Brett Favre's fantastic season in Minnesota is bearing a striking resemblance to John Elway's swan song year of 1998 in Denver.

Elway became the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl — at age 38 — that season.

Favre, who turned 40 last month, just might be able to break that record this year with the

Vikings.

Elway's final championship season was bolstered by a great supporting cast. The Broncos had

the best running back in the league at the time in Terrell Davis. They ranked second in the

NFL in rushing in 1998. Denver's defense ranked third in the league against the run.

The same circumstances have come together for Favre. He has the dominant runner in the game in

his backfield in Adrian Peterson. The Vikings currently rank No. 10 in rushing yards, but

they're better than that number indicates. Minnesota's defense, led by the Williams Wall

(defensive tackles Pat and Kevin), ranks No. 3 in the league against the run.

This is the best supporting cast Favre has had since his one Super Bowl-championship

season, in 1996. That year the Packers were first overall on defense and had the 11th best

running game.

The Packers were loaded again in 1997 and probably should have won the Super Bowl that year

(they lost to the Broncos). But every year since, Favre has had to carry the overwhelming

amount of the load for his team.

Not this year. And he's responding with one of his greatest seasons.

He's completing 69.7 percent of his passes. He has a league-best passer rating of 112.7. He

has 21 TD passes and three interceptions.

Polian eraThe succession plan in the Indianapolis Colts'

front office has been made official. The Colts this week extended the contracts of both Bill

Polian and son Chris "through 2012 and beyond," the team announced. Chris Polian was promoted

to general manager, a job he has been groomed for over the past decade.

Bill Polian remains team president. Chris Polian was the Colts' director of scouting from

1998-2000, assistant director of football operations from 2001-03 and assistant general

manager/football operations and pro personnel in '04 and vice president for football

operations since 2005. His day-to-day duties remain essentially the same. Bill Polian is 66.

Chris Polian is 38.

It's a great move for Colts owner Jim Irsay.

Eagles patience

Even though it's a win-now league, teams can't forget that some rookies simply take a few

years to develop. Philadelphia tackle Winston Justice, a second-rounder in 2006, was chalked

up as a total bust entering this year. He almost got Donovan McNabb killed in a famous game

against the Giants in 2007. But he was forced back onto the field this year due to the

season-ending injury to right tackle Shawn Andrews.

Justice has done fairly well. So the Eagles rewarded him with a four-year contract extension

this week. Nobody would have predicted that at the start of the year.

RIP Tom Janik

Tom Janik, who died at age 69 in his native Texas this week, remains prominent in the

Buffalo Bills' record book. He holds the mark for longest interception return — 100

yards in the Bills' upset of Joe Namath and the Jets in 1968. He still ranks third in

interception return yards with 495, behind only Butch Byrd and Tony Greene. He's 11th in

interceptions, with 21. The single-season interception record of 10 is shared by Janik (1967)

and Billy Atkins (1961).

Janik recalled the pickoff of Broadway Joe in the book, "Then Levy Said to Kelly," by Jim

Gehman. Said Janik: "About the 30, I was laughing so hard because I turned around and looked,

and he was limping and gimping, chasing me. I knew he couldn't run with his bad leg. [In the

end zone] I threw the ball in the air and about 15 fans fought like crazy. After the game

there was one guy that handed the ball back to me, and it looked like he was whipped on all

day and all night long. But he had a smile from ear to ear."

That well-researched book, released last month, includes stories from all five decades of

Bills history. It's a great holiday gift idea.

Onside kicks

In order to pry QB Brian Brohm out of Green Bay, where he sat on the Packers'

practice squad, the Bills signed him to a two-year deal with minimum base salaries of $385,000

and $470,000 and a minimal $10,000 signing bonus. The Bills apparently sweetened the deal with

$222,250 in likely-to-be-earned bonus money this year. The Packers were willing to match the

deal, but Brohm correctly decided he was not going to pass Aaron Rodgers on the depth chart

and get a true shot with Green Bay.

Ex-Bills defensive coordinator Jerry Gray, now defensive backs coach for the Redskins,

was a contender to take over as new head coach at the University of Memphis, according to

various reports.

In St. Louis, the tenure of Marc Bulger as QB is all but over. He's out three to

six weeks with a shin injury, and Kyle Boller is taking over. Bulger, 32, has been the Rams'

starter since midway through the 2002 season and made two Pro Bowls. But the Rams are 6-36 the

past two-plus years, and the team is set for a change.

The Falcons' defense just isn't the same as last year. It ranks 29th versus the

pass. One reason is cornerback injuries. It looks like Atlanta is down to its fourth option on