Last year, the Minnesota Vikings went to Lambeau Field in week ten of the NFL season and laid a 34-0 egg. Following the game, an irate Vikings' owner, Zygi Wilf, gave Vikings' head coach Brad Childress an ultimatum--win or pack your bags. Childress responded to Wilf's dictate, leading his team to five successive victories.
Childress' late-season winning streak in 2007 saved his job. It now appears that Wilf has handed down another ultimatum to his struggling head coach, this time much earlier in the season. One day after the Vikings' 30-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans, Wilf strongly indicated that he would be using next Monday's game at New Orleans as a barometer on Childress' future with the team. The implication is that a sound defeat at the hands of the Saints would compel Wilf to sever ties with Childress.
The move, two weeks in advance of the team's bye week, would allow Childress' replacement a relatively nice four-week cushion to ease into the job as the Vikings face Detroit, Chicago, and, Houston, after the bye week, in succession. It's not ideal, but neither is starting 1-4 in a season preceded by free spending by an ownership group intent on leveraging success on the field to the payday that would be a new stadium.
Wilf is said to have a list of four prospects for replacing Childress. Should Childress fail to make it through this season, the odds-on favorite to assume the head-coaching duties would be defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. With talent at critical positions, Frazier has not had to demonstrate substantial mettle in the face of adversity. But with constant game day pressure on his unit resulting from a malfunctioning offense, he has still guided an otherwise talented squad to the top of the NFL, something Childress has been unable even to approach on the offensive side of the ball.
If Childress the season, he nevertheless will remain on the hot seat in Minnesota should the Vikings fail to make the playoffs or should the team show a continuing downtrend in fan support. Under either scenario, Wilf is said to have in mind three additional head-coaching prospects, former Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach Bill Cowher, former San Diego head coach Marty Schottenheimer, and former New York Giants head coach Jim Fassel. It is unclear if, other than Frazier, Wilf would consider any young coordinators for a head coaching vacancy, but, given the heretofore disappointment that has been Brad Childress, and the stock of aging veterans at key positions on the Vikings' team, it is presumed that Wilf would opt for experience over youth.
That Wilf again would be contemplating a move on Childress should come as no surprise as the head coach has languished through his first 36 games in the NFL with an uninspiring 15-21 record. This, despite inheriting of a 9-7 team with talent on both sides of the ball and the Vikings' continuing addition of talent, most notably at linebacker, defensive end, safety, and running back.
Adding pressure to Wilf's calculus is the fact that, even in victory, the Vikings' fan base is nonplussed with Childress' handling of the team's lethargic offense. That disenchantment has manifested itself in one of the more truly astounding poll results of the season, even for a struggling head coach. As it does every week, ESPN polls fans on their views of NFL head coaches. At number 32, behind recently fired Scott Linehan and under siege head coach Lane Kiffin, sits Childress with a lowly 5% support.
Sometimes, statistics don't lie. And, sometimes, owners pay heed.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Contrast in Conservative Styles Highlights Vikings' Shortcomings
Sunday's match-up between the Minnesota Vikings and the Tennessee Titans offered the best glimpse yet of the inherent problems with the Minnesota Vikings under head coach Brad Childress. Facing a near mirror-image team--a team employing a veteran quarterback as a substitute for a struggling young quarterback, a team favoring the run over the pass, and a team with a stout defense--the Vikings were rolled.
Vikings' apologists, to the extent that there are any remaining, will note that the Vikings had several opportunities to score but that the team routinely shot itself in the foot. While it is true that turnovers and dropped passes hurt the Vikings on Sunday, those plays are magnified by the lethargy and lack of ingenuity that is the Vikings' offense on most downs.
While the Vikings opened the game with 37-year-old Gus Frerotte under center, the Titans countered with 36-year-old Kerry Collins. Both quarterbacks are relatively immobile outside of the pocket with Frerotte, as would any quarterback, having greater mobility in the pocket. That should have given an edge to the Vikings. And it did. The Vikings, however, elected not to take full advantage.
For the game, Collins was 18-35 for 199 yards passing and a 5.7 yard average. Frerotte was 25-43 for 266 yards and a 6.2 yard average. That's a near wash between the two pocket passers.
What brought Collins closer to Frerotte, and Frerotte closer to Collins in final statistics for the game was Collins' use of the speedy Chris Johnson on several screens and out of the slot and the Vikings' near-refusal to use the more veteran Peterson in a more expanded fashion.
Despite his rookie status, Johnson has done for Tennessee equal what Peterson is now allowed to do for the Vikings. For the game Peterson had 18 carries for 80 yards and two touchdowns along with four receptions for 21 yards. Johnson had 17 carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns along with 3 receptions for 14 yards. The numbers are nearly identical despite the Titans' reliance on Len Dale White in goal line situations and Peterson's status as a second-year player. Either Johnson simply is a much quicker study than Peterson or the Vikings are woefully underutilizing their primary offensive threat.
The results suggest a close game, and, subtracting turnovers, the Vikings did play close to one of the better teams in the AFC. But, more than explanatory of Sunday's loss, the Vikings' turnovers are a further indictment of the offensive system favored by Childress. Of the three fumbles, two were the result of predictable plays that allowed the defense to cheat up and opened up the play to a hard hit. Tahi's fumble was in the flat on a short dump play that Childress has so often run that it is second in the coach's playbook only to the play that led to Peterson's fumble, the up-the-gut-for-nothing call.
Turnovers ravage offenses in the NFL, but turnovers are made more possible by predictable playcalling.
The formula for Minnesota has passed the point of becoming stale and neared the point where it is driving fans away from the team. It's one thing to invest three plus hours of a day in a team that is trying to win. It is quite another to invest that time in a team that fears losing. Sunday's performance, from the silly timeout before a challenge call to the punt near the end of the game with no timeouts remaining merely crystallized that the Vikings are in the latter category. That's neither a recipe for championship play nor one likely to maintain a fan base.
Up Next: How West Coast Offenses Succeed. Plus, Birk not making a case for himself.
Vikings' apologists, to the extent that there are any remaining, will note that the Vikings had several opportunities to score but that the team routinely shot itself in the foot. While it is true that turnovers and dropped passes hurt the Vikings on Sunday, those plays are magnified by the lethargy and lack of ingenuity that is the Vikings' offense on most downs.
While the Vikings opened the game with 37-year-old Gus Frerotte under center, the Titans countered with 36-year-old Kerry Collins. Both quarterbacks are relatively immobile outside of the pocket with Frerotte, as would any quarterback, having greater mobility in the pocket. That should have given an edge to the Vikings. And it did. The Vikings, however, elected not to take full advantage.
For the game, Collins was 18-35 for 199 yards passing and a 5.7 yard average. Frerotte was 25-43 for 266 yards and a 6.2 yard average. That's a near wash between the two pocket passers.
What brought Collins closer to Frerotte, and Frerotte closer to Collins in final statistics for the game was Collins' use of the speedy Chris Johnson on several screens and out of the slot and the Vikings' near-refusal to use the more veteran Peterson in a more expanded fashion.
Despite his rookie status, Johnson has done for Tennessee equal what Peterson is now allowed to do for the Vikings. For the game Peterson had 18 carries for 80 yards and two touchdowns along with four receptions for 21 yards. Johnson had 17 carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns along with 3 receptions for 14 yards. The numbers are nearly identical despite the Titans' reliance on Len Dale White in goal line situations and Peterson's status as a second-year player. Either Johnson simply is a much quicker study than Peterson or the Vikings are woefully underutilizing their primary offensive threat.
The results suggest a close game, and, subtracting turnovers, the Vikings did play close to one of the better teams in the AFC. But, more than explanatory of Sunday's loss, the Vikings' turnovers are a further indictment of the offensive system favored by Childress. Of the three fumbles, two were the result of predictable plays that allowed the defense to cheat up and opened up the play to a hard hit. Tahi's fumble was in the flat on a short dump play that Childress has so often run that it is second in the coach's playbook only to the play that led to Peterson's fumble, the up-the-gut-for-nothing call.
Turnovers ravage offenses in the NFL, but turnovers are made more possible by predictable playcalling.
The formula for Minnesota has passed the point of becoming stale and neared the point where it is driving fans away from the team. It's one thing to invest three plus hours of a day in a team that is trying to win. It is quite another to invest that time in a team that fears losing. Sunday's performance, from the silly timeout before a challenge call to the punt near the end of the game with no timeouts remaining merely crystallized that the Vikings are in the latter category. That's neither a recipe for championship play nor one likely to maintain a fan base.
Up Next: How West Coast Offenses Succeed. Plus, Birk not making a case for himself.
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