Vikings go deep? Nah, they'll pass

The 274 yards passing Vikings quarterbacks Gus Frerotte and Tarvaris Jackson combined for Sunday didn't seem significant. Eight NFL quarterbacks had more yards through the air that day, and four threw for 300 or more.

But before dismissing the Vikings' accomplishment, consider this: Their passing yardage represents the highest gross total for the Vikings in the 36 regular-season games Brad Childress has coached since taking over in 2006. Frerotte threw for 266 of them before leaving because of an injury.

Late in Childress' first season with the Vikings he made the comment that will live with him throughout his tenure in Minnesota. Speaking two days after a 9-7 loss at Green Bay, Childress expressed complete faith in a West Coast system that sputtered.

"I know it's a kick-ass offense when it's executed properly," Childress said. "It's been done with all different levels of people and personnel. But I'm not shaken. It's a multiple system that you can run in just as easily as you can throw it, and we need to become better at it. That's my job."

The Vikings have played 21 games since Childress made the statement. They have had four quarterbacks start games, made numerous personnel changes, shifted play-calling duties and drafted a Pro Bowl running back in Adrian Peterson.

Still, they are 9-12 in that span, 1-3 this season.

The run game isn't the problem. Peterson is second in the NFL with 420 yards on 83 carries, and the Vikings are sixth in the league, averaging 141.2 yards per game.

The aerial game hasn't held up its end of the bargain since Childress assumed control. Frerotte is the fifth starting quarterback Childress has used -- a number high enough that it has become difficult to blame the men who play that position for the Vikings' failures.

Brad Johnson and Kelly Holcomb were both veterans, and Johnson had the experience of having won a Super Bowl. Jackson, a second-round pick in 2006, was considered a player Childress could mold into a good fit for the offense. (Brooks Bollinger was nothing more than a short-term fix.) Having the 37-year-old Frerotte take over for Jackson two games into this season was a return to a player in the mold of Johnson, although Frerotte has a much stronger arm.

But the issue is this: How often will the play-calling of Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell (who assumed in a bigger role in that area last season) allow Frerotte to use that arm?

Even with the short-passing nature of the West Coast offense it is crucial to be able to stretch the field in order to loosen up defenses for the running game. Failure to do so means that just like last season opposing defenses will put eight or nine men in the box against Peterson.

This is why the Vikings made Bernard Berrian the NFL's fourth-highest-paid wide receiver last spring when they signed him to a $42 million, six-year free-agent contract that included $16 million in guarantees.

But Berrian has dropped three balls in the past two games and Sunday failed to haul in a deep sideline pass from Frerotte in the second quarter.

It is clear that any mishaps in the passing attack have the ability to undermine the entire game plan. According to the official play-by-play sheet from Sunday, only seven of the Vikings' 44 passes (15.9 percent) were classified as deep shots.

Three of those were completions, including a nice 28-yard grab Berrian made at the Titans 3-yard line to set up a touchdown.

Research of the Vikings' first four games this season shows the most deep balls thrown in a game is seven. Four of every five passes have been described as short (80.2 percent).

"When you take those [deep] shots you're not just trying to stretch the defense and shoot a shot across the bow," Childress said. "You're calling them to complete them. They're big. We say there are only four, five or six plays in a game that make any difference anyway. We play 60 or 70 and just don't know which five or six plays they're going to be. When you put yourself in a position to have the right call against the right front and coverage then you want to be able to make that play."

But if this offense has any hope of becoming kick-anything there might be a point where a few more downfield shots are necessary.

Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com

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