Stuff They Said…

Zygi Wilf gave Brad Childress the dreaded vote of confidence.  Said Wilf:

"Our goal is to be consistent in the long-term.  We have a commitment to getting a team that is not built for a one-shot affair. We want to build a team that is consistent for many, many years to come, for decades to come.I know the people we have in place are the right people. I have a very good relationship with coach Childress, as I do with many of the coaches, and they have my full support. I’m very confident that as time goes on, and everybody works together, we will [succeed]."

Congratulations Zygi – you’ve succeeded in your goal of building a team that’s consistent.  Every week, we know exactly what to expect of the Vikings:  a great run defense, a shaky pass defense, a good run-game at those times when the coach actually lets the good runner be in the game, a horrific pass offense, and half-way decent special teams.  If we keep that up, we should fall into that 5-11 to 7-9 category for many, many years to come.

Said Zygi of Viking fans:

"The fans are great here. I don’t think there is a lot of frustration. I think there is a lot of patience, and I just hope we can reward them with more and more victories sooner rather than later."

Yeah, the fans are patient.  That’s why the station that carries the team’s games in Minneapolis had to buy up a bunch of seats at the Metrodome to avoid a black-out.  That’s why you and your coach are getting lambasted all over the radio and internet.  Face it Zyg – the only time a Viking fan is patient is when they’re sitting half-drunk on a frozen lake waiting for a fish to bite.

Winfield vs. Driver is heating up.  Here’s what Donald, who had 58 yards on 7 catches in Sunday’s win over the Vikes, told the Wisconsin State Journal:

"I talked to (Winfield).  I said, “You’re going to make a statement that you’re going to play me man to man? C’mon.” He’s like, “You know I love you; you know I love playing you.” But (I said), “You didn’t play me man to man; you doubled. You needed safety help.” And when he did play me man to man, I caught seven balls."

And Winfield’s response:

"Wow. That is funny. What film is he watching? He caught three balls on me."

I haven’t reviewed the game-film myself (cause I have a life sort of), but I do know for a fact (cause I wrote it down in my notes as I watched the game Sunday) that one of Driver’s catches was against the zone, and Chad Greenway’s missed tackle was actually responsible for his picking up extra yards.  So, clearly, Antoine wasn’t man-to-man on Driver the whole game; therefore Driver’s assertion that he “caught seven balls” on Winfield while they were matched up one-on-one is total hooey.

Brad Childress on how he plans to use Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson:

"We’re going to continue to change those guys up and put those fresh legs in there from time to time, whether it’s Chester’s fresh legs or whether it’s Adrian’s fresh legs."

Right Brad.  But Adrian’s fresh legs are fresher than Chester’s.  Plus he actually breaks tackles, whereas Chester tends to get skunked unless he has a big hole.  So how’s this for a plan?  Use Adrian until you have a lead, then put Chester in and grind away.  Just a thought.