A day before the game the jesters in Green Bay buried Brett Favre in absentia for the crime of desertion. On Sunday the living and unrepentant Brett Favre arrived at Lambeau Field.

He entered to an avalanche of boos and hostile laundry; but he came without apparent anger — and with friends named Percy Harvin, Jared Allen, Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings offensive line.

He also came with a reputation for embracing the pressures of the Big Moment. It is the hallmark he cherishes most. No one in big-time professional sports does it with more relish. When it was over Sunday Favre had thrown four touchdown passes and, with their 38-26 victory, thrust the Vikings into an all-but impregnable lead in the National Football Conference’s North with a 7-1 record. It means a probable home field advantage in the winter playoffs. And it seemed to make almost inevitable a showdown between the Vikings and the undefeated New Orleans Saints somewhere in the playoffs leading to the Super Bowl.