There are subplots galore in Jets, Vikings matchup

The New York Jets play host to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night in a game that features the NFL’s best lines.

Best story lines, that is.

It’s the scorching “Hard Knocks” Jets against the struggling Vikings and their newly formed combo of Brett Favre and Randy Moss. In a season where new TV benchmarks are set every week, this could be the blockbuster of them all.

“I don’t have a recollection of this many stars and subplots in a game,” ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski said. “Usually, when we open a show, we have two or three story lines. We’ve got a dozen story lines here.”

A sampling:

• Favre returning to face the Jets, his team two years ago, amid allegations he made inappropriate advances to a TV reporter during his one-year stint there.

Moss, traded to the Vikings from New England last week, joins a team in desperate need of a playmaking receiver. Favre has long pushed to play with him. Moss will be the second player to appear in consecutive “Monday Night Football” games. The first was Keith Browner, who played for San Francisco and then the Los Angeles Raiders in 1987.

The Jets, who have emerged as one of the league’s best teams after flopping in their opener, get a boost from the return of receiver Santonio Holmes, making his debut after serving a four-game suspension. Quarterback Mark Sanchez has eight touchdowns and no interceptions.

Not only will the Jets be getting Holmes back, but also top cornerback Darrelle Revis and linebacker Calvin Pace.

In terms of hype, the Moss-Revis matchup already is paying dividends. That stems from comments Revis made after the Jets played the Patriots in Week 2 when he accused Moss of quitting in the second half.

“He came out full force, early in the game,” Revis said of Moss in the wake of that 28-14 victory by the Jets. “In the second half, you could tell he was kind of like putting his foot on the brake. But everybody knows that’s Randy: sometimes he plays 100%, sometimes he doesn’t.”

This week, Moss essentially said he felt those comments were disrespectful.

“Between me and him is a mutual thing,” Moss told the Vikings Entertainment Network. “It’s more of us competing. I think he gets caught up a little bit with how he talks. I’ve never said anything about him, good or bad. I still give him his respect, but he hasn’t given me mine yet. Sooner or later, I’ll get it.”

Just another log on an already raging fire.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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