Cover units looking porous

This text is replaced by the Flash movie. Vikings coach Brad Childress popped into Paul Ferraro's office the morning after the special teams conceded four returns of 40 yards or more, including two touchdowns.

[murray warmath]

Struggling? try pathetic!

[griddy]

CT Viking Fan wrote:

I can understand where Heath Farrell can be a standout special teamer but I can't see where his absense leads to such a sharp dropoff on kick returns. Hmm, I can't seem to put my finger on the problem....
Generally, when a team has a lack of discipline in play execution they are not being taught correctly or being motivated to succeed. Let's see, there has to be a likely cause but it escapes me at the moment...
When a coach tells his punter to kick a ball out of bounds because he can't trust his team to tackle the guy who catches it runs 60 or 70 yards, there has to be SOME reason. I need to think about this...this is a tough one.
The head coach tries out 4 punters with the media present to get into the guy's head? Why not bring in 4 special teams coaches to get into THAT GUY'S head?
Yet, the cause of all these issues escapes me......

This coach has lost whatever self-confidence he had left after Wilf took his pet project away and probably put Childress on notice...
Wilf seems as unwilling to admit he made a mistake with his impulsive hiring of chili as chili was about his failed quarterback project. Not a good management team. It's too bad - the parts are there to make a dam good team.

[Johnny Utah]

griddy wrote:

<quoted text>This coach has lost whatever self-confidence he had left after Wilf took his pet project away and probably put Childress on notice...
Wilf seems as unwilling to admit he made a mistake with his impulsive hiring of chili as chili was about his failed quarterback project. Not a good management team. It's too bad - the parts are there to make a dam good team.

All the parts except a decent special teams, TE, WRs and the all important QB. Our offense has become painful to watch, even when we score (such as the Berrian TD catch) its ugly and a busted play. Our D is great, but this is not a championship team. The truth hurts.

[Archangel]

Because outside of a very few select players, Viking kick-coverage teams s**k. Granted, they've played some ordinarily pretty decent teams up until now. But it doesn't excuse it. What IS notable, is that outside of the TN game, their defense has been pretty damn good. They've kept the games close & "winnable". Drew Brees is a pretty damn good QB. Bush is one helluva RB. They pressured the QB. They kept the running game "managable". If they had a better kick-coverage team, that very well might have deleted at least 10 to 14 points off of The Saints score.- And this was at NO, & without EJ. Everybody cringed at the first part of The Vikings' schedule when we saw it pre-season. It's just pretty "pukeable" when you take all of it into consideration and realize that, at this point, they should have only lost ONE of those games. The main culprit, from what I can see, is $h!tty play-calling. It's too conservative for at least 3 quarters in every game. By now EVERYONE knows that the first 3 quarters are going to try to emphasize the run & dump passes. So, at the beginning of a game, opposing defenses stack the line. Instead of taking advantage of that, stupid plays are called that have AD & CT hitting brick walls. That's what Bevell & Butthead keep ignoring. THAT'S what's been F/up the offense. THAT'S why rushing yardage is so low. The defense has been playing well enough to win games. REAL good when they blitz good QBs.(which isn't often enough, IMO) Gus has been doing pretty damn good for a non-scrambling QB in an offense that ought to have one. That's why I'm more than alittle baffled as to why they went for JDB, when there were obvious & available better fits.

[Vikefan]

Gonna have to be VERY careful when the Vikes play the Bears. They could be facing a lot of 3-and-outs against the Bears D. Which means a lot of punts in the general direction of Hester, who as everyone knows is a very dangerous return man.

[Johnny Utah]

Arch- The coaching staff to this point likes to keep the fans scratching their heads. The play-calling as and will be PEEWEE until we do one of two things. FIRE Childress or Bevell, these guys shouldn't be coaching at any level. There is a difference between scouting talent and having talent. I can tell a quality band when I hear one, but that doesn't mean I can play guitar.

[Archangel]

Howdy Johnny. Yeah, I hear ya. Basically, it's Klink's Wus A** Offense, or whatever he thinks it is. If this was war, he's using muzzle loading rifles. His version of the offense is out-dated for 21st Century football. The "Dunk & Dink" offense (or in Klink's case "Drunken Dink" offense) is an out-moded type that isn't practical in today's game. The type of offense practiced BEFORE Childress, the "flying circus" type with a tandem of good RBs/FBs is more sensible. Notice the part he leaves alone, defense, is the most successful portion of the team?- I just can't stand that arrogant, mumbling jackass!

[joey]

Their special teams are horrible! Kickoffs were returned to almost midfield. Punt coverage can't tackle. The lead punt guys on coverage overrun the punt returner (nice job, ferguson). Special teams isn't rocket science. Childress needs to be gone!!

[COPDd]

I'm surprised no one is blaming Paul Ferraro for anything. Why is that?

[Clancy]

This is probably off the topic, but things must be getting out of hand when the NFL has to step in and levy a fine on Chad Greenwood for what they call a MAJOR face mask hold on Reggie Bush. I and probably a million others saw this, and it was not MAJOR. Could it be a make up for what the entire officiating crew missed?
I have watched football for many years, and I have seen some real MAJOR face mask holds. Believe me, this one was not MAJOR. How about the helmet to the groin of Frerotte by Vanden Bosch? And no fine? I think compared to a face mask, that would be considered MAJOR.

r

[bulldogdutch]

At least they've won. 3-3 as i had hoped. Our Defense is very stout. da beeers are going down.

[joey]

COPDd wrote:

I'm surprised no one is blaming Paul Ferraro for anything. Why is that?

He should be!! The vikings special teams have to be the worst in the league. That was embarrassing against the bears.