Favre gets a little loving . . . via a blog

Brett Favre’s image has taken enough of a hit lately that his wife has come to his defense in her family blog.

“This latest round of media scrutiny has been harder, more disheartening and seemingly unending,” Deanna Favre wrote. “Brett does not, in any way, hold a vendetta against his former team. But that has not stopped some from scrutinizing his every move and blaming him for so many things that simply are not true.

“Some incidents, like the locker room pranks appear funny [but they are still untrue]. Others, like the questionable phone calls to other teams are hurtful, distasteful, and . . . still untrue as they have been reported.

“Because of this, lately, my heart has been so heavy. It is very hard to watch the daily toll this has taken on Brett.”

Favre threw three interceptions in the New York Jets’ 28-24 victory over Kansas City on Sunday. Duly scrutinized, none of them could be written off as untrue.

Not big on the Big 12

Is the Big 12 Conference overrated?

“With its sharpshooter quarterbacks and supercharged spread offenses, the Big 12 looks like college football’s most cutting-edge conference. But is it possible that this high-tech corridor in the Great Plains is really just an echo chamber?” Darren Everson of WSJ.com writes. “Maybe the Big 12 has finally become the juggernaut its founding fathers expected when the league launched in 1996. But unsubstantiated hype could just as easily serve as the source of the conference’s high rankings. Despite its flashy offense, none of the Big 12’s national-title contenders has a major nonconference victory to its credit, and none has a standout defense.

“Those ordinary defenses bode most ominously. Based on recent statistical history, this season’s national champion will not come from the Big 12. The last five Bowl Championship Series title-game winners all ranked among the country’s top 10 in total defense.”

The last team without a top-10 defense to win the title? The 2003 USC Trojans, whose defense ranked 30th when they shared the championship with Louisiana State.

Meltdown by the bay

Mike Singletary’s first postgame news conference as coach of the San Francisco 49ers has already taken on semi-legendary status, evoking memories of Dennis Green’s famous rant after his Arizona Cardinals blew a big lead against the Chicago Bears during the 2006 season.

“Passionate? Good Lord. I haven’t seen that level of genuine [yet controlled] fury and naked honesty by any coach or manager in a postgame setting, ever,” Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote after the 49ers’ 34-13 defeat against Seattle on Sunday.

“Had Singletary been selling kitchen knives, I now would own the 60-piece set.”

Singletary’s passion spilled over during the game as well. He benched quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan in the second quarter and ordered tight end Vernon Davis off the field for bad behavior in the fourth quarter.

“That’s not a head coach the 49ers hired,” Ostler wrote, “that’s a bouncer.”