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Defensive end Jared Allen stood in front of his locker and had one message for his team’s fans.
“Chill out people,” Allen said. “We have a lot of season left. Chill out.”
Despite six sacks, a safety, nearly 300 yards passing from Gus Frerotte, a second 100-yard receiving game in a row for Bernard Berrian and a 100-yard rushing day from Adrian Peterson, the Vikings squeaked by the winless Detroit Lions for a 12-10 victory that left the Metrodome fans wanting so much more.
Thousands chanted “Fire Childress!” throughout the second half, convinced that coach Brad Childress isn’t the man for the job just under 2½ seasons into his tenure.
“I know that goes with my position. Fans live and die by every play, so that’s part of their prerogative to call for different plays, call a bonehead coaching move or guys not catching the football,” Childress said Monday. “That’s been around as long as coaches have been coaching. It’s always the body of work. You always get judged at the end of the year, so I can’t afford to pay a lot of attention to it.”
What does make this situation unique is that the criticism is growing as the victories keep coming. After a 1-3 start, the Vikings won at New Orleans last week and against the Lions on Sunday. They head into Chicago this weekend in a three-way tie in the muddled North with the Bears and the Green Bay Packers.
But neither win was of the convincing variety. Peterson rushed for just 32 yards at New Orleans. Then the Vikings committed three turnovers, allowed five sacks, went 3-for-15 on third down, 0-for-3 in the red zone, committed seven penalties on offense and benefited from two debatable calls by the officials to escape against the Lions.
The Vikings weren’t apologizing for the win on Monday.
“Any win that you can get, no matter if it’s ugly or pretty, it’s a victory,” safety Darren Sharper said. “You’re excited to get it. So we’re feeling good and definitely looking forward to this upcoming game.”
Childress is 17-21 in his 38 games as coach since being hired to replace Mike Tice in 2006. Billed as an offensive guru when he was hired away from Philadelphia, where he was offensive coordinator under Andy Reid, the Vikings have struggled in that department for most of his tenure. That has turned Minnesota Nice into something all too familiar to Childress.
The coach said the Minnesota fans are “becoming more like Philadelphia fans, I suppose. A little bit more mean spirited.
“But, like I said, I don’t ever hear the boos or the (cheers). I know when the crowd is loud, obviously, because it impacts us or it impacts the other team. But I’m always worried about the bottom line.”
Philly sports fans are notorious for their viciousness and vulgarity that can be directed at the home teams as much as the visitors. Childress recounted his experience there, remembering hearing all kinds of things that were “not printable.”
“It’s amusing. It’s what we do, though. You can’t take it personally,” he said. “I have problems when they boo our team, but that’s their prerogative. They pay a lot of money to get into that game and if that’s what you’re there for, as opposed to support your team, that’s up to them.”
From strictly a yardage standpoint, Sunday’s game was one of the most balanced and productive performances of the Childress era. Frerotte threw for 296 yards, and in the four games since he took over for Tarvaris Jackson, the Vikings are third in the NFL with nine completions of 25 yards or more.
Berrian had 131 yards, including an 86-yard touchdown. Among receivers with at least 20 catches, he ranks tied for first with a 19.8-yard average.
“I do see the pass game improving. I do see the defense getting better and better and I saw our special teams improve from last week to this week,” Childress said. “That’s what you’re looking for, improvement and steady growth. (You want to) really be peaking and playing your best football heading down the pipe at the end.”
Sharper said that if the wins keep coming, the fans will warm up.
“It’s kind of ironic. We’re in first place. We are 3-3,” he said. “We would like to be 6-0 like any other team in the NFL would like to be, but all those things that go on outside of this locker room and outside of the field, you really can’t worry about too much.”
