You’re dead-on about Childress’ comment regarding Kluwe, and Childress was awfully fast to pull that trigger. Every time Bush took off for the end-zone, the camera would flash for just a moment to a close-up of Childress, and it was clear from the deer-in-the-headlights expression that Childress was watching his career flash before his eyes, and everyone knew it. Kluwe himself admitted that it was his screw-up. That being said… it was like watching a re-run, with the same tactic being used to befuddle the Vikes’ special teams; catch the ball, head to the left, just short of contact, cut right across the whole field, dash up the right side-line to the endzone for a touchdown. It was done three times in the second half, with the middle attempt failing only because Bush stumbled. It was done last week too, with similar results. What do you suppose are the odds that the Lions will see the Vikes’ inability to guard both sides of the field and try to exploit it as well? Frustrating. Both Kluwe and Longwell need to stop kicking the ball to known serious return-threats, especially when they know their special teams are hurting. How about booting it out of the end-zone and giving the other team a measily touch-back at the 20? It’s not like the Vikes are going to stop the returner prior to that.

What did you think of Ben Leber’s play? No one’s been talking about him, but he was reading the Saints and reacting to be in the right place at the right time, repeatedly. It seemed he was the one breaking up deep passes to the Saints’ WRs on a regular basis, which amazed me. Not just his ability to read the Saint’s plays, but his speed in being able to hang in there as additional inside coverage.

Winfield continues to prove himself as a serious playmaker, and despite people thinking that Sharper is getting old, I suspect that the ball has been heaved in Winfield’s direction more often because of a fear that Sharper is standing by in the other direction. I still think we need another fast corner, but Winfield deserves a bonus for his play.

On a final note… Gonzo, I’ve watched the Vikes self-destruct on too many ‘sure-win’ games to take the Lions lightly. In fact, it’s when the Vikes are heavy favorites that I worry the most. It seems like, when they’re deep underdogs, the Vikes are freed to get wild and can pull out some incredible victories, but when they’re heavy favs, they play it safe. That’s team history, and with Childress’ managerial style of play calling… this is going to be a scary game.

got lit up just as bad!

That the baseball game that night was the first playoff game where someone with a last name starting with a U (B.J. Upton) had a multi-home run game.

If you saw what I saw when I saw it, then you too know that 83 ducked his head into Griffin, and not Griffin into 83.

There are exceptions to every rule. Everybody makes mistakes, but if a player is told twice in the same game to do something that is not that difficult (after all, out of bounds in football is way easier to hit than the broad side of a barn), I have no problem with tossing that guy under the next vehicle that is headed out of Hibbing. You can’t bench your punter, and firing someone without making it crystal clear that performance is completely unsatisfactory is not a kindness. Childress has calmed down, but I suspect Lombardi might have told the driver to back up and make sure he was dead.

Run the ball about 1000 times when we are up by 2 scores? We have a great O-line, and if Peterson isn’t doing his job, give the damned ball to Taylor.

I think Childress throwing the guy under the bus is crap! If he is throwing his punter under the bus (with a win), then Childress should be thrown under the bus for the 3 defeats this year.

I don’t agree with what Kluwe did but someone out there give me his stats compared to other punters. I think he is pretty solid. Can’t say the same for the coverage unit. If the Vikes let him go, then there are 15 other teams that will jump to sign this guy.

i guess they had 4 punters in to tryout today. Not sure who.

The Lions game scares me. I’ve been a Vikes fan too long to get confident.

looked polished and confidant…..he needs to be now that EJ is out for the year

Mainly Winnie got this win,not offense but Gus showed toughness and that in itself should gel that front line.Against Detroit the 1st quater needs just passing and more passing.Come second we open up with some AD and pas mix.3RD we open up the play book and 4th nothing but AD and now your dinks and dunks.
Come the bears all of the same.We need a coach like the Saints Patyon ,a guy who could coach this team with guts and glory.Instead of this wanna be Coach,out of 5 plays I tell you to punt out of bounds,I am putting Winnie into to punt on the 3rd try.
We need A for real coach last year,Team is there just not the Staff.

griffin plays side line to side line and is one of the most physical corners in the league. i know he had a couple of rough games but he is a gamer and gives his body up without fail. i don’t think that hit should be penalized. what the hell is he supposed to do? winfield is playing awesome;period. i love the guy. best one on one tackling corner in the league,period. i just don’t know why some of you are piling on ced. where is the venom for the O line? they have been overrated forever. just be fair. and if you want to jump on everybody’s ass after a tough loss go “cheer” for another team. you are pathetic fans. probably never played a freaking down in your life.

While I was happy to see us actually have a passing game, our team is set up that we should run the ball 30 times per game. Let Peterson punish some defenders and late in the game the run defense will soften. Taylor should have at least 10 of those carries too.

If Kluwe doesn’t kick it out of bounds, there are 10 other guys who should’ve been able to make a play. I don’t care who the returner is, he shouldn’t be able to run back 2 TDs in a row + a 3rd if he doesn’t trip over his own feet. The loss of Heath Farwell couldn’t make our coverage unit THAT pathetic, could it?

Childress’ definitely through Kluwe under the bus. It speaks to Childress’ stubborn ego: If everyone would just do what I say, we’d be fine! If these dumb players could just stay within my KAO system, we’d be great! What an ass.

Leber def had a great game. Herron only had two tackles. I saw a few plays where he was out of position, but what do you guys think about the drop-off between him and EJ?

What worries me about the Detroit game are the streaks. Not winning at the Dome since ‘97… that can’t go on forever. Hopefully the streak continues for 1 more year.

Anyone else here keeping half an eye on the Redskins this year?! Wow, what a difference a change in coach makes! Sure, Joe Gibbs was brought back from the grave to resurrect a marginal team, but the moment they crawled back to the playoffs (barely), he bailed and dived back under the tombstone. Then they brought in Jim Zorn (one of my favorite NFL QBs, btw) as head coach. Pretty much the same roster, but a fresh coach, and one who knew a QB needs some space to breath and leeway to call his own plays. A coach who knows that to win, you have to air it out, take some chances, do more than ‘manage’ the game. The difference? 4-1. Winning is the yardstick, baby.

How ‘bout them Vikings?! Seriously, the Vikings have at least as good a roster as the Redskins, probably better. The biggest reason that the Vikings aren’t doing better this year is only partially the QB issues, it’s having the wrong coach in place. The wrong play-calling. Childress decided on his style of offense from the beginning and didn’t pick players that fit it, he picked the best players from the draft that were available. Watching AP and CT in the backfield is often like watching a size 12 foot trying to wedge into a size 10 shoe. Sometimes they get some traction, but they’re so easily stopped by the opposition these days that something’s seriously wrong. I don’t think it’s enough to pick a style of play and force the players into it, you have to take into account what those players are best at, and build an offense that makes the most of their abilities. Childress continues to do it the wrong way. And he has this weird notion of ‘managing’ a football game. We see it week after week; first half, the Vikes try to throw up 14-21 points, second half they try to sit on it as if playing it safe will guarantee the win. They don’t open up again unless they’re forced to, and then it’s a matter of fighting to win a game that they had in the bag before they dropped it.

At this point, I don’t care how many wins the Vikes pull out this year, I’d be happy to see Childress go and teach his “kick-ass management” to some other team. Maybe Chicago? That’d be nice. Anywhere but Minnesota. Jim Zorn won’t be available now that he’s doing so well elsewhere, but I’m sure there are other good prospects.

Chilly should have dove head first to lead the pack. No mention of the lousy kick coverage by the rest of the team. The entire special teams has been brutally bad all year. So the plan was to kick out of bounds. In case that doesn’t work, TACKLE the runner. And if you plan on bringing in players for try outs, how about bringing in some players who can actually break up a wedge or stay in their lane? How about bringing in coaches who can call better offensive schemes? How about some mid season head coaching try outs?

It is funny how the same folks who were slamming Childress for punting to Bush are now slamming him for calling out Kluwe for punting to Bush.

There are certainly some legitimate reasons to criticize Childress, but if you really just want to hate someone, there are plenty of more deserving people to put the emotional energy into. You know, murderers, child molesters, evil dictators, etc…

Mrs. Wilf didn’t raise any fools. Childress knows this is his last year if he doesn’t turn the team around. Either he will or he won’t. If he doesn’t we will have a new coach next year.

Meanwhile, it might be helpful for some of the greatest critics of Childress to get a little real world experience besides their fantasy football league. Maybe you could volunteer to coach a local peewee football team. Even better, since you are obviously an authority, you’d probably have no problem becoming an assistant coach at your local high school – right?

Then, once you have a couple of years working at that level, you’d probably be a position where career NFL coaches would value your advice…

Until that time, you may want to consider the possibility that Childress actually does possess a basic working knowledge of the game of football and anyone that assumes he does not, is probably saying more about their own grasp of the game than his.

Yes, the team is under-performing. Yes, he may not be the right coach for the job. Perhaps he should be replaced. BUT – until you can convince parents to let you coach their children, you probably don’t have what it takes to lead an NFL team to the Playoffs.

I’m just sayin…

had said nothing, you would blame him for not getting kluwe to punt it out. I think it was fine he told us about it, but he got a little too defensive in the way he did it. Threatening to find someone who can kick it out is not how he should’ve handled the situation. I agree with the lose lose sentiment for chilly.

Actually he seems like a very nice guy. A little on the dull side perhaps. I have never seen him do or say anything that I’d consider particularly offensive.

Again, instead of investing so much energy into hating a football coach, find something or someone that is truly worth hating.

dk, I think your notion of not being able to have an opinion on Childress’ coaching unless you’ve been a coach is utterly ridiculous. Every criticize a politician w/o having been an elected official? Ever criticize how long you sit at a traffic light without having been a traffic engineer? Ever criticize the war in Iraq? The bailout? Home speculators? A restaurant?

Maybe I’m wrong and you’re the perfect Zen guy….?