I like what Brad Childress is doing in Minnesota. He has expunged the sex boat escapades of the past and has turned the Vikings into a stingy, aggressive football team. Chester Taylor is a great back and gives them a versatile player who can run and catch the ball. Troy Williamson, while still plagued by the occasional hands of stone, can get open at will against single coverage and is becoming the team’s most exciting playmaker.
But Childress a couple of questionable calls during the Vikings’ final drive, that had his team trailing, 19-16. With 1:18 to play, Minnesota had a 3rd and 7 at their own 41-yard line, and Childress called a running play to Mewelde Moore. That play call itself wasn’t all that bad – it gained five yards and put the Vikings in a 4th and 2 situation. Still, I don’t know why Taylor isn’t in the game in this situation. Apparently, Childress feels that Moore is the better receiver, but Taylor has shown the ability to make something happen after then catch. Regardless, with 1:10 to play near midfield, and the Vikings needing only a field goal to tie, Childress called a deep pass to Williamson, which wasn’t even close to being completed. Williamson was double covered.
This offseason, the team went out and signed Ryan Longwell for just this situation. The Vikings had plenty of time to run a couple of more plays to get into position for a game-tying field goal. Instead, Childress went for the jugular and it backfired. I don’t mind the aggressiveness, but throw that pass on third down, not fourth. In that situation – at home, down by three – you just have to keep moving the chains and give your kicker the opportunity to send the game to overtime.
Childress was the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia, but Andy Reid called all the plays. I wonder if he was a little unsure of himself, since it was the first time he was calling the shots in a pressure situation in quite a while.
