It's confirmed. Now, it appears, the "truth" can be told.
After a narrow victory over the hapless Detroit Lions and a loss to the Chicago Bears, there was no confirmation. Two weeks later, following the team's bye week and the expected lull in interest that surrounds a team that has not played a game in what only seems like an eternity, Minnesota Vikings' fans have their answer--an unnamed member of the Wilf family has assured our ever-probing local scribe that Childress is the man.
How revealing.
The secondary source of this information, our local scribe, found it necessary to run with this "story" at a time when criticism of Vikings' head coach Brad Childress is likely to be at its highest ebb, when there is no sense to replacing the head coach having stuck it out this far into the season and past the bye week, and when the most plausible mid-season replacement, defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, just endured his most dubious outing as a defensive coordinator.
The crux of our scribe's pabulum is that the Wilfs, all along, have considered Childress their guy--the guy who can and will return the Vikings to the championship level that the team last experienced in the late 1970s. If that were true, one would think that our scribe would have run with this story before or immediately after the 12-10 victory over the Lions. Or after the loss at Chicago. Running the story at either moment would have shown that, in spite of the vitriol in the air, the Wilfs stood by their man.
Our scribe chose not to run the story when it would have mattered. Instead, our scribe elected not only to wait until a dead period to report this news, but also to report the news at a time when it already is evident that the Vikings likely will ride out the season with Childress.
Worse yet, while news of the Wilfs' purported infatuation with Childress should be cause for public disclosure--even by the Wilfs--our scribe feels compelled, as he has so many times in the past given similar dubious contentions, to retain the privilege of his source. Sources are kept confidential when the information is damning and the source does not want to be the one to whom the disclosure is attributed. Not to reveal the source of information that is supportive of the status quo and that also purportedly is consistent throughout an organization simply is absurd--unless no such source actually exists.
We know the modus operandi for our scribe. Love the incumbent until they have gone. Then love the new incumbent. This is merely more of the same. And while it might cause some angst among those who believe that the Vikings are headed nowhere significant under Childress, there is solace, at least, in understanding that there is little, if any, reason to read much into what our local scribe has reported.
From the beginning of the 2008 season, Zygi Wilf has viewed the year as a referendum on Childress, not only from the perspective of Childress as coach but also as someone who can engage a fan base. At present, Childress the coach is sub-par, and that's leagues ahead of where he stands as someone able to engage fans. If Childress does not turn it around in both categories by the end of the season, not even our Pollyanna scribe will be able to ignore the obvious or report otherwise. Of course, by then, he'll probably already be shining the new pair of shoes in town.
Up Next: Houston Calling.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Underscoring the Ridiculousness of the Squib Kick Ploy
Following a tight victory over the New Orleans Saints, Minnesota Vikings' head coach Brad Childress vented early and often over punter Chris Kluwe's failure to punt the ball out of bounds, thereby giving Saints' return man Reggie Bush numerous opportunities to scorch an already tenuous Vikings' cover team. On each occasion, Bush obliged, returning two punts for touchdowns and one to midfield, stopped short of the end zone only by Bush's unsure footing.
In his criticism of Kluwe's failure to heed his instructions to punt out of bounds, Childress made clear how adamant he had been in his instructions and that such a failure on the part of his punter would be catastrophic against the Bears and Devin Hester.
Entering the game against Chicago last Sunday, it therefore would have come as no great surprise to any Vikings' fan should they have been informed that Childress had made clear to his kickers that Hester was not to be kicked to. And, as the first half progressed, it became clear that not kicking to Hester was a significant part of the Vikings' game plan.
On three of the Vikings' first four kickoffs on Sunday, place-kicker Ryan Longwell squib-kicked the ball just barely into Chicago territory. The Bears returned the three kicks an average of twenty yards and started drives on their own 46, 48, and 41, respectively. The three drives resulted in 17 points for the Bears.
Clearly, the Vikings' kickoff strategy backfired. That might be forgivable if the strategy were the best option for dealing with Hester's explosiveness. Alas, it was not. And it wasn't even the second best option.
The best option for the Vikings was simply to kick the ball as deep as possible. Longwell averages kickoff placement inside the five-yard-line. Hester averages kickoff returns of 22.1 yards. Assuming a kickoff to the five and an average return of 22.1 yards, Hester would be expected to return the ball to the 27-yard-line. Even measured by Hester's season-long kickoff return of 51 yards, the Vikings would be giving the Bears the ball near their own 45-yard-line--not far from where they gave the Bears the ball as a result of the squib-kick ploy.
That this was a good option was demonstrated by the Vikings relative success covering Hesters' return of Longwell's third kickoff, a deep kickoff to the six that Hester returned 16 yards to the 22. Despite that success, the Vikings opted for a third squib kick as the seconds to halftime ticked off of the clock, leaving the Bears just enough time to go the short distance necessary to attempt a successful field goal.
The second best option for the Vikings to avoid a long kickoff return would have been to kick the ball out of bounds at or inside the Bears' 40-yard-line. The penalty would have given the Bears the ball at their own 40-yard-line. That's not great, but it would have been an improvement over the ploy that the Vikings adopted.
There is no question but that the Vikings have problems covering kick returns. But squib kicking was not a viable solution to the coverage problem, even given the threat of Devin Hester. That seems to have been lost on Childress, however, who clearly was still seething from Kluwe's mis-punts against New Orleans and Bush's subsequent return success.
Where does the blame for this ploy rest? Some have suggested that Childress is merely accepting blame that rightly should accrue to special teams coordinator Paul Ferraro. Given his response to Kluwe's failures in New Orleans--and his contention that he personally instructed Kluwe to kick the ball out of bounds against the Saints--is there any doubt that Childress made the call to squib kick? And is there any need to discuss further the failure to employ either of two more viable options than that upon which Childress and Ferraro ultimately settled?
Up Next: More Numbers.
In his criticism of Kluwe's failure to heed his instructions to punt out of bounds, Childress made clear how adamant he had been in his instructions and that such a failure on the part of his punter would be catastrophic against the Bears and Devin Hester.
Entering the game against Chicago last Sunday, it therefore would have come as no great surprise to any Vikings' fan should they have been informed that Childress had made clear to his kickers that Hester was not to be kicked to. And, as the first half progressed, it became clear that not kicking to Hester was a significant part of the Vikings' game plan.
On three of the Vikings' first four kickoffs on Sunday, place-kicker Ryan Longwell squib-kicked the ball just barely into Chicago territory. The Bears returned the three kicks an average of twenty yards and started drives on their own 46, 48, and 41, respectively. The three drives resulted in 17 points for the Bears.
Clearly, the Vikings' kickoff strategy backfired. That might be forgivable if the strategy were the best option for dealing with Hester's explosiveness. Alas, it was not. And it wasn't even the second best option.
The best option for the Vikings was simply to kick the ball as deep as possible. Longwell averages kickoff placement inside the five-yard-line. Hester averages kickoff returns of 22.1 yards. Assuming a kickoff to the five and an average return of 22.1 yards, Hester would be expected to return the ball to the 27-yard-line. Even measured by Hester's season-long kickoff return of 51 yards, the Vikings would be giving the Bears the ball near their own 45-yard-line--not far from where they gave the Bears the ball as a result of the squib-kick ploy.
That this was a good option was demonstrated by the Vikings relative success covering Hesters' return of Longwell's third kickoff, a deep kickoff to the six that Hester returned 16 yards to the 22. Despite that success, the Vikings opted for a third squib kick as the seconds to halftime ticked off of the clock, leaving the Bears just enough time to go the short distance necessary to attempt a successful field goal.
The second best option for the Vikings to avoid a long kickoff return would have been to kick the ball out of bounds at or inside the Bears' 40-yard-line. The penalty would have given the Bears the ball at their own 40-yard-line. That's not great, but it would have been an improvement over the ploy that the Vikings adopted.
There is no question but that the Vikings have problems covering kick returns. But squib kicking was not a viable solution to the coverage problem, even given the threat of Devin Hester. That seems to have been lost on Childress, however, who clearly was still seething from Kluwe's mis-punts against New Orleans and Bush's subsequent return success.
Where does the blame for this ploy rest? Some have suggested that Childress is merely accepting blame that rightly should accrue to special teams coordinator Paul Ferraro. Given his response to Kluwe's failures in New Orleans--and his contention that he personally instructed Kluwe to kick the ball out of bounds against the Saints--is there any doubt that Childress made the call to squib kick? And is there any need to discuss further the failure to employ either of two more viable options than that upon which Childress and Ferraro ultimately settled?
Up Next: More Numbers.
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