This just in: Brad Childress is a lot worse at his job than we previously thought he was.
The Minnesota Vikings head coach, affectionately known as "Chilly", was ice cold with his offensive play-calling in last night's 14-9 loss to the New Orleans Saints. The alleged offensive wizard, couldn't produce even ten points out of an offense touting Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson. His Viking defense started the game getting carved up, allowing the Saints to score on a 29-yard TD pass after only five plays. The defense did regroup, only allowing one more TD the rest of the game. But they were unable to get the Saints offense off the field, as they ran off the final five minutes of the game.
Childress hasn't shown any ability to motivate his team under his terms. Watching the game last night, fans saw a Vikings team that began the game flat, regrouped out of sheer embarrassment, and ultimately were handcuffed by Childress' terrible play-calling (and admittedly, some shady penalties). The Vikings passed the ball 27 times last night, even though:
A.) They were missing their top receiver, Sidney Rice.
B.) Their second best receiver, Percy Harvin, has been hampered by migraines.
C.) Favre, the hall of fame bound QB, had missed most of camp, and hadn't built any rhythm with the backups. And...
D.) They have Adrian Peterson on the roster, and he was averaging almost 5 yards per carry.
The Vikings have no head coach, they have a handicap. Childress' only contribution to the leadership of this team seems to be designing the offense, and taking trips to Favre's Mississippi home the past two summers, to beg.
If the Vikings were going to win anything under the Childress regime, it would have been last season. All the planets were aligned. They were an unknown commodity. Favre signed, Sidney Rice had a breakout year, Percy Harvin emerged as a star rookie, and the defense had every player either at, or coming into their prime. A team like that doesn't need a coach, and Childress stayed out of the way for the most part, resulting in a 12-4 season, and an NFC championship game appearance.
But now, the team is a year older, injured, and other teams can see them coming. This is a team that needs a coach to navigate them through the adversity, and Childress' isn't that guy. He designs plays well, but he doesn't call them at the right time. His offensive pet project, Travaris Jackson, has yet to develop into a legit NFL quarterback. His starting quarterback (Favre) openly undermines his authority, and treats him more as an old college buddy that he never really liked, than as a coach.
There is still enough talent on the Vikings roster to make one last run at a championship, but "Chilly" will have to pull off a coaching job that we've yet to see him do.
Childress' teams have improved by two wins each season since he took over in 2006, but none of those teams carried with them the expectations that this 2010 team does. Its a safe bet that is one trend that won't continue.
Los That Links
- Speaking of coaches who can't get out of their own way, Tennessee Vols men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl will be taking a pay cut.
- The Ray Lewis Old Spice commercial debuted last night. You can decide how you feel about it on your own.
- Lewis and former teammate/current NY Jets defensive captain Bart Scott are in a war of media fed words.
- Floyd Mayweather is having some domestic issues.
- Pat Riley is all like, "Why ya'll hatin' on a Miami playa?".
- The players on your favorite NFL team don't hate the guys on the other sideline. In fact, they're working together.
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