The above link takes you to an article detailing the Minnesota Vikings firing of head coach Brad Childress on Monday.
SportsReaction
Anybody surprised? I wouldn’t think so. But that doesn’t mean this firing was deserved. I’m sure we all heard reports of how the Viking players didn’t get along with Childress and how they thought he didn’t know how to run an offense. But we didn’t hear these complaints when the Vikings went 12-4 last season on their way to the NFC Championship game.
Let me make one thing clear. These professionals that get paid millions of dollars in sports don’t get stupid overnight. Childress didn’t suddenly forget how to run a locker room, or an offense this past offseason. While it was said by Cris Carter on ESPNRadio yesterday that he has text messages from current Viking players saying they needed to win in spite of Childress all the way back from 2009, the bottom line is that something was being done right last season whether you wanted to give “Chili” credit or not.
Instead of firing the coach, it’s too bad a team can fire its’ players—the ones directly responsible for the product on the field. Let’s have a look at the 2009 Vikings versus the current version and see if we can really blame this on Childress.
| Stat | 2009 | Current |
| QB Rating (Favre) | 107.2 | 69.8 |
| Pass yds/game | 259.8 (8th) | 218.0 (18th) |
| Rush Yds/game | 119.9 (13th) | 118.5 (10th) |
| Pass yds allowed/game | 218.4 (19th) | 218.0 (15th) |
| Rush yds allowed/game | 87.1 (2nd) | 99.1 (7th) |
| 3rd down conv. % | 44.8 (5th) | 35.5 (25th) |
| Opponent 3rd down conv. % | 34.5 (3rd) | 43.1 (28th) |
| Offensive Line Adj. Line Yds | 4.01 (19th) | 1.09 (15th) |
| Off. Line Adj. Sack Rate | 6.0 (14th) | 6.5% (19th) |
| Give/Take | Plus 6 (5th in NFC) | Minus 13th (16th in NFC) |
The third down conversion percentage and turnovers stats are much worse than 2009 but that is, somewhat, to be expected as those stats will always regress to the mean eventually.
When you look at those stats in detail though you see that the Vikings offensive line is similar to last season’s as is their rushing offense, rushing defense, and passing defense. What’s the difference?
The passing game; and it’s not the offensive lines fault (see stats above)…it’s Brett Favre’s fault. I didn’t want to write an “I hate Favre” article, but I guess I am. He is the reason the Vikings are under-performing. Not Brad Childress, not the running game, the defense, or the offensive line. It comes down to the one unit that is performing far worse than they did in 2009…and that is the passing game led by Brett Favre and his league leading 17 interceptions.
While Childress probably did deserve to be fired after the season as he is ultimately the one responsible for their teams record; to fire him in-season when he has nothing to do with the teams failures is premature and irresponsible. Brett Favre has brought this team down with him, and got a head coach fired in the process.
I think letting Favre “retire early” would do more for this team than firing “Chili.”
No comments:
Post a Comment