Farve Will Play Two Quarters as Houston Hosts Vikes'

NFL News - August 31st, 2009 - Written by John

The last four days have provided easily the most intriguing story lines midway through the preseason in recent memory. First it was Michael Vick seeing his first NFL action in two years, splitting time with Donovan McNabb at quarterback, while lining up as a slot receiver as well. Then Sunday night, vilified quarterback, Jay Cutler, returned to Mile High Stadium to learn, in living color, just how Denver remembers his breakup with the team. If he didn't know already, it took all of about two seconds to find out as fans showered him with displeasure.

"They got good fans here," Cutler said to ESPN.com after the game. "A lot of boos -- they got pretty loud there at one point. It was what we kind of prepared for."

We get to round out the group Monday night when Brett Farve, the center of another NFC North saga, gets under center at Houston for his second warm-up game since ending his retirement.

At home, the Texans are three-point favorites on BetUS.com, but taking the Vikings pays out at +150. The over/under on the game is set at 38 1/2, eliminating the chance for a push.

Farve will have more than three days to prepare for this game after having minimal time to get ready last week against Kansas City, and is expected to play the second half. He only played two series, completing only one of his for passes for four yards.
His back-ups will be under the microscope just as much after reports raced through the media outlets that there is a divide in the locker room on who should be leading the team. Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels will split time in the second half. Rosenfels will be making a return to his previous employer for the first time. Rosenfels had spent the last three years with the Texans before being dealt to Minnesota to compete for the starting job.

Discussions won't only surround Minnesota's quarterbacking corp. Monday night will also be a reunion for Houston's Matt Schaub with the player who sidelined him for 4 1/2 games last season. The last time his team faced the Vikings, two tackles by lineman Jared Allen resulted in an injury and netted Allen a $50,000 fine by the league. Schaub has been quick to dismiss any rumors of bad blood, but it will be interesting to see how Allen attacks him if he breaks through the line.

The Texans have had an up-and-down preseason. After handling the Chiefs at home, their defense blew up to the tune of 38 points against the loaded New Orleans Saints. Third-string running back Mike Bell reached the 100-yard mark on ten carries for the Saints, who, as a team, accumulated 420 total yards on the night.

"It's a humbling game," Texans' coach Gary Kubiak said to ESPN.com after the game. "You can walk out of the stadium one week and feel good about yourself, and then walk out the next week and wonder what the heck is going on. We got pushed around. We have to play better than that up front in order to be successful."

Minnesota has won both of it's meetings against Houston, once in 2004 and again in the aforementioned meeting last season. The Vikings are 1-0 this preseason as a road underdog.

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