Five things I think I think.

[Smidgeon]

This statement reminds me of the debate a couple seasons ago when MM was crowned Coach of the Year. Would Chilly have done a better job than MM this year if Tavaris Jackson was his starting QB for 18 games?

Comparing Chilly to MM in this regard is interesting, especially since MM has shown an aptitude for coaching and developing QBs. I'm not commenting on who's the better HC (necessarily) with the following comment, but I think MM would have gotten more out of Tavaris Jackson than Chilly did.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I think Chilly gets dumped on because of his unusual personality. Mike Lucas calls him Mr. Peabody. He's kinda quiet, tends to mumble.

He might have been a bit too conservative in his play calling at times, but what coach doesn't get accused of that?

[swede]

I think Chilly gets dumped on because of his unusual personality. Mike Lucas calls him Mr. Peabody. He's kinda quiet, tends to mumble.

He might have been a bit too conservative in his play calling at times, but what coach doesn't get accused of that?

Coaches have to embrace who they are. Jim Tressel wears his little sweater-vest like the one my mom made me wear in the 1966 Christmas photograph. (Gee that Instamatic took nice pictures. Except for the demon eyes.) Bill Bellichik wears his hoodie. And Chilly...

[mraynrand]

[mraynrand]

I think Chilly gets dumped on because of his unusual personality. Mike Lucas calls him Mr. Peabody. He's kinda quiet, tends to mumble.

He might have been a bit too conservative in his play calling at times, but what coach doesn't get accused of that?

Mr. Peabody, eh? Perhaps there's some jealousy there because Peabody is smarter than Harlan Huckleby? Or perhaps you are a jilted lover?

[Tony Oday]

Chilli reminds me of Dante Culpepper. Has had the team around him since the start almost and has led them to exactly where they should be with the talent. I think a good coach actually gets MORE out of his team than what anyone else could do.

[Gunakor]

This statement reminds me of the debate a couple seasons ago when MM was crowned Coach of the Year. Would Chilly have done a better job than MM this year if Tavaris Jackson was his starting QB for 18 games?

Comparing Chilly to MM in this regard is interesting, especially since MM has shown an aptitude for coaching and developing QBs. I'm not commenting on who's the better HC (necessarily) with the following comment, but I think MM would have gotten more out of Tavaris Jackson than Chilly did.

I absolutely agree with you Smidgeon, I was just posting this in response to the implication that Chilly did a better job than MM this year. It's not a defense of MM, as I am firmly entrenched in the anti-McCarthy mindset, but rather an attack on Childress. I think he's a garbage HC who got to a Championship Game riding the coattails of some extremely talented football players who would do what they do no matter who they played for or what plays were called. If you put MN's players in Black and Gold jerseys and put NO's players in the Purple and White jerseys and played that same NFC Championship Game the Saints still win. Because Brad Childress wasn't coaching the Saints that day.

I'll bet 90% of all Vikings fans in the world would agree with me that the REAL reason the Vikings lost that game was Brad Childress. And I'd have to agree with them, to be honest, because of what happened with about 15 seconds left in the game.

Had he played it like McCarthy would have, knowing he had Ryan Longwell as his FG kicker rather than Crosby, the Vikings win that game. 50 yard FG for the win. Mason misses that one, but Longwell makes it. Game over, see ya in Miami. McCarthy is coaching a Super Bowl team if he's the Vikings HC this year. Bank on it. So, no, I can't bring myself to believe that Childress is the better coach or even that he did a better job this season than McCarthy did. Simply a better record with a superior football team.

But, to be fair in response to your comment specifically, Chilly ended up getting more out of Brett Favre than McCarthy did.

[Gunakor]

He might have been a bit too conservative in his play calling at times, but what coach doesn't get accused of that?

He doesn't recognize the situation well enough. Yeah, he's been accused (rightly so) of being too conservative at times. But with about 15 seconds left in regulation and his team in Longwell FG range he puts his conservative tendencies aside when the situation called for him to be conservative. This after presiding over a 12 men in the huddle penalty that couldn't be blamed on anybody other than the coach. And his team lost a pretty big game as a result. Chilly gets a bad rap because he's a horrible coach. Worse than McCarthy.

And I'm no McCarthy fan.

[hoosier]

He might have been a bit too conservative in his play calling at times, but what coach doesn't get accused of that?

He doesn't recognize the situation well enough. Yeah, he's been accused (rightly so) of being too conservative at times. But with about 15 seconds left in regulation and his team in Longwell FG range he puts his conservative tendencies aside when the situation called for him to be conservative. This after presiding over a 12 men in the huddle penalty that couldn't be blamed on anybody other than the coach. And his team lost a pretty big game as a result. Chilly gets a bad rap because he's a horrible coach. Worse than McCarthy.

And I'm no McCarthy fan.

This postseason has been pretty rough on kickers. And don't forget that after the penalty the Vikings were not at the 32 or 33, they had been moved back to the 37-38. That is no longer a high percentage FG att. The penalty is what started things off on the wrong track, not Chilly's playcalling. And who was to blame for the penalty? Was it the guy in charge of calling sub packages? Or did one of the players simply fail to notice that he was supposed to be off the field? Finally, something that nobody has discussed so far: as the Vikings were breaking the huddle Favre tried to call a timeout. The officials didn't give it to him because they were in the process of callling a penalty for 12 men. But if there hadn't been 12 men in the huddle that would have been a penalty on Favre for trying to call consecutive timeouts. (Unless he only tried to call timeout to avoid a too-many-men penalty.)

I would bet almost anything that on third down from the NO33 the Vikings were going to run it up the gut. But on third down from the NO38 a run play that gains nothing leaves them a bit short of Longwell's comfort zone.

[Harlan Huckleby]

This postseason has been pretty rough on kickers.

Good. Field goals suck. If I were a coach I wouldn't kick them from outside the 25 yard line. And maybe never until the last 5 minutes of the game.

A chance at 3 points is not worth the risk of giving your opponent the ball in good field position. Bad coaches adjust their play calling with the field goal option in mind once they cross mid field.

[pbmax]

He might have been a bit too conservative in his play calling at times, but what coach doesn't get accused of that?

He doesn't recognize the situation well enough. Yeah, he's been accused (rightly so) of being too conservative at times. But with about 15 seconds left in regulation and his team in Longwell FG range he puts his conservative tendencies aside when the situation called for him to be conservative. This after presiding over a 12 men in the huddle penalty that couldn't be blamed on anybody other than the coach. And his team lost a pretty big game as a result. Chilly gets a bad rap because he's a horrible coach. Worse than McCarthy.

And I'm no McCarthy fan.

Not quite. Longwell told the coaches he was good from 53 yards and they were looking at 55. Their runs had gotten them little during that drive. The 12 man huddle is inexcusable, but they needed to advance the ball after that.

[Smidgeon]

But, to be fair in response to your comment specifically, Chilly ended up getting more out of Brett Favre than McCarthy did.

Umm, did you watch the 2007 season? Favre had his best statistical season since his MVP years and did it without a consistent running game half the year. For the first half of this year, opponents were still keying in on Adrian Peterson first.

But being that I really don't want to participate in a Favre debate, I'm stopping there.

[Gunakor]

But, to be fair in response to your comment specifically, Chilly ended up getting more out of Brett Favre than McCarthy did.

Umm, did you watch the 2007 season? Favre had his best statistical season since his MVP years and did it without a consistent running game half the year. For the first half of this year, opponents were still keying in on Adrian Peterson first.

But being that I really don't want to participate in a Favre debate, I'm stopping there.

I did watch it. And this year, statistically, he had his best season of his career. Read it however you'd like.