a decade or so. So what? It’s going to be a great game and between Favre and Brees, guess who has been in more playoff games and to more Super Bowls?

Hint: it’s not the guy in black and gold.

As for that running up the score thing? Well, that’s just Favre being Favre. No one (except us Vikings fans) grumbled about it when Brett was in green-n-gold. Now that he’s in purple, he’s suddenly a bad sport?

Nope. He always has been.

With a 17-point lead and about 12 minutes left, Minnesota’s in a good position to win. And this is a Dallas offense that put up a load of points against Philly last week. Talk about defense!

Adrian takes it. Second and five. Five yard gain. That’s solid.

Harvin on the handoff. First down!

Peterson on the handoff. Three yard gain. Second and seven.

Smart to grind it out at this point.

Peterson again… no, play action. Complete to Rice! 20-yard connection.

Nine minutes to go. Good time of possession and clock control.

Peterson gains six yards. Second and four.

Peterson again; no gain. Third and four. Eight minutes left.

Rice catches it again… TOUCHDOWN! Make that 26-3, and it’ll be 27-3 after the extra point.

Kick’s up and good. 24-point lead! New Orleans, here we come!

Taylor gains five. Second and five.

Farve to Rice. TOUCHDOWN! A 47-yarder!

Vikes up 6-0!

NOW the playoffs have begun! Extra point up and… good! Vikes 7, Cowbots 0!

But perhaps the key stat, besides the Vikings 36, Bears 10 final score, comes in the first down differential. Minnesota had 31 first downs in the game; the Bears had only eight. Any time you dominate to that extent on first downs, it means you’re sustaining drives and scoring more than your opponent.

In all, the Vikings ran 83 plays, gaining 537 yards, while the Bears managed only 38 offensive plays, gaining 169 yards. That made Peterson’s lost fumble hurt a whole lot less, especially with the Bears giving up a fumble of their own, as well as two Jay Cutler interceptions.

Now sitting at 10-1, the Vikings have, in effect, a four game lead over the Green Bay Packers, who are 7-4 but were swept by the Vikings in the regular season. The Bears fall to 4-7 with the loss, and a rematch at Soldiers’ Field in late December is all but academic, and will be more about whether the Vikings have home field advantage sewn up throughout the playoffs by then or not; at 5-0 in the NFC North, the magic number for the division title is only two: either two more Vikings wins, two more Packers losses, or any combination thereof.

Next item of interest? This week’s Monday night game; if the New England Patriots can hand the New Orleans Saints their first loss of the season, the Vikings will be tied for home field advantage throughout the playoffs! Go, Pats!

But the Vikings let the Packers find some hope in the second half as Aaron Rodgers brought his Green Bay brigade to within four points at one point; however, with solid running from Adrian Peterson, huge special teams plays by Percy Harvin and a four-TD pass performance by some former Packer QB named Farve, the Silver Fox engineered enough offense to put an exclamation point on his statement to his former team that they put him out to pasture a little too soon.

Enjoy those discount cigars while they last, though; we haven’t faced off with an up-and-down Chicago Bears team even once yet!