The Vikings Debacle

Head Coach Brad Childress was Monday’s casualty. It is logical based on the track that he led the team down. It was understandable that bringing back Brett Favre to play QB was Plan A. But Favre needed to be in training camp with the rest of the team. Childress even should have had some leverage to get Favre into training camp. Since the Eagles traded Donovan McNabb before the draft, the Vikings would have been a trade target for the Eagles since Favre’s return was uncertain at that point. Not unlikely, but also not certain. Childress could have pushed Favre into declaring his intent to return in 2010 in April by selling to Favre that if he couldn’t commit, Childress owed it to the rest of the team to acquire McNabb once that opportunity arose. Side effects of Favre not reporting until mid-August: RB Adrian Peterson skipped some off-season activities, WR Percy Harvin hasn’t practiced much more than Favre has. Add in WR Sidney Rice’s late training camp injury requiring surgery and it isn’t difficult to see the Vikings less efficient on offense in 2010 than 2009.
The turnovers are the killer. They have committed multiple turnovers in all but 2 games. They have AVERAGED -2 in net turnovers per game, near the bottom of the league. Favre is responsible for the bulk of the turnovers between interceptions and fumbles. One can’t help but wonder how many turnovers are a result of insufficient preparation? A couple of weeks of additional practice or series in preseason games might have Favre and his receivers in sync. Peterson has not been a turnover problem this year – unfortunately he had a poor game against the Saints last January.
The net -2 means that the defense isn’t causing the turnovers. And that can be explained by the difference in line play. The Vikings’ line has had difficulty forming a pocket for Favre (he should understand that taking a sack is better than throwing an interception) while its defensive line has not collapsed the pocket on many quarterbacks. While the Vikings have been behind in many games, only the Green Bay game was a wide-enough spread that the Packers wouldn’t need to run a balanced run-pass offense.
Childress has made some questionable tactical decisions this season. He has chosen to go for a number of 4th down and short plays with an inefficient offense instead of attempting FGs. With a team that is not scoring many points, FG’s are a good choice. Even more so when the offense continually fails to convert the 4th downs into 1st downs (or TDs when from the 1 yard line).
The Randy Moss escapade was another questionable decision. Why trade a valuable 3rd round pick in next year’s draft for a player you may only have for 13 games? The Patriots traded a 6th round pick to Oakland to acquire Moss and the Patriots were interested in trading him for the same reason Oakland was in 2007. Childress’ offer should have been for a 7th round pick in the 2011 draft. Childress probably needed to cut Moss loose after the New England game combined with other events that occurred that week, but making that cut resulted in the rope around his neck getting very tight.