Hello there,
Minnesota Vikings Coach Brad Childress here. You know, I get lots of letters and emails every week from fans asking just how it is that I manage to keep a team from offensive success in spite of their natural talent. The answer is actually more complicated than you’d think.
First of all, you need to identify the strongest area of the opposition’s defensive line. This week, my Vikings played the Titans, so it was easy to see that Albert Haynesworth’s ability to stop the run at the line of scrimmage made him the strong point. Once you’ve spotted this dominant spot, you must play to their strength. Run up the middle. Don’t worry if you have somebody as explosive as Adrian Peterson, he’ll still consistently be limited to one- or two-yard gains if you aim directly at a behemoth like Haynesworth.
Okay, you’ve reached second down. So far, so good. You’re instincts are going to tell you to run the ball off the edge, as you’ve found yourself in a second-and-long situation. This is wrong. You see, if you run the ball again you run the risk of gaining a handful of yards, thereby putting your offense in a third-and-manageable situation. No, you want to throw the ball to an underneath receiver. If the pass falls incomplete, you’ll be in a great position to kill the drive. If, by some odd coincidence, the pass is caught, let’s hope you had the good sense to make that WR run a three-yard button hook.
I’m an optimist, so let’s say your overpaid TE dropped the ball (again) on second down to set up third-and-long. This is where training camp comes in handy. Your young, up-and-coming star QB has been practicing with your wideouts all summer long for just this occasion. Luckily, you’ve already benched that loser for your backup, who has little to no practice time with the starting receivers in this situation. Call whatever you want. Heck, go ahead and call a draw play if you really want to break some hearts.
Alright, you’ve reached the most important part of the Brad Childress Drive Killing Plan. It is entirely possible that your team defied all odds and picked up that first down. Are you ready for my last secret? Just keep doing the same thing. If you continue to follow the blueprint, your offense will consistently find themselves in third-and-long situations. No team, no matter the talent, can overcome multiple third-and-longs on every drive in every game. Sure, you’ll accidentally break a big play once in a while, and points will be scored, but you’ll rarely end up putting up more points than your opponent.
So there you have it. You’ll find that if you follow these steps you can kill a drive no matter the momentum, talent, or field position.
Good luck and happy punting,
Brad Childress.
