A Debacle

[Otherwise known as "I award you no stars, Goodbye Childress and Pray for Purple Jesus]

First off, let me apologize for the lack of posts over the past week. I was moving, which, combined with a busy week at work, meant that I wasn't able to properly consider the Packers game. And after that effort, it's probably for the best. I mean, who wants to put hours into contemplating an event that turns out so unbelievably poorly?

And make no mistake about it--there were few, if any, noteworthy performances by the Purple in that game. Not too surprising, considering that was the worst loss the Vikings have ever had to the Packers. Unlike other losses, I'm not going to be searching for the silver lining, the positives, or any of that other nice stuff. This team did not come to play on Sunday and they got pounded.

The defense wasn't there, at all. I'm used to the Purple having problems stopping the pass. However, I'm not used to them getting run over by a team that cannot rush. The Packers had more yards on the ground than their season average in the first half. Ryan Grant had 120 yards rushing. Not only was that a career high, it was the second time Grant had ever broken 100 yards rushing and the only time he'd done so against a defense that wasn't the worst in the NFL in stopping the run (his other 100 yard game was against Denver). Part of it was that the Packers attacked the edges, running quick off tackle plays. A lot of it, however, was the Vikings defense playing poorly.

The offense's problems weren't similar to the defense's in that they weren't new. They were a lot worse than normal, that's for sure. The Vikings did not have a drive longer than 5 plays (including punts) until their second drive of the second half. They failed to convert a single third down, failing eight times. EIGHT TIMES. Zero for Eight. I don't have any problems with my blood pressure, and I don't particularly want any, so I'm going to move on to another fun topic.

Is there any reason to bring back Childress next year? The team is 9-16 under his watch and the offense, which is supposed to be his speciality, is so bad that every adjective I've come up just doesn't seem to describe it. The team has quit on him at least once (Week 17 last year) and likely quit on him again on Sunday. His personnel decisions have been mediocre at best and he's made two decisions (cutting Robinson and docking Williamson's pay) that have likely cost him a lot of support in the locker room, both of which could have been avoided if he'd thought them through. The most damning thing is that not only has the team not been successful, it has gotten worse as each season has worn on. I'm not going to be one of those people that pines for Mike Tice. He had more success than Childress, but he wasn't a good enough coach to get the Vikings to the Super Bowl. I am, however, ready for the Vikings to start looking for a coach that will get the Vikings to the Promised Land, because Childress is clearly not.

Finally, if you haven't heard, the Purple Jesus has a lateral colleteral ligament tear in his right knee. It won't require surgery and he should be back this season. The injury probably ends any chance he had at breaking the rookie rushing record, but he's still well ahead of the back with the second most yards. Peterson has 1081 yards, 208 yards more than Willie Parker, who is in second place with 873 yards.