Mad Chilly

Brad Childress is upset that the officials didn’t hit Derrick Brooks with a penalty for interference when he knocked the ball away from Adrian Peterson on that misbegotten fourth down pass play in the third quarter (the one where Gus Frerotte spent his only “duck under blitzing corner” card for the season).  “You get that play one time a year,” Childress said. “I just don’t feel like [the officials] looked at it correctly, and obviously that could have been a big play in the game.

“We were going home run right there,” added Childress. “We felt like we had a good match up right there. And you know? You can’t grab the guy down the field, when the ball’s in the air. I mean, that’s the rule.”

Maybe Childress needs to study the Twins a little bit and learn that sometimes it’s better to bunt than swing for the home run.  Or, since this is actually football, just punt the freaking thing when it’s still only the third quarter and the game is tied.  I thought going for it there was dumb when it happened, and the more it sinks in, the dumber I realize it is.  How many times do we have to fail miserably on these fourth down gambles before we get that it’s not worth it?  It seems odd to me that Childress gets all gung-ho to use Adrian Peterson in these questionable situations, then yanks AD from the game entirely when it’s late and we really do need a big play.  It is sometimes difficult to decipher Childress’s logic – it’s almost like he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing.  But he’s a pro football coach so, obviously, he’s a genius.  And that play failed because the officials didn’t throw the flag.  Uh-huh.