Sunday was interim head coach Leslie Frazier's debut, and the Minnesota Vikings did their best to bring their new leader a win in his first game against the Washington Redskins. It was a rough, sloppy game with injuries and miscues a plenty, including a 77-yard punt return by Brandon Banks of the Redskins returned for a touchdown that was eventually called back because of a penalty. The Vikings made fewer mistakes, however, and left Washington D.C. with a 17-13 victory for the new coach.
The difference in post-Childress play-calling was quite a noticeable one. Darrell Bevell finally had his opportunity to call the shots on offense, as previous head coach Brad Childress decided which plays to run even though Bevell was the offensive coordinator. The Vikings experimented with play action and bootlegs Sunday, and even used receiver Percy Harvin in the backfield on some occasions. Quarterback Brett Favre had an efficient day, although he struggled to get the ball to his receivers a few times. Sidney Rice was targeted four times on the day but only caught one ball for 20 yards. Despite his somewhat sporadic passing production, Favre all but sealed the victory himself in the fourth quarter. Faced with a 3rd and 8, Favre his used his legs on a bootleg call to run for the first down. Running back Adrian Peterson was running wild on the Redskins before an ankle injury in the second quarter sidelined him for the rest of the afternoon. Backup Toby Gerhart assuaged the fears of Vikings and fantasy football fans alike, producing 76 yards and a touchdown of his own while the team's superstar was out of the game. Gerhart's longest run was only 6 yards, but he chipped away at the Redskins defense all game long and managed a respectable 3.5 yards-per-carry. Despite only putting up 299 yards, the Vikings offense looked vastly improved compared to previous games this season. Most importantly, Toby Gerhart proved to an extent that he could carry the load for the team when it's franchise player happens to be out of commission.
Washington quarterback Donavan McNabb, who usually finds success against the Vikings defense, was the unfortunate victim of dropped passes and an inferior offensive line Sunday afternoon. The Vikings pass rush was in his hair from the first snap and sacked the former Philadelphia Eagle four times. Jared Allen had one of those sacks and three tackles for loss, continuing his streak of recent remarkable play since only compiling one sack in the first seven games. Under normal circumstances McNabb should have been able to tear apart the Vikings defense as he has in the past, but the pressure remained on him for the duration of the game. The coverage had some of it's normal troubles in the middle of the field, but for the most part the pass rush was able to cover up most of the problems. Redskins tight end Chris Cooley found some holes in the middle of the field but was still held under 50 yards. McNabb only completed one pass over 20 yards on the afternoon, a 45-yard bomb to receiver Anthony Armstrong. Meanwhile, the running game for the Redskins was non-exist, totaling 29 yards between four different rushers. Part of this may have been due to McNabb and the Redskins' expectation that they would be able to throw at will on the Vikings, but even the home team themselves would not let this happen. Redskin receivers dropped several of McNabb's passes, including a third quarter throw that traveled from the gloves of Santana Moss into linebacker E.J. Henderson's possession for McNabb's only interception of the day. Regardless of the mistakes by the receivers, the Vikings came into the game knowing the Redskins were going to focus on passing the ball, and for one of the few times this season the pass rush and the defense in general was a strength rather than a liability.
Even after his only game of the season Leslie Frazier appears to be a figure the Vikings will rally around. Whether or not some of the Vikings quit on Childress will never be known, but this coaching change seems to have effected the team for the positive and if this win turns into two, three or even four wins, Frazier may be looked at as a serious candidate for the official head coach position. Before that talk begins, the Vikings must first beat the Buffalo Bills this Sunday, a club that has won the last two times these times have met.
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