Anyone who watched Reggie Bush glide into the end zone in the fourth quarter last night probably wondered why in the world the Vikings would let him touch the ball. Bush spent the second half using punt returns the way a painter uses a canvas so why wouldn't the Vikes just put the ball out of bounds and try to stop the mistake-prone Saints offense? According to Brad Childress, that's what they intended to do. He laid the blame on punter Chris Kluwe.
If the call was to kick out of bounds then Kluwe has to put the ball out of bounds. Still, I'm not sure how wise is it for Childress to publicly rake one player over the coals. There were other guys on the field for Bush's punt returns and when Pierre Thomas nearly broke a pair of kickoff returns which points to general issues on the special teams."Both of those kicks are supposed to be out of bounds and when you say to somebody kick the ball out of bounds, that's what you expect to happen. That's what I expect to happen with a professional football kicker...If he can't do that, I'll find someone that can kick the ball out of bounds."
By directing blame at Kluwe, Childress may be trying to deflect some criticism from himself. His team pulled this one out but it was there for the Saints because Childress' offensive play calling remained predicated on minimizing return on gift turnovers. But there's no scapegoat for those issues.
(H/T PFT)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-07-2008 @ 4:17PM
Lyle Schrupp said...
The vikings coaching staff stinks, The offence stinks, The special teams stinks and the defence doesn't smell to good either.
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10-07-2008 @ 5:07PM
Chad Brildress said...
I am Chad Brildress,coach of the Vinnesota Mikings and I have an unlimited budget and I can't put a truly competitive team on the field. Why don't I just blame My punter for My teams complete lack of offense,I have totally destroyed the competitive team that I took over. Why should Anyone feel any sympathy for Me?
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10-07-2008 @ 6:45PM
chris said...
i dont care he should have not blamed the punter.sure he should have done what he was tols.but its not his fault that they won.if anythin is is more Chad brildress fault then the punter.
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10-07-2008 @ 11:04PM
dennis said...
brad childress is so predictable in his play calling. hint: send in peterson...it's a run play. with peterson and taylor in the backfield there is no excuse for 44 rushing yards.
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10-08-2008 @ 6:56AM
G Hale said...
it really doesn't matter, the Vikings and thier fans year in and year out have more excuses. So lets blame the punter and the coach....um, they won the game nimrods.
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10-08-2008 @ 8:46AM
norman said...
This goof isn't called Chilly in Minnesota for nothing
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10-08-2008 @ 9:03PM
Ruth Robinson said...
I am a huge Viking fan that lives in Wisconain, so the one comment saying that we have excuses every year, I would have to disagree with that. The Packers fans have more than the rest of the NFL teams put together. As far as our clueless head coach, pointing his finger at Kluwe was wrong. So he didn't kick out of bounds and they returned 2 kicks, like another comment said, we won the game!! Kluwe making 2 mistakes and we still won, Childress has made many and many of mistakes. That is why we have some of the most talented players and Childress can't seem to put it all together. The only person that should get a finger pointed at them is Childress. Kluwe makes 2 mistakes and we win, Childress makes how many in the last 5 weeks and we are 2-3. HE is the biggest problem that this team has.
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10-09-2008 @ 11:33AM
Gustof19 said...
Childress needs to be fired! the only thing that he can do well is cover his own ass. Thats what he did when he benched Jackson! If he just opened up the playbook for TJack like he did for Gus he would have done fine. Same thing in Tennesse Why the hell do you have 43 pass attempts and only 15 Rushes with Peterson! Does not make any sense to me! Best running back in the league and pretty much the worst passing attack in the NFL lets Throw the Ball! Where does this idiot come up with this crap!
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