It’s interesting that Childress decided to punt at the end of the game and not go for a desperation pass play, or even a draw or screen of some sort on fourth down with time running out.

The reason I say this is because last year in Lambeau, when we were in the process of losing 34-0, our first shut out in many years, and to our long-time rival, and a shutout, mind you, that would break our streak of the longest period without being shut out, we had TWO chances to kick a field goal and put points on the board and at least salvage our longest streak without a shutout in the NFL, i.e., some modicum of pride we could hold onto despite the impending disaster.

But what did Childress do in this case (at Lambeau)—even at the end of the game when there really was no way to make a comeback, as we were down by dozens of points? He eschewed the sure points of a field goal and went for the desperation fourth down plays with a shaky, unproven quarterback and a non-existent receiving corps, leaving Ryan Longwell on the sideline— a sure three points, or even six points, considering he could have had two chances at relative chip shots.

I think that even in this case (at Lambeau), the majority of Vikings fans were hoping for settling for at least a field goal to put some points on the board and avoid the humiliation of a shutout at Lambeau, and one that would break our league-leading streak of avoiding shutouts. But Childress stubbornly refused and stuck with the less likely desperation passes and going for it on fourth down, ensuring the humilitation. (Incidentally, I thought that shutout and how it happened was the most humiliating thing I had seen as a Viking fan of 33 years, even more so than what happened today.)

And yet today we had the opposite case. Here was a time when Viking fans everywhere WANTED Childress to go with the desperation pass play, or draws, or screen, but again he refused the instinct of Viking fans, and probably his owner, staff and players, and settled for the humiliation of punting it away when down by 13 and two minutes left.

And so in one case (last year at Lambeau) we suffer the humiliation of desperation 4th down plays, and in the other (this year at Nashville) we suffer the humiliation of the LACK of desperation fourth down plays. What do these two opposite cases have in common? HUMILIATION. It seems that the common denominator of Childress’ playbook and game plan is not to pass or not to pass, to run or not to run, to punt or not to punt, to kick a field goal or not kick a field goal, in certain game situations—for these vary from game-to-game, as we have seen—but only to do what is most HUMILIATING to the Vikings and their fans.

Zygi Wilf please take heed.

…but this from gonzo is the ultimate barometer, no?

“This team will never, ever see any meaningful success under his watch.”

I mean, if an owner or the players don’t believe they will ever have any meaningful success (aka Super Bowl) under his watch.. then why is he there?

It makes me sick to my stomach to think how this friggen bonehead is literally WASTING the career of a future HOF runningback. ARRGGH!

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http://www.FireChilly.com

I watched todays game and saw alot of high paid veterans in what has to be the worst coached game i have ever seen… What is this team going to do against the New Orleans Saints with four good receivers, Reggie Bush, and Drew Brees. I mean how many players are they going to bring in before they realize Chilly just can’t coach or learn to adjust when needed. Seriously give me a madden playbook a clip board and Mike Tice’ pencil to put in my ear and a win I will give. Promote Leslie Frazier to HC and let him get some Tony Dungy style people in there.

The game against the Titans was lost due to the lack of maintaining possession of the football in our own end of the field. Whenever you do that, you lose momentum, you lose the football, and you lose field position. When you commit three more turnovers than your opponent in any game, you typically lose the game itself as well. When you lose the ball like that against a team with a solid defense, you almost always lose. Ask Carolina. Coaches don’t fumble the footballs; players do. Coaches don’t drop touchdown passes; players do.

Ranting that the coach should be fired is a time-honored tradition, but changing coaches, even when warranted, rarely has immediate positive outcomes. It takes years. Please note that firing Glen Mason has not immediately fixed the Gophers. The media in Cleveland wanted Belichick fired, and a decade later, Bill has his three Super Bowl rings and the Cleveland Browns have still never even been to a Super Bowl. The Browns have also fired Marty, and Bill Cowher probably would still rather go there than here. He once was a special teams guy there, and I think he owes them a favor. If not, Oakland has much better weather than the Twin Cities do, and Bill’s not getting any younger.

Finally, maybe we don’t have years or a chance for another coach. Losing this year may result in the failure of the stadium drive and the loss of the Minnesota Vikings. As the ancient Vikings would say, it’s time to go ashore and burn the boats. There’s no going back now if we fail. There are still a lot of people around here who want the Vikings to win, even if they bitch and moan a lot. Every player needs to buckle down and right this ship. For any who don’t know it, the sharks don’t just eat the captain when the ship goes down.

Wake up people. Let’s keep the faith. It’s easier to take down individuals than it is to beat those who all play as a team. We’re still a game back, and they all still have to come through our house.

Childress’ decision to punt at the end of the game is a perfect example of what is wrong with this team under his leadership. He lacks the mental toughness and focus to make the decisions that win games. His lack of leadership allows the players to lose the mental toughness and focus that would stop some of the mental errors that lead to big plays for the other team. This lack of toughness and determination leads to fumbles, interceptions and defensive lapses.

I remember Viking teams that had the mental toughness to come back at the end of games when they were behind on the scoreboard. The players knew they could come back and the fans knew they would come back. The defense would rise up to cause a fumble or intecept a pass and the offense would march the ball down the field and win the game. I have not had that feeling for a long time and it is obvious the players do not have that feeling.

It all starts with the head coach the the coaching staff. Childress has demonstrated that he is unable to get this team ready to play, especially at the start of the game. They fall behind and nearly always, it goes down hill from there.

Childress must go now so that what little self-confidence the players have left can be salvaged and a new head coach can restore some of the mental toughness it takes to win in the NFL.

Football is the same as government, business, or the military.

Some people are like Patton, a military genius who wasn’t good at the peripheral crud but knew everything about achieving objectives, namely, winning. Others, like the Brennan brothers, who managed to simultaneously be CEO of Sears and Montgomery Ward, run things into the ground.

Winning is about objectives, strategies, and tactics. In the case of the Vikings, anything less than someone wanting to win a Super Bowl has the wrong objective.

Using a West Coast Offense in a team with questionable quarterbacks and receivers and strong running backs is predictably a losing strategy. And the tactic of running the same plays, regardless of situation, such as 6 yard pass plays when we need 10 yards and having the running backs stand around while multiple pass plays in a row are called is downright pathetic.

Watching this team is no different than watching the past few years. Stupid penalties, predictable, boring play-calling, and p*ss poor game management.

If there is one play from yesterday that can some up the BC era, it’s the delay of game penalty AFTER a change of possession AND a TV timeout. How for the love of peanut M&Ms can that happen? How can you not have a play ready after about FIVE MINUTES??? It’s the coach. Disorganized, poor awareness, no communication, no plan.

How about the end of the 1st half? Down by 13 pts, and the offense got what, 2 or 3 plays off in the ~2mins before the 2 min warning? They were still huddling up, for Christ’s sake! If your offense is so complicated that your project QB can’t grasp it after 3 years, and you can’t have a hurry-up plan, your offense sucks.

It’s not just the offense coaching, either. The cover 2 does not work for the Vikes. Period. Once again, there wasn’t much of a pass rush at all. Zero sacks. Zero! If the front 4 aren’t getting pressure, and the opposing QB is shredding your secondary, how about a BLITZ??? Coach Frazier: watch the Eagles or Bears D and get a clue, mkay?

The hardest stretch of the season is behind us, and I’m be routing for the beloved purple every Sunday. But after their pathetic, lifeless display, I’m not very hopeful anymore.

This debacle couldn’t be happening at a worse time. The NFL wants a team in LA. LA has a real estate deal ready to roll along with a new stadium. Childress has one of the most boring styles of play around. The Metrodome is outdated. And now they are going to win a quarter of their games and suck it up? And when Childress is fired…it’s going to be at least two years before the “system” is ready to roll full steam ahead. I’m beyond angry at Childress and his ineptness right now because I have now become fearful of this organizations future as a whole. I have been a lifelong fan and live three hours away in North Iowa…and still make the journey to games. I really really really don’t want the Vikings to leave….so please Zygi….fire him…..we understand why you have to do it and so does he.

I totally agree with Gonzo on this. Punting away your only slim hope of winning a game, is just jaw-droppingly stupid and shows no love of the challenge. Just imagine if other teams in similar situations had given up like this. The Titans’ Music City Miracle never would have happened with Childress at the helm. If you don’t try to make miracles happen, then they never will. 4th and 13 is not even that unmakeable. What if the defender falls down, and our guy takes the ball to the house. Suddenly we have a chance at an onside kick. It’s not that far fetched of a hope. Not trying shows to me that Childress has a poor competitive spirit. I have been giving him the benefit of the doubt until now. I would fire him based on that one decision not to go for 4th down. i still can’t believe he punted.

Oh, I can see the light now: Down by two scores, it’s fourth and thirteen. The beloved Tarvaris Jackson rolls out to his right and throws a pass downfield to Adrian Peterson, who is hit immediately in his tracks and suffers a season-ending knee injury.

After the game, all of you write in just to praise Childress’ spirit of never saying die. No one of you mentions some idiot who ruined the whole season in a lost cause or explains that the head coach called that play just to try and save his job, even though it was something called by the OC.

(Yeah, right.)

Let me give you something to ponder: I have, among other items in my trophy case, an NFL game ball given to me in 1982. And you?

Sounds like a lot of Pomp & Circumstance to me….