Hobbled Favre and Vikings tied with Saints at 21 after 3 quarters in NFC title game

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Vikings and Saints tied at 21 after 3 quarters

NEW ORLEANS — A hobbled Brett Favre limped off the field after being flattened, but returned without missing a play as the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints were tied at 21 after three quarters in the NFC championship game Sunday.

Favre was shaken up a few plays earlier on a hit by Anthony Hargrove, but was really hurt when Bobby McCray hit him late in the third quarter. Jonathan Vilma intercepted Favre’s pass on the play, and the 40-year-old quarterback hobbled to the sidelines.

But the iron man who has started 309 consecutive games shook it off and returned, hoping to lead the Vikings to their first Super Bowl in 33 years.

The winner advances to play the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl in Miami on Feb. 7. The Colts beat the New York Jets 30-17 in the AFC championship game earlier on Sunday.

With the game tied at 14, the Saints surged out of halftime with a 61-yard kickoff return by Courtney Roby. Pierre Thomas scored from 9 yards — his second TD of the game — to give New Orleans a 21-14 lead.

After fumbling a handoff from Favre at the Saints 4-yard line late in the first half that cost the Vikings a chance to take the lead, Adrian Peterson fumbled again on the first possession of the third period. But fullback Naufahu Tahi bailed him out, pouncing on the ball to keep it in Minnesota’s possession.

Favre hit tight end Visanthe Shiancoe for gains of 20 and 21 yards to setup Peterson’s 1-yard TD run that tied the game 21-21.

Peterson fumbled yet again on the next possession, but somehow lunged forward and recovered it. Favre was hurt later in the drive.

Favre completed 22 of 35 passes for 223 yards with one TD and one interception in the first three quarters.

Drew Brees was 11 of 20 for 150 yards and two TDs. He threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Devery Henderson to tie the NFC title game 14-14 just before halftime.

The two top scoring offenses in the league got off to a roaring start, combining to throw 42 passes in the first 30 minutes.

The Vikings scored touchdowns on their first two possessions, taking a 14-7 lead on Favre’s 5-yard TD pass to Sidney Rice in a back-and-forth first quarter. Peterson scored on a 19-yard TD run to open the scoring.

The Saints made it 7-7 on Brees’ 38-yard TD pass to Thomas.

Both defenses stiffened in the second quarter, with the Saints forcing four straight punts to keep giving Brees and their high-flying offense a chance.

After sacking Tony Romo six times and pressuring him countless others in a win over Dallas last week, the Vikings barely got a whiff of Brees in the first half. On their first possession of the second quarter, Brees had plenty of time to throw and found Henderson in the back of the end zone.

A city that parties like few others hasn’t stopped celebrating all season long as they’ve watched their beloved Saints assert themselves as the class of the NFC. A 13-0 start, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and the Superdome’s first NFC title game have put their famous “Who Dat?!?” chant on repeat throughout this still recovering region.

Favre grew up less than an hour from New Orleans in Kiln, Miss., but if the region was divided at all with the favorite team going against the favorite son, it wasn’t apparent on Sunday.

Only a smattering of purple-clad Vikings backers managed to wiggle their way into the Superdome where 70,000 full-throated Saints fans had the stadium literally shaking after every big play by the home team.

No matter who comes out on top, a championship-starved franchise is going to get a long-awaited shot at the Super Bowl. In 43 years of existence, the Saints have never been to the Super Bowl, filling the role of lovable losers for all but a handful of those seasons.

The Vikings have lost all four Super Bowl appearances they’ve made, but an entire generation of fans has grown up without seeing them in the big game. The last time they were there was after the 1976 season.