Mike Tice

ink he does.  Sure, he did lead the Vikes to a 10-6 season (technically better than any record Mike Tice posted), but my judgement comes down to this: Under Childress next year, I think the Vikings could just as easily go back to being a 7-9 team as they could make the playoffs again.  I mean, who really thought that the Vikings could make a realistic run at the SuperBowl this year (or will next year with the exact same staff in place)?  When Childress was quarantined by the Vikings front office and hired away from Philadelphia, he was supposed to be an offense-orientated leader.  However, now with three years of hindsight, Brad Johnson throwing to Koren Robinson and handing off to Chester Taylor (the last year of the Tice regime) was just as productive as Tarvaris Jackson throwing to Bernard Berrian and giving to Adrian Peterson.  Essentially, what I'm trying to say is that Childress has come nowhere near delivering the "kick-ass" offense he promised a few seasons ago.  Sure, the defense has been incredible, but Chilly lucked out in that regard (and was likely helped by the presence of Mike Tomlin, now Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers), as the Wilfs had just doled out the money to Pat Williams, Antoine Winfield, and Darren Sharper, while Kevin Williams was becoming a major inside force.

Continue reading "Dismiss the Sheriff, Promote the Deputy"

jobs from years past, but I'm not going to do so.  The reason?  For the first time since Mike Tice was fired nearly before leaving the field in 2005, the Vikings were an exciting team to watch.

Continue reading "Falcons 24, Vikings 17: I Should ..."

ertainly give up 250 yards through the air and a few scores.  Things only got worse during the Mike Tice era, when the "McCombs Administration" would not spend a time on the defense.  As Brad Childress put together such talent as Pat Williams, Antoine Winfield, Darren Sharper, and Dwight Smith (until the whole sex-in-the-stairwell thing), the overall defense seemed to improve, but teams (starting with the New England Patriots on a fateful Monday night in 2006) began to realizing that all you had to do to beat the Vikings was pass, pass, and then pass a little more.

Continue reading "One More Weak Link"

screen packages for RB Robert Smith, who thrived with that kind of blocking in front of him.  Mike Tice did the same sort of thing with Michael Bennett and even The Whizzinator (Ontarrio Smith).  However, Childress seems content to just run Peterson into the line on every rushing play, which gets old and predictable after a while (especially two seasons!).  Imagine what Peterson could do with Bryant McKinnie and Steve Hutchinson standing in front of him pancaking defenders?!

Continue reading "Fixing The Vikings Offense"

slim.  Remember, Childress was an impulse hire from the get-go.  After Ziggy Wilf canned Mike Tice nearly before the goofy guy made it off the field in Week 17 of 2005, the Vikings top brass interviewed Childress (hilariously the former OFFENSIVE coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles) right away.  Despite wanting to interview other candidates, though, the Vikings knew that a few others teams were courting Childress, and thus signed him without seriously considering other offers.  From that point, nothing has been done to improve the quality of the Vikings' offense in two seasons and six games, so in my opinion a change must be made.

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