Vikings Coach Brad Childress was finally relieved of his duties following Minnesota’s latest defeat, a 31-3 thrashing at the hands of the Green Bay Packers.

Aaron Rodgers took a quarter to heat up, but once he did, he embarrassed the home team by throwing for 301 yards and four touchdowns. Greg Jennings had a hat trick and 152 yards receiving, while the Green Bay defense completely shut down the Minnesota offense.

Brett Favre tossed in one final clunker, sort of a goodbye present for his former coach, going just 17-38 for 208 yards and an interception. Adrian Peterson was rendered useless; once you’re way behind, running the ball doesn’t exactly help you catch up.

Leslie Frazier will assume control of the mess after spending three-plus seasons as the team’s defensive coordinator. The Vikings defense hasn’t played as well as expected of late, but that can be attributed to the fact that the offense is forcing them to stay on the field far too long. Minnesota has scored the fourth least points per game this season. Yes, Sidney Rice was injured, but with Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson, you’d expect a bit more.

That brings us, once again, to Brett Favre. Is he banged up? Yes, but every quarterback in the league is banged up, and you don’t hear all of them saying, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to go next week because of injury X” after they perform like crap, only to miraculously say, “Oh, I can play” two days later when the story has faded. You don’t see other quarterbacks with a 10-17 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a QB-rating of 69.8, which is 32nd in the league.

Favre knows that his team’s performance is at least partially his fault, and he also knows — and knew from about Week 3 — that he made a mistake returning for one more go-round. His play has displayed that attitude; he’s performed like a man who doesn’t want to be on the field, or at least one who isn’t enjoying himself to the point where it affects his play.

And yet, through it all, Favre’s still The Gunslinger. He’s got 99% of the media spewing BS like, “You don’t even THINK about benching him if you’re Childress!” Why the hell not? Just how poorly does a guy have to perform before you bench him? Hall of Famer or not — the man has earned a benching with his play. Anyone who says otherwise is living in the past.

“He gives the team the best chance to win!” Does he? Then why are they sitting at 3-7? You wanna heap all of that…ALL OF THAT?…on Childress’ shoulders? He certainly didn’t help himself with all of his in-game blunders and the Randy Moss situation. Nor has owner Zygi Wilf helped with his hands-off-but-let’s-pretend-I’m-hands-on style of management, but come on. Favre undermined Childress at every opportunity, made him beg to get him to return, went off script during games knowing the coach didn’t have the juice, or the nerve to sit him down, and has acted like diva all season. And now the team is 3-7 with a QB who doesn’t want to be there.

Favre even went so far as to say he was “re-evaluating his situation” for the remainder of the season. He’s considering leaving the team mid-season. Ahhhh. There’s nothing like making a *&@# sandwich and leaving it out for your roommates to eat while you go grab something at a local restaurant, is there Brett? It would be good riddance even though we’d have to endure another few months of “He just couldn’t do it any more…his body wouldn’t let him” talk. It would be a positive step for the Vikings as well; they’re going nowhere with him, so why not see what Tarvaris Jackson or Joe Webb can do? I know Jackson probably isn’t in the mix down the road, but has he ever been told, “You have the job?”

In any event, what purpose does it serve to keep trotting a one-foot-out-the-door Favre out there? Right, I forgot…it gives them the best chance to win.

So, farewell Brad Childress…I’m quite certain you won’t miss dealing with the ol’ Gunslinger. You weren’t a very good head coach, but you have a proven track record as an assistant during your time in Philly. You’ll find work if you want it. What I’d like is for someone to get a one-on-one interview with him and ask him what it was like pandering to Brett Favre for two years.