Giants to visit Vikes in - Detroit!

MINNEAPOLIS - Brett Favre is getting help from the Minnesota Vikings' medical staff, the athletic trainers and perhaps even the weather gods as he tries to keep his incredible consecutive starts record going.

The Vikings' home game against the New York Giants was moved to tonight in Detroit after the Metrodome's inflated roof collapsed in a snowstorm early yesterday morning.

The delay has given Favre more time to heal his sprained right shoulder, with his NFL-record streak of 297 straight regular season starts hanging in the balance.

"Joke goin round is Gods Tryin to preserve Bretts streak record," Vikings receiver Bernard Berrian wrote on Twitter. "Lol!!"

Favre barely practiced all week. He's listed as questionable for the game after getting hit hard and slammed to the turf on his first pass of last week's game against the Buffalo Bills.

Favre sent a text message to USA Today yesterday saying he doubts he will be able to play tonight "but it does buy a little time."

Interim coach Leslie Frazier said the 41-year-old quarterback will still go through a pregame workout to determine if he's able to play.

"From everything I've seen, there is still a possibility he could play, especially with an extra day," Frazier said in a conference call before the Vikings left for Detroit.

The game originally was scheduled for yesterday afternoon and already had been pushed back because of the storm that dumped 17 inches of snow on Minneapolis.

But Metrodome officials told the league the roof wouldn't be ready in time to play today or tomorrow. The league also had discussions with New Orleans, St. Louis and Indianapolis and briefly considered the University of Minnesota's outdoor stadium before deciding to hold the game at Ford Field at 7:20 p.m.

The NFL said Detroit was the best logistical fit given that Fox camera crews were already in town for the Lions' game against the Green Bay Packers.

"There are still a lot of logistics up in the air, but we will do everything we can to make this a quality NFL game for the Vikings and Giants," Lions President Tom Lewand said.

The Vikings are refunding the cost of the tickets for the game for any fans who can't make it to Detroit. Those that do will be given priority seating along the 50-yard line and the Lions will distribute free general admission tickets starting at 9 a.m.

The Giants were stranded in Kansas City after their plane was diverted there Saturday. They stayed overnight and landed in Detroit on Sunday afternoon.

"This one presents more challenges than I can ever remember," Giants co-owner John Mara said. "We were stranded in the airport [Saturday] not knowing where we were going to go."

Giants quarterback Eli Manning tried to lighten the mood of his restless teammates by ordering the rookies to sing and said the team will be ready come kickoff.

"This is different, but I thought we've kept good spirits and good focus," Manning said. "We understand that this is an important game and it's going to come down to who treats it with a business-like mentality and stays prepared."