Columnist Sal DeFilippo: Favre consistently spells defeat for at least on e Las Vegas bettor

Sal DeFilippo

Friday, Oct. 15, 1999 | 9:54 a.m.

Sal DeFilippo's pro football picks column appears Friday. Reach him at sal@vegas.com or 259-4076.

There are many reasons why I should dislike Brett Favre.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback is already a three-time league Most Valuable Player, has a Super Bowl ring, and turned 30 on Sunday. I beat him to the punch on one of those three accomplishments. Care to guess which?

But that's minor.

I picked Green Bay to cover the spread against Oakland and Detroit in the opening two weeks of the season. Favre struggled before rallying to beat the Raiders in the final minute, but not by the margin necessary to cover, and was miserable in a loss at Detroit.

I went against Favre in Minnesota. This time, his fourth-down game-winning touchdown pass is enough to beat me.

But that still isn't the main reason I should want Favre to fail.

The biggest issue is with his name. It goes against every journalistic instinct for me to see the letter V before an R and pronounce it "Irv".

It's not even a silent letter -- it's more of a dyslexic one. It's just wrong.

But during the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against Tampa Bay, I still found myself rooting for this guy. He butts helmets with linemen on the other team as a show of respect. He plays injured, keeping his bad thumb wrapped whenever the other team has possession of the ball. He's emotional and plays with a fervor -- note the r before the v there, Brett -- rarely seen in today's signal callers.

And in four games this year, he has engineered three remarkable and dramatic victories, capped by last week's insanity against Tampa Bay. Down by four with under two minutes to play, Favre marched Green Bay 73 yards in five plays -- using up a whopping 35 seconds -- for a three-point win.

In fact, he's so exciting, I'm thinking about bending the rules of grammar -- just a little -- to allow me to better accept his success.

After all, watching him cavre up defenses has become pavre for the course. He's got nevres of steel, that Favre. He mavrelous.

Teams like Tampa Bay are stavring for the spotlight, but it sevres them right to lose this way.

Favre's heroics highlighted yet another topsy-tuvry week in the NFL. Some of the noteworthy happenings:

Curt Warner's five TD passes led the Rams to their first win over the 49ers since 1990, a span of 18 games. St. Louis is now the league's only unbeaten team at 4-0. Ten teams have one loss, including seven in the AFC.

The defending Super Bowl teams each earned their first win against four losses last week, curiously each by three points in a division game as a road underdog.

The Eagles and Bengals each notched their first win, both rallying in the fourth quarter with touchdown passes to players wearing number 81. The latter's victory leaves Cleveland as the league's only winless team.

A week after Jimmy Johnson said Dan Marino was making bad decisions, the Dolphins quarterback threw for 393 yards -- the most he has passed for in Johnson's tenure as the Miami coach -- in a last-minute victory over the Colts. Considering Johnson has stressed the run since becoming the Dolphins coach, it stands to reason that perhaps he is the one making the bad decisions.

Nineteen teams were outscored on Sunday by the Boston Red Sox, who spanked Cleveland 23-7 in Game 4 of an American League Division Series. With the 12-8 victory in Game 5 to win the series, Boston doubled up the New York Jets' pathetic Monday Night output.

For the record

Jim Mora took an intentional safety in Indianapolis last week to improve his field position late in the fourth quarter. Miami scored anyway, but the resulting three-point win, rather than the one-point victory that Miami should have had, was a tough beat. Cincinnati's failure to convert a two-point attempt cost me another spread victory last week, but I still finished at 7-7, with a 10-4 mark on over/under plays. Best bet New England, despite missing an easy field goal as time expired, covered the number.

Top of the line: 2-3.

Against the spread: 34-36-2.

Over/unders: 39-31-2.

Straight-up: 41-31.

Top of the line

MINNESOTA -3 1/2 at Detroit, over 45 -- After a fast start, the Lions have fallen to 2-2, but that's still a half-game better than the disappointing Vikings. This week, though, Minnesota has many long, pleasant drives in Pontiac. Minnesota 34, Detroit 14.

Other games

MIAMI +2 at New England, under 42 1/2 -- After outright robbery at Indianapolis, Dan Marino will attempt tangle with the law -- New England defenders Ty Law and Lawyer Millow -- and escape happily. Miami 20, New England 17.

BUFFALO -3 1/2 vs. Oakland, over 40 1/2 -- The Bills' wins are starting to pile up -- four in a row -- while the Raiders tried to mail one in against Denver last week and lost. Flutie stamps out Oakland. Buffalo 27, Oakland 16.

INDIANAPOLIS -3 at New York Jets, over 42 1/2 -- The artificial turf at Giants Stadium moved farther than the Jets' offense last week. Indianapolis 34, New York Jets 13.

ST. LOUIS -7 1/2 at Atlanta, over 45 1/2 -- The Rams smashed the Falcons 35-7 a few weeks ago, and little has changed since, except that the Rams have improved a little. Their toughest decision these days is deciding whose turn it is to score four touchdowns. St. Louis 41, Atlanta 19.

CLEVELAND +18 at Jacksonville, under 37 -- The Jaguars, who have the league's top defense in practically every category, are rewarded by getting to spend this weekend sprawled out on a Couch. But offensively, the Jaguars haven't jelled yet, and it's hard to lay 18 points with a team that has struggled recently to reach that total. Jacksonville 24, Cleveland 9.

TENNESSEE -2 1/2 at New Orleans, over 36 1/2 -- The Saints have blown late leads in each of the past two weeks. They won't have to worry about that against the Titans. Tennessee 27, New Orleans 16.

PITTSBURGH -5 at Cincinnati, under 37 1/2 -- The Bengals stole one from the Steelers last year when then-Cincinnati QB Neil O'Donnell faked a spike and threw a touchdown pass to Carl Pickens. Mr. Smith must have seen that game, because Akili's tendencies have been to go to Pickens -- they connected on two touchdown passes last week, including the game-winner in the closing seconds. Pittsburgh gets revenge, however, as Jerome Bettis makes a few stops in the end zone. Pittsburgh 24, Cincinnati 10.

CHICAGO -7 at Philadelphia, under 34 1/2 -- Two double-digit underdogs that pulled off upsets last week square off in Chicago. No upsets this time -- believe it or not, the Bears move to 4-2. Chicago 17, Philadelphia 7.

SEATTLE -1 1/2 at San Diego, over 37 1/2 -- Keep holding out, Joey Galloway. The Seahawks will keep winning without you. Seattle 24, San Diego 14.

GREEN BAY -3 1/2 vs. Denver, under 40 -- Without John Elway, Terrell Davis and Shannon Sharpe, this will hardly seem like a rematch of Super Bowl XXXII. It may more closely resemble Denver's first four Super Bowl efforts. Green Bay 26, Denver 13.

SAN FRANCISCO -5 vs. Carolina, over 44 -- A confused George Seifert keeps walking over the other sideline and giving away all of his plays. San Francisco 31, Carolina 17.

WASHINGTON -3 at Arizona, over 44 -- The Redskins are on a pace to score 600 points this season, averaging more than 37 points a game en route to a 3-1 start. This week, however, I expect them to come out rusty after the layoff, barely scraping 30 points together. Washington 30, Arizona 20.

DALLAS -3 at New York Giants, under 37 -- This is the one game each year where Deion Sanders actually does something productive. Another prime-time yawner at the Meadowlands. Dallas 20, New York Giants 7.