FanHouse Jared Allen

With attention spans dwindling, we forgo full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. We call it The Once-Over.

The Early Games

Denver (6-2) at Washington (2-6): Denver has lost its last two games and has shown an inability to score against good defenses. Washington's defense is ranked fifthh in the NFL, and that spells a much closer matchup than two teams with such opposite records should be involved in. It's extremely tough to throw against Washington, so Knowshon Moreno becomes a very important factor on Sunday. If he does well, Denver wins -- If Moreno falters, Denver loses.

Vikings defensive end Jared Allen embraces his redneckedness. It's become part of his public persona, and sorta like Samson, you get the feeling that if he cut the mullet, he'd lose all his super powers.

So with that in mind, hearing Allen speak of his mullet in such revered tones makes perfect sense. Because without it he'd just be just another dude.*

"The people that were doing this in the '80s, they weren't doing it because they thought it was a cool hairdo, they were doing it because they were bad ass."

That's all you need to know, really. Video ridiculousness after the jump.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It was mesmerizing, tantalizing for the fans, the 71,213 of them who filled Lambeau Field -- the most ever in this 52-year-old building. Maybe that was why, late in the fourth quarter, camera bulbs were flashing high and low as if it were the kickoff. Or why Packers fans were still on edge at that point, even though their team was cooked.

Yes, Brett Favre rolled them twice -- once in his new dome in Minnesota, and now here on Sunday on hallowed football ground. The Packers half expected him to show up and play the game in flip-flops to match his mental trickery. You know, this Packers legend, this turncoat in purple -- he had punched them in the gut before.

And after Minnesota's 38-26 win, after Favre had thrown four touchdown passes to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' three, and after the Vikings swept the season series between these long-time rivals, Favre had earned the bragging rights.

As we have done since the FanHouse began, I'll be taking a look every week at some aspect of line play. You can read more features in the series here. Check back every Thursday for a new Between The Lines.

For three years I rewatched every Steelers game with an eye on the offensive line. And a good bit of the time, it wasn't pretty. Whether it was a debacle against the Raiders in 2006 or the mass of confusion against the Eagles in 2008, there have been plenty of lowlights.

After watching the Steelers win the Super Bowl last year despite a struggling offensive line, I kind of figured that if everything went well, Pittsburgh could figure out a way to do it again. They had enough defense and enough skill position players on offense to make up for the offensive line's problems.

Think IDP leagues are the way to go? Then Ballhawkin' is for you. Here, we pick out a few Individual Defensive Players that could have huge weeks and are possibly sitting in your free-agent pool.

After Antwan Odom's monster day against the Packers, it's become pretty clear that you must start your defensive ends against Green Bay. Not that anyone was benching Jared Allen in the first place. The Minnesota monster was unstoppable, sacking quarterback Aaron Rodgers 4.5 times while forcing a fumble and scoring a safety. Now that's the kind of performance that can win you the week on its own. Unfortunately, that offensive Packer offensive line has a bye this week, but there are other matchups to exploit.

The last three weeks have been a blur for Minnesota Viking fans. They've gone from a quarterback competition to a completely different kind of quarterback controversy.

When Brett Favre walked into Viking headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minn., on Aug. 18, he brought with him the promise of a Super Bowl run. Either that, or the promise of another glorious Vikings flop. The only certainty with Favre's arrival is that nothing is a given. All the meaningless predictions are cast aside starting Sunday, as Minnesota launches their 2009 regular season at Cleveland.

Brett Favre made his second preseason start with the Vikings on Monday night, playing deep into the third quarter of Minnesota's 17-10 win against the Houston Texans. He finished the game 13-of-18 passing for 142 yards and a touchdown, but the play that's going to get the most attention and scrutiny isn't one of his passes, but a dangerous crackback block he threw at Texans safety Eugene Wilson with 4:50 to play in the third quarter.

Favre began the play lined up at wide receiver as the Vikings attempted to run out of the 'Wildcat' formation with first-round pick Percy Harvin stationed at quarterback in the shotgun. As Harvin carried the ball around the left end, Favre came in low at Wilson.

The Monday Night Football game between the Favres Vikings and Texans is certain to have a ton of Brett Favre talk, even with Tony Kornheiser departing the booth. Post-shoulder surgery Favre playing an entire half of football with his new team is news. Football fans will be watching to see if he can make the throws that he wasn't able to make at the end of last season.

But the Favre story isn't the only one to watch in this game. There's a number of interesting stories to look at for two teams that have been mentioned as playoff teams.

Without a doubt, the big story in the NFL on Friday comes out of Minneapolis. It's there that Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen's former team comes to town. The Kansas City Chiefs are obviously out to prove to Allen that they were worth staying with. Of course, Allen has a bum ankle and won't be playing, but he'll surely be on the sideline to soak it all in.

Oh, and the Vikings have a new quarterback. You might have heard about that this week. Brett Favre starts for the Vikings Friday.

Apparently Brett Favre had decided more than a week ago that he wasn't going to join the Vikings, but the Vikings wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

ESPN.com's Ed Werder reports that Favre told Vikings offensive coordinator Darren Bevell on July 20 that he would not be coming back, and that Bevell and the rest of the Vikings staff asked him to wait and think about it a little longer. The Vikings then had Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen and Steve Hutchinson call or text Favre to try to convince him to come out of retirement in what a source told ESPN was a full-court press.